Lightroom 2.0 - HDR need reduced?

Have just gone back over some old (multiple) images taken with HDR in mind. These almost exclusively landscape with the accompanying bright sky and dark foreground problem to be solved.

Guess what? Use of LR 2.1 graduated filter produces finished results which w/o pixel by pixel inspection, looks pretty damn good to me.

LR 2.0 rocks baby! (I think that's what you chaps say ...)

Show us the proof. Any side by side comparisons?

bill, LR2 does nothing that photoshop could not do in the past. depending on what camera you are using, you have about 1 to 1.5 stop room on the highlights that you can recover in raw format (I am assuming you are shooting raw). when I bracket for HDR, my light and dark exposures are 3-4 stops apart.

All true Kevindar. However, the grad filter effect does seem to me to be very powerful and subtly more effective than the bare figures state.
I feel that I am not going to need HDR very much judging from the sky correction now so easily available w/o the hassle of HDR manipulation.
Early days yet but so far, so impressed.

Sorry In2photos, just too much trouble at present .... may try later.

I agree LR2 rocks. and I agree the gradient function greatly decreases need for photoshop.

kevindar wrote in post #6500833
bill, LR2 does nothing that photoshop could not do in the past.

Photoshop cannot do localized exposure adjustments with brushes in RAW format which is what the OP is talking about.

billhercus wrote in post #6500310
Have just gone back over some old (multiple) images taken with HDR in mind. These almost exclusively landscape with the accompanying bright sky and dark foreground problem to be solved.

Guess what? Use of LR 2.1 graduated filter produces finished results which w/o pixel by pixel inspection, looks pretty damn good to me.

LR 2.0 rocks baby! (I think that's what you chaps say ...)

I agree. The tools in LR2 greatly reduce the need for HDR, which can only be a good thing.

I know this isa little off topic but can any one direct me to a link to update from lr2
to lr2.1 please ?

rooeey wrote in post #6501102
I know this isa little off topic but can any one direct me to a link to update from lr2
to lr2.1 please ?

There is no official release yet, only beta.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=571565

Mike55 wrote in post #6501084
Photoshop cannot do localized exposure adjustments with brushes in RAW format which is what the OP is talking about.

Not yet.
ACR 5 will do that AFAIK.

To the OP: I've found the easiest way to blend exposures in LR is Enfuse.

René Damkot wrote in post #6501252
Not yet.
ACR 5 will do that AFAIK.

Indeed it does.

*hugs CS4*

HankScorpio wrote in post #6501453
Indeed it does.

*hugs CS4*

How would you compare the two programs? Thanks.

Compare which two?

HankScorpio wrote in post #6506827
Compare which two?

CS4 and LR2 in terms of RAW ability.

Ah, I see. Well so far, there's not much to choose between them in terms of features (of ACR 5 v LR 2) but LR 2 is easier to use and easier to re-process images. Of course CS 4 like all photoshop versions is a workshop compared to LR's specific toolkit but just the ACR 5 import part doesn't offer much over LR 2.