B&w Hdr ?

[Peter_Jones]

I am intrigued by the look of black & white HDR (but not colour though - yuk!) and intend to process in colour then convert the HDR to b&w, playing with the channels in photoshop.

However I have tried a few HDR free download programs (Windows XP), and they either seem to not work at all, or not be able to save the output in a useful format (plain old jpg would be fine, or a version of tiff that would at least open in photoshop...)

I know the answer is to shell out for decent software, but after experimenting I might like it and not use it more than a few times.

Any tips or suggestions that might point me in the right direction ?

[segedi]

Just a reminder that you are posting this on a forum where most of use blow money on gear because we have to have it, but maybe only use it a couple times a year (or is this just me!?)

I would suggest looking for another free trial so you can play before purchase - listing the ones you tried might help.

Here's one: http://www.unifiedcolor.com/hdr-express
another: http://www.hdrsoft.com/download/win.html
or http://www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/usa/entry.php

[huntjump]

I honestly know very little on the subject, but I seem to see most people using Photomatix http://hdrsoftware.com/photomatix-review

HDR (color or B&W) only is pulled off when its subtle. Even b&W hdr can be hideously artificial and in my eye atleast, cheesy. But ive seen some cool color, and some cool B&W hdr, from time time. Curious to see your results once your workflow is locked down. Cheers

[Peter_Jones]

Cheers guys, I've found "EasyHDR Pro" which at least saves a file I can use - seems OK for subtle colour (i.e. actually useful for toning down the highlights and lifting shadows) but doesn't quite give me the "look" I'm after in b&w

@segedi - I don't class software as gear, hence no "GAS" lol