• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Downloads
    • Adobe Photography Plans
    • Capture One
    • DxO PhotoLab
    • DxO Nik Collection
    • Exposure X
    • ON1 Photo RAW
    • Skylum Luminar
    • Aurora HDR
  • Editing A-Z
  • About

Life after Photoshop

  • Lightroom
  • Capture One
  • DxO PhotoLab
  • Nik Collection
  • Exposure X
  • ON1 Photo RAW
  • Aurora HDR

Get better Lightroom HDR with the help of HDR Efex Pro

November 30, 2016 by Rod Lawton

The Lightroom HDR tools built in are good in their way, but will only get you so far. Yes, you can boost the shadows, reduce the highlights, add some Clarity and Dehaze and maybe a graduated filter for the sky, but you can end up doing a lot of work only getting half way to the result you want.

  • Lightroom CC review
  • Lightroom Classic review
  • More Lightroom articles
  • How to get Lightroom CC/Adobe Photography Plans

This also applies both to single raw files and when you’re using the HDR Merge feature and a series of separate exposures. Lightroom will blend these into a single composite high dynamic range DNG file, but you’re still left with the same editing tools.

The thing is, though, that Lightroom is very good at extracting the maximum dynamic range from raw files. So good, in fact, that often you can get all the tonal range you need for a great-looking HDR image from a single exposure.

However, Lightroom isn’t very good at tonemapping and the HDR ‘look’. That’s why tools like HDR Efex Pro, part of the Google Nik Collection (now free to download, remember) are so valuable, because you can launch them straight from Lightroom. The trouble here, though, is that they can only work with the data you send them, and if you don’t do any preparatory work on the files, you could end up with second-best tonal range and quality.

So here’s a process that gives you the best of both worlds – Lightroom’s dynamic range and lens correction capabilities and HDR Efex Pro’s tonemapping and HDR effects.

  • DxO Nik Collection 3 review
  • More Nik Collection articles
  • Try/download the DxO Nik Collection

Step 01: The original raw file in Lightroom

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

It doesn’t look much, does it? This picture was taken on a bright and crisp winter morning, but the camera’s rendition is pretty flat. I used an exposure which I thought should keep detail in the highlights and enough – hopefully – in the shadows, but it doesn’t have the brilliance of the original scene.

Step 02: Lightroom adjustments

The thing is, if I send this to HDR Efex Pro straight away, I won’t necessarily be sending the full tonal range in the raw file. So the first thing I want to do is use the Auto button in the Tone section of the Basic panel.

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

This automatically adjusts all the Tone parameters to give the optimum tonal distribution. It looks like it’s increased the Exposure and the Shadows to brighten up the grassy foreground, but it’s pulled back the Highlights to compensate, and a glance at the histogram shows there’s no significant highlight clipping, so this looks like a good compromise.

But there’s another important job to carry out – Lens Corrections. Any chromatic aberration in the photo will be exaggerated by the HDR process, so now’s the time to get rid of it.

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

I know exactly where any chromatic aberration is going to be – in the bare branches in the top left corner of the picture. Zooming in lets you check details like this very quickly, and the Remove Chromatic Aberration checkbox in the Lens Corrections panel will effectively remove most if not all colour fringing from any image, whether or not Lightroom can also find a matching lens correction profile. In this case it has, so we can also fix any lens distortion at the same time.

Now the image is ready to be sent to HDR Efex Pro…

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

To do this, you just right-click on the image and choose HDR Efex Pro from the Export menu (NOT the Edit In menu you’d normally use for launching plug-ins).

Step 03: HDR Efex Pro

I won’t spend a lot of time on this step because you’ll probably want to browse through the presets and settings in your own time. For this photo, though, I’ve chosen one of my favourite HDR Efex Pro presets – ‘Deep 1’ – because it gives a relatively natural look but still with that HDR intensity.

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

I have given the Contrast and Saturation sliders a big boost to make both the colours and the lighting a bit more intense – you can be more aggressive with these controls in HDR Efex Pro than you can in Lightroom – and I’ve also given the Temperature slider a tiny nudge to give the picture a little more warmth.

