If you haven't heard of them, High Dynamic Range images are images that
combine under and over exposed images to give a more natural look to photos.
The only way to apply an HDR effect to an image is to use a post processing
tool such as Hydra. Hydra is a simple to use but powerful application that
allows you to create HDR images from a series of regular photographs.
According to the developers, Hydra uses a number of regular photographs (up
to ten) with different exposures (darker and lighter) to create a superior
one which is much closer to what the naked eye actually sees. This is
apparently because a single photograph cannot represent the full gamut of
light because of physical limitations in the sensor. When you open Hydra,
you're asked if you want to import photos on your hard drive, directly from
iPhoto or just start using Hydra directly. If you just want to apply the HDR
effect to just a few photos, then you might as well use Hydra directly as you
merely have to drag and drop photos into the interface to get started. You
can drag and drop up to a maximum of ten photos. Once you've dragged and
dropped the images you want to work with, you need to select the matching
function from the toolbox on the right. Hydra requires you to select
different reference points on the pictures and then try to align them as
closely as possible isn't easy, although you don't have to be 100% spot on.
Once you've matched your pictures, it's time to blend them. Using the
histogram view and sliders you can adjust your HDR image until it has all the
shadows, light and detail that you're looking for. When that's done you then
have to render the images which can take a while depending on how many images
you've used, especially high resolution images. If you haven't matched up
images very well, then you'll have trouble seeing any difference in your
images at all. If you've done a good job, then you should notice some pretty
impressive combination results. This unregistered version also leaves an
"Unregistered" watermark across the final image along with the Hydra logo.
*Hydra is a powerful tool and in the right hands, it can produce some
impressive HDR images.*Download *Hydra Express 3.0* in Softonic
