HDR Efex Pro 2 Photoshop Plugin Free Download

The Nik Software plugins for Lightroom, Aperture and Photoshop are among the best tools for giving an image that final touch up for the look I’m after. They range from subtle to very in-your-face, and in my opinion Silver Efex Pro 2 is the best thing you can possibly use for black and white conversions. Nik’s HDR software, HDR Efex Pro, has been my HDR tool of choice for a while now, and Nik has just released Version 2 of the software. While I haven’t had a chance to really delve into all of the improvements, there are a few things that really stick out to me as well worth the upgrade.

I do a lot of hand held HDR shots in good light. I set auto bracketing on my camera, high speed frame advance, and rattle off 5 to 7 bracketed shots in the span of a second. This generally can yield usable images for HDR merging, though a tripod is always better. One limitation to many HDR merging programs, including the original HDR Efex Pro, is that if the source images weren’t perfectly aligned, you’d get ‘ghosts’ from some of the exposures. To get rid of the ghosts meant a time consuming and tedious process of cloning out the doubled edges. HDR Efex Pro 2 includes automatic ghost removal, and it does so by allowing you to select a master image (usually the base exposure), and then it will use that reference to eliminate ghosts from misalignment. This is an extremely useful tool not only for hand held HDRs, but for HDRs of landscapes where there are things blowing in the wind, such as grass or tree leaves. In the past, these movements between shots could make the HDR unsightly. In my testing so far the ghost removal tool is fantastic. Usually only 20-40% strength is needed, but on my example shot you’ll see in a moment, I had to use 100%, but it got the ghosts!

Much improved tone mapping engine

One of the biggest complaints about HDR photography is that most of them look fake. Sometimes that’s the look you’re after, but if you aren’t after that look, you need really careful processing and sometimes even that isn’t enough. The new tone mapping engine in HDR Efex Pro yields a much more natural looking HDR image with minimal effort. You can still go crazy with wild HDRs if you want, but the realistic HDR settings are much improved, and the results look more realistic and natural and are more pleasing to my eye…and they take less time to do!

Graduated Density

HDR Efex Pro 2 includes a graduated density control that will allow you basically easily replicate a Grad ND effect with your HDR, utilizing the full 32 bit range of the HDR image. With images with well defined horizons, it allows for much greater control over the foreground and sky exposure, which also adds to the improvement in realism.

I also have found the overall user interface to be a big step up. It’s more intuitive, faster and allows for much greater control.

The image above is an HDR of three exposures that I took last November in Morro Bay, California. I tried to get a realistic HDR at first, and didn’t like the results at all, so I went for a more surreal sort of look. HDR Efex Pro (version 1) did a nice job getting me that look, though I had a LOT of cleanup work to do, as the source images were a little off, even after alignment. I had to do a ton of cloning around the dock area and the light poles, as well as on the horizon line to eliminate ghosts. I also had to do some work on the water, which had odd interference artifacts from the changing waves. While I like the image this way, a part of me always disliked how it sort of looked ‘digital’.

Key Features Download Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2 :

Intuitive interface, with easy to understand photographic terminology and the actual processed results always displayed
U Point powered selective tools for fast, precise enhancements of contrast, shadow, structure, saturation adjustments, and more
Multiple proprietary tone mapping algorithms enabling a wide range of HDR styles
Visual presets that produce amazing results in a single-click
Ability to create the HDR look from a single exposure
Advanced technology for automatic image alignment and reduction of subject motion artifacts known as “ghosts”
All-in-one 32-bit color workflow enabling the creation of professional HDR images

System Requirements Download Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2 :

Windows Vista® and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit compatible)
Adobe® Photoshop® (CS4 Win) CS5 through CS6
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 3 through 4

GPU Compatibilty Download Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2 :

NVIDIA – GeForce 8 Series, GeForce 9 Series, GeForce 100 Series, GeForce 200 Series, GeForce 300 Series, GeForce 400 Series, GeForce 500 Series
ATI – Radeon HD2000 Series, Radeon HD3000 Series, Radeon HD4000 Series, Radeon HD5000 Series, Radeon HD6000 Series
Intel – Intel HD Graphics 3000

HDR Efex Pro 2 Photoshop Plugin Free Download