More creativity in one click. Over 80 unique Looks instantly take your photos from raw to awesome, with just one click. Designed in collaboration with Serge Ramelli, Trey Ratcliff, Randy Van Duinen and other acclaimed photographers, Aurora HDR Looks bring you top-notch results in a snap.
Tone mapping has been a popular software technique for many years, offering a stylised look that has become closely associated with the work of some of the world’s most successful digital photographers. The range of detail preserved in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows of a tone mapped file is largely impossible to achieve in a single image using any other method, which enables the photographer to overcome the limits imposed by the dynamic range of their camera’s sensor. Unfortunately an overuse of HDR software and a tendency for the effect to be pushed too far has create a certain stigma around its use in a professional workflow. This may be due in part to the complexity of some HDR applications.
Features
While the overall functionality of Aurora is similar to previous versions, there have been some useful updates. New to Aurora 2019 is the HDR Enhance Panel, which offers a quick method of adding enhancements to structure and micro contrast. With only minor tweaks to the slider positions in this section, fine image details can be extracted without introducing unnatural, over-processed effects. This is another area which benefits from the new Quantum Engine – the updated algorithm allows sliders to be pushed further, for stronger effects, without image-degrading artefacts, such as edge halos, from impacting on the integrity of a file. Usefully Aurora also has noise reduction capability built in, so that colour or luminance patterning can be addressed without having to move the image into another application.
n keeping with Aurora’s philosophy of speed and ease, Skylum has updated the HDR presets for 2019. These are now referred to as ‘looks’ and are grouped into helpful categories based on subject. They include recipes from HDR masters Serge Ramelli, Trey Ratcliff and Randy Van Duinen, making it simple emulate the styles of these influential photographers. Some of the Looks are a little gaudy in their un-customised state, so it is important to tailor the settings for each image. When working on a single image, or when using stronger processing, noise can be accentuated considerably, although this is not unexpected. Generally colours can be kept within natural limits without extensive editing in Photoshop or Lightroom, after tone mapping and the ability to apply changes to Adjustment Layers in Aurora itself is a huge advantage. The level of detail that can be extracted from a single RAW file is exceptional, while conventional tone mapping of bracketed exposures yields images which effectively replicate the dynamic range of human vision. The new Colour Lookup Tables (LUT), in combination with the Tone Curve and fantastic Gradient Tool, provide dynamic colour control, for results only obtainable with dedicated RAW editors in past years.
