Cool open source HDR (High Dynamic Range) Imaging software
Qtpfsgui has got to be one of the coolest applications I’ve seen in a while. It’s a free open source HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging application that anyone can download and use for free. It’s similar in feature to Photomatix (very nice image samples here) which is a commercial HDR imaging application.
I played with Qtpfsqui by using my RAW images to fake the input sources by manipulating the F-Stop on the RAW images. Normally you need 3 photos with low, normal, and high exposure but I generated that from my RAW image taken back in 2006 by outputting -1.5, 0, and 1.5 F-Stops. It’s obviously not as nice as having 3 actual photos but it’s not easy to take a still from the same person 3 times without the object moving and most of the time you only have one RAW image. Obviously it’s also not possible to go back in time and retake the image.
So the bottom line is that you can bring out the shadows and the highlights of images at the same time and the results can look pretty stunning.
I’ve been using this on Ubuntu for a few months now, and while my camera only outputs in JPEG and doesn’t auto-mark the exposure settings — I’m using my Samsung A990 phone with integrated 3.2 megapixel camera marked "f=5.15mm 1:2.7" as my only basis for configuring the F-Stops — I’ve been able to get some incredibly crisp pictures, especially of my sleeping 7 month old son in low-light conditions.
Thanks for bringing this out into the open some more. That it’s available for free and is cross-platform is only a bonus.
I’m happy to have found you again. Your insight has helped me greatly over the past year. Keep up the great work.
Yeah, the software is awesome for images that have too much dynamic range
When you have a really bright part of the image and a really dark part of the image, you need to somehow bring those pieces in together so that both light and dark can be rendered properly. It does however create an artificial looking image that looks like something that’s hand drawn but that’s a neat effect. Sometimes you can make an image look natural if you’re just trying to bring out both the light and dard areas of the photo.
Hope you stay around Chris and RSS me. Thanks!