Chapter X. The Lucis Pro Approach
As you have seen, there are several methods for expanding the dynamic range of a single image. Here is yet another one: Lucis Pro (www.lucispro.com).
Technically speaking, Lucis® is the trade name for Differential Hysteresis Processing, a patented image-enhancement process that was originally developed to enhance detail in scanning electron-microscope images.
Practically speaking, Lucis Pro quickly, easily and accurately reveals indiscernible image information that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to view with the naked eye.
Lucis Pro is not cheap. It's about $600 compared to $80 for Photomatix. And many say it's worth it. It is a very powerful tool, and many pros I know use this Photoshop Plug-in.
In this chapter I'll give you a quick overview of Lucis Pro, which I used to create this image from a single photograph. Yet as powerful as Lucis Pro is, I still felt that the Lucis Pro image needed some tweaking. So I boosted the saturation and opened up the shadows a bit more in Photoshop, as described in a previous chapter. You'll see the straight Lucis Pro image later in this chapter.
I took this picture at the Buddhist temple near my home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. It's one of the shooting locations for our Hudson River Photography Workshops. Participants love to shoot here, because there are so many interesting subjects.
What is most amazing ...
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