DSC01629-small_hdr.exr (23.1 MB)
This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.
Not a RAW, but an HDR created with PTGui out of 5 exposures (-6, -3, 0, +3 and +6 stops). 3 years ago I just gave up with this image. Now I can get something decent out of it. So, for all of you just starting with darktable: there is hope! 
DSC01629-small_hdr.exr.xmp (9.5 KB)
Curious to see what your take on it is.
J
Thanks for sharing.
I added the hdr tag for more visibility to those who are interested and have the computing power to handle EXR.
It may be worthwhile to share a single frame for those who have simpler or older machines or prefer simpler processing.
I would be interested in a single RAW file that captures the external view at its brightest without clipping if that is available. I use to do a lot of HDR when I shot JPGs in the distant past, but now I shoot RAW I usually find HDR process unnecessary except in rare cases.
Thanks for sharing!
The site https://ptgui.com/ shows impressive panoramas and HDR. On the positive side - it has a Linux version (this is admirable). On the other hand - the price is rather steep. Perhaps if a person shoots extensively panoramas and HDR it would be well worth it but for occasional shooters something like hugin is a very good choice. For clarity - I have been using mostly the panorama part - not HDR.
Iâd be curious indeed what a RAW file can achieve. But the picture is quite interesting.
I abstained from trying to show everything what is possible to recover. this simply doesnât go well with what Iâm used to see.
I imagine a scene with quite harsh contrasts, where Iâm able to perceive something in the outside. But not with the full range of colour or contrast.
Decided Iâd use CB-RGB to initially squash all the dynamic range, rather than tone equaliser
Donât know about that; last time I tried it it segfaulted while stitching. Didnât bother to investigate (my bad, but there are at least 5 bug reports with segfaults on launchpad). There are âhighâ importance issues open on Launchpad, opened in 2010. I get the impression that it is not as maintained as it used to be.
DSC01629.-3-0.ARW (46.6 MB)
There you go: -3 stops. The one at 0 stops clips the sky. Likely something in between would have been the best exposure for a single frame, but I donât have it.
I like it!
My favorite so far (the merged one) â quite realistic, few artifacts, ok colors.
I canât help wondering if with such a wide range of exposures there shouldnât be more detail. Iâd love to see what LuminanceHDR would do with the original files.
I concede that this is a picture that would benefit from a HDR approach but I am unaware of which FOSS software could best handle it. Could you share another raw file with O EV correction. I would be interested in trying to merge just two exposures. In my experience three exposures in the maximum that I found benefited HDR merging. I had previously tried up to nine but settled on three. You could share the +3 EV as well I guess. This would give me and others a chance to do a HDR merge.
DSC01629.-3-0.ARW.xmp (19.7 KB)
Fun trying to bridge the contrasts, tried to give the walls a glow. Though I realize the interiors to be quite dark in reality. Removed the bluish cast on the floor. Retained a bit of blue outside giving a color contrast with orange/brownish warmth inside.
No tonemapper mostly done with tone equalizer.
Edited with Ansel.
I like @Popanzâs approach, although in a place dominated by darkness, broken only by two small windows, the eyes tend to adapt to the darkness. But the perception remains that we are there, in a dark place with only two tiny windows that allow us to âguess,â but not âsee.â
I donât understand the dark part of the window on the right⌠Could it be boarded up?
I interpreted it as another similar build⌠(maybe wrong)
This is not an artistic take. Itâs a technical demonstration of how far you can push things while maintaining a natural look in todayâs software.
Cropped and converted to tif in GIMP, processed in RawTherapee 5.13.
Yes, that window faces a similar hut with its own window.