Lightroom HDR with Google Nik HDR Efex Pro

This is the finished picture. I couldn’t have got this effect using Lightroom alone, but HDR Efex Pro wouldn’t have had the tonal range and chromatic aberration control without the initial adjustments in Lightroom. It’s not always about comparing one program with another. Often, you can only get the results you want by combining the best qualities of both.

Related

Filed Under: Featured, Lightroom, Nik Collection, Tutorials Tagged With: HDR, HDR Efex Pro, Lightroom, Nik Collection

Primary Sidebar

Get the Nik Collection

Get the Adobe Photography Plan

Reviews

The best image-editing software: what to look for, where to find out more

November 2, 2020

DxO PhotoLab 4 review

November 2, 2020

Exposure X6 review

October 9, 2020

More reviews

  • Lightroom CC review (2020)
  • Lightroom Classic review
  • DxO PhotoLab vs Lightroom vs Capture One – which is best for RAW files?
  • Best image cataloguing software: tools to keep your images organised
  • Skylum Luminar 4.3 review
  • ON1 Photo RAW 2020.5 review
  • ON1 360 review
  • Analog Efex Pro 2 review
  • Perspective Efex review
  • DxO Nik Collection 3 review
  • Exposure X5 review
  • Capture One 20 review

Contact

Email lifeafterphotoshop@gmail.com

Life after Photoshop A-Z

A

  • Aberrations
  • Accent-AI filter (Skylum)
  • ACROS (Fujifilm)
  • Adjustment brush
  • ... more
  • Adjustment layer
  • Adobe Bridge
  • Adobe Camera Raw
  • Adobe RGB
  • Affinity Photo
  • AI (artificial intelligence)
  • Album
  • Alien Skin Exposure X
  • Analog
  • Analog Efex Pro
  • Apple Aperture
  • Apple Photos
  • Aspect ratio
  • As shot (white balance)
  • Astia
  • Augmented Sky
  • Aurora HDR
  • Auto white balance
  • Axial chromatic aberration

B

  • Barrel distortion
  • Batch processing
  • Bits and bit depth
  • Black and white
  • ... more
  • Black and white filters
  • Blend modes
  • Bokeh
  • Borders and frames
  • Boundary Warp (Lightroom)
  • Bracketing
  • Brush
  • Burn Edges (Silver Efex Pro)

C

  • C4K video
  • Camera calibration
  • Camera Kit (Analog Efex Pro)
  • Capture One
  • ... more
  • Cataloguing software
  • Channel
  • Chromatic aberration
  • Clarity
  • Clipping
  • Cloud storage
  • CMYK
  • Collection
  • Color adjustment
  • Color cast
  • Color Efex Pro
  • Color fringing
  • Color labels
  • Color management
  • Color model
  • Color noise
  • Color space
  • Color temperature
  • Composition
  • Constrain Crop
  • Contrast
  • Contrast filter
  • Control Point
  • Corner shading
  • Creative Cloud (Adobe)
  • Cropping
  • Cross Processing
  • Culling images
  • Curves

D

  • Darks
  • Dehaze
  • Depth of field
  • Detail Extractor
  • ... more
  • Dfine
  • Diffraction
  • Distortion
  • Distortion correction
  • Dodging and burning
  • Dropbox
  • DxO FilmPack
  • DxO Optics Pro
  • DxO PhotoLab
  • DxO ViewPoint
  • Dynamic range

E

  • Effects
  • Export
  • Exposure latitude
  • Exposure value (EV)
  • ... more
  • Exposure X

F

  • Film simulation
  • Folders
  • Frame rate
  • Full HD

G

  • Gamut
  • Geometry (Lightroom)
  • Golden hour
  • Gradient mask
  • ... more
  • Graduated filters
  • Grain
  • Guided Upright (Lightroom)

