How to Create HDR Images in Lightroom CC

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For some reason unknown to me, HDR photography is still around. It's not that I have something against the basic concept of it, it's the countless fails that are flooding the Internet every day, from wannabe photographers who try to compensate for lack of imagination with post processing that makes you feel like you're on some bad drugs. If it were up to me, and I'm sure I'm not alone here, I would simply improve image sensor capabilities and bring in camera images closer to what the human eye sees.

Nevertheless, HDR, or high dynamic range for the newer photographers reading this, is still doing well, and what better proof than Adobe including a HDR feature in their latest Lightroom CC. Let's go through the before and after of creating HDR images.

Before this feature was added, and I'm sure many of you celebrated the news with a victory dance, the HDR loving photographer had to take the three or more separate images, merge them in Photoshop and then import them back into Lightroom for further processing. It might not have been the most difficult process in the world, but it was a bit time consuming, especially if you had a whole batch of HDR mages to prepare.

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So how have things changed? With Lightroom CC, all you have to do is import the selected images, go into Develop mode, right click any of them, choose the Merge option and finally select HDR. That's it. A new window will then open with a preview of the final image. You will be given a few more options, some more effective than others. The Auto align feature is recommended for pictures that weren't taken with a tripod. Small differences in framing will be eliminated using this feature. I don't recommend using the auto tone option. You want the software to do some of the work for you, but don't let it do everything. I'm not just saying this for ethical reasons, but because it has a tendency to mess up the colors. Keep full control over color tones and you'll get better results.

There 'also a deghosting option for pictures with moving trees or any other kind of motion. It has three settings, but it generally doesn't hurt to leave it on low.

Probably the best part about this new feature in Lightroom is that you can save the final image in RAW format, and that means having a lot more options in post processing than you would have with a different format like TIFF. Just do yourself a favor and don't go overboard with the editing.

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Here's a great video demonstration of how everything works from Howard Pinsky.

Learn more about using Adobe Lightroom CC from these recommended books: