HDR Expose Review

This high dynamic range software, from Unified Color Technologies, has replaced HDR Photostudio 2 in the company's product lineup. If you have used HDR Photostudio before, then HDR Expose should be an easy transition for you because it has the same core architecture. However, updates to the program include a full range of color editing tools, plug-ins for both Lightroom 3 and Aperture, and the ability to process images in 32-bits. On paper it is a promising package, but how will it perform in the field?

To make effective HDR photos, you really need a stationary subject and background. I considered a few subjects, but ended up visiting a local church one afternoon - the Hoover Weslyan Church in Walker, IA. I had the camera mounted on a tripod, and I set my Nikon D90 to shoot RAW images at f/11 on aperture priority mode. I tried the exposure bracketing mode, but this would only give me three images at a time, and I really wanted five to get the full range of shadows and highlights. So, I used exposure compensation to manually set the one stop exposure differences on the five images that I wanted. You can see the results in the gallery below. Shots range from -2 to +2 exposure.

Well, the picture on the left, (click to see larger), was the finished product I settled on after I had processed the image with HDR Expose. I say 'settled on' because with high dynamic range software, there is more often a subjective feel to your final image. Still, when all was said and done, I was happy that the software offered me enough options to create the image I wanted to. I was happy to see a good amount of detail in the shadows, without compromising on clipped highlights.

I started the process in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, and because of the included Lightroom plug-in, I was able to easily export the photos to HDR Expose to edit. Five RAW images took around two minutes to load on my desktop, but this seemed quick enough, and if you prefer to import directly into the program, instead of going through Lightroom, then you can do that too.

Any adjustments you make can take a couple of seconds to process, so you don't get to see that gradual live preview you get with some image editors as you move the sliders left and right. However, it is speedy enough and easy to make minor adjustments quickly. Moving to and from Lightroom was not a problem, and your finished image will be dropped back in to the collection it started in when you save and close HDR Expose. In this image I did not have too much problem with the halo effect often found in HDR photos, but the little I did have was easily dealt with by the built-in halo reducer. Other adjustments were intuitive and predictable, and you can't ask for much more than that.

Adjustments can be stacked so that in theory you can adjust the same setting more than once. Say, for instance, you started by adjusting the veiling glare, then brightness and contrast, and then played with the color editing tools, you can still add another veiling glare option on top of all that you have already adjusted. The preview option is good for seeing the before and after of each adjustment, and there are other options that you might not expect like black and white presets and noise reduction.