Macphun photographers to get retooled Aurora HDR 2018

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AuroraHDR2018
Aurora HDR from Macphun will soon have a new interface and great power.
Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Macphun

Imaging software company Macphun today announced a faster, more powerful version of its popular Aurora HDR.

Available for pre-order next month, Aurora HDR 2018 includes a redesigned user interface, speed upgrades in RAW imaging processing and merging and masking performance, and a lens correction tool that fixes chromatic aberration, vignetting and other forms of distortion.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR photography seeks to reproduce the dynamic range of luminosity that the human eye experiences.

Our eyes and brains can interpret a wide range of details in the varying light conditions of a scene, more so than a digital sensor. A photographer shooting landscapes at dusk, for example, has to choose between an exposure that captures the sky, the darker foreground or adjust the camera with a setting in between in hopes of preserving details later in post production.

A photographer can make three or more different exposures and blend the files with HDR software, which can also be used to tweak a single image to find a look somewhere in between the lightest highlights and the darkest shadows that preserve the most details across the spectrum.

Aurora HDR: HDR editing made simple

Aurora HDR 2018
Aurora HDR 2018 will be available for pre-order and release next month.
Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Macphun

Macphun – which began with Mac-centric software six years ago until recently, when it made some of its software available for PC users – is known for its easy-to-use photo editing programs with simple presets and slider bars.

Aurora HDR was developed with photographer Trey Ratcliff in 2015 and has exceeded 1.7 million downloads.

Pre-ordering from the Macphun website begins on Sept. 12 and will be delivered on Sept. 28. Aurora HDR 2018 will retail for $59 for current users or $99 for newcomers. Macphun is offering a $10 discount during the pre-order period.

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