Application of HDRWT and ATWT - flora images.

[astropixel]

The image below shows shows HDRWT 5X5 B3 x1 and ATWT x 2 applications. All images are HDR composites.

As far as this type of photography is concerned, what might be an optimal approach with HDRWT and ATWT.

Thanks.

[vicent_peris]

Hi,

regarding HDRWT, in these photos I would use fewer layers... about 4. See the attatched photo. Another good practice is to activate the "Preserve hue" checkbox. HDRWT changes the hues of the pixels if applied to each separate RGB channel, because it normalizes the local hues; in other words, the hue of one pixel is determined by the average hue of the adjacent pixels. In astronomy this makes sense because you use to have several layers of dust, gas and unresolved objects. In this situation, a small O-III structure inside a huge and bright H-alpha emitting object will look red; HDRWT will recover the teal color of that structure. Think if this makes sense in your flower photos.

Keep in mind that HDRWT and ATWT are opposed algorithms. HDRWT is a dynamic range compression algorithm, and this means that contrast is always lowered; ATWT is used to enhance local contrast. So usually you will need curves or ATWT after application of HDRWT.


Regards,
Vicent.

[astropixel]

Vicent. Thank you once again. The difference is quite evident. The internal petal and stamen structures stand out well with this treatment. Incidentally, saturation curves applied to the CIE *c and green channel, conversely, recover colour saturation nicely - that is, a significant Green reduction is required.