H

  • HDR
  • HDR Efex Pro
  • HD video
  • Highlight recovery
  • ... more
  • Highlights
  • Histogram
  • History
  • HSL adjustments
  • Hue/Saturation

I

  • Import
  • Instagram
  • ISO

J

  • JPEG
  • JPEG vs RAW

K

  • Keywords

L

  • Lab mode
  • Laowa 9mm f2.8
  • Lateral chromatic aberration
  • Layers
  • ... more
  • Lens corrections
  • Lens profile
  • Levels
  • Light leak
  • Lightroom
  • Lightroom CC
  • Lightroom Mobile
  • Lightroom web
  • Lights
  • Linear gradient
  • Loawa 9mm f/2.8
  • Local adjustments
  • Loupe
  • Luma curve
  • Luminance (contrast) noise
  • Luminar
  • Lutify.me
  • LUTs

M

  • MacPhun Creative Kit
  • Masks
  • Metadata
  • Microcontrast (DxO)
  • ... more
  • Miniature effect
  • Mobile photography
  • Monitor calibration
  • Moonlight

N

  • Nik Collection
  • Noir
  • Noise
  • Noise reduction
  • ... more
  • Non-destructive editing

O

  • Old Photo (Color Efex Pro)
  • ON1 360
  • ON1 Perfect Suite
  • ON1 Photo RAW
  • ... more
  • Organising
  • Orton Effect
  • Overlays

P

  • Panoramas
  • Parametric curves
  • Perspective correction
  • Perspective Efex
  • ... more
  • PhotoDirector
  • Photography Plan (Adobe)
  • Photoshop
  • Photoshop Elements
  • Picktorial
  • Picture Control/Style
  • Pincushion distortion
  • Pixelmator
  • Plug-ins
  • Point curve
  • Polarising filter
  • Post crop or pre crop vignette
  • Presets
  • Printer profile
  • Print sizes
  • Profiles
  • Provia

Q

  • Quick fixes

R

  • Radial filter
  • Radial gradient
  • Radial mask
  • Ratings
  • ... more
  • RAW+JPEG
  • RAW file
  • RAW processing
  • Recipes (Color Efex Pro)
  • Repair tool (DxO)
  • Replace Color
  • Retouching
  • RGB

S

  • S-shaped curve
  • Saturation
  • Selection
  • Selective colour
  • ... more
  • Selective Tone (DxO)
  • Sensei (Adobe)
  • Sensor size
  • Shadow recovery
  • Shadows
  • Sharpener Pro
  • Sharpening
  • Sidecar file
  • Signal to noise ratio
  • Silver Efex Pro
  • Skylum
  • Slow motion
  • Smart Album or Collection
  • Smart Object
  • Smart Preview (Lightroom)
  • SmugMug
  • Snapseed
  • Snapshot (editing)
  • Soft focus
  • Solarisation
  • Sony A7R II
  • Sony A6000
  • Split toning
  • Spot removal
  • sRGB
  • Straighten
  • Structure
  • Sunlight filter (Color Efex Pro)

T

  • Targeted adjustment
  • Temperature (white balance)
  • Textures
  • TIFF format
  • ... more
  • Tilt shift
  • Timelapse
  • Tint (white balance)
  • Tone curve
  • Toning
  • Topaz Labs
  • Transform

U

  • Upright tool (Lightroom)

V

  • Variants (Capture One Pro)
  • Velvia
  • Versions (Lightroom)
  • Vibrance
  • ... more
  • Video
  • Vignette
  • Vignetting
  • Virtual Copy (Lightroom)
  • Viveza
  • Volume deformation or anamorphosis

W

  • Warmth
  • Watermark
  • White balance
  • White balance presets
  • ... more
  • Working space

X

  • X-Trans sensor

Z

  • Zone System

0-9

  • 4K UHD
  • 4K video
  • 8-bit image
  • 1:1 ratio
  • ... more
  • 14-bit RAW
  • 16-bit image
  • 3:2 ratio
  • 4:3 ratio
  • 16:9

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OK