HDR One Magazine Issue 2 Highlights

Contents
Working Through my HDR Workflow....................................................................... 3
Surreal HDR Workflow........................................................................................... 14
Moving Objects in HDR – Using A Single RAW....................................................... 18
Big Ben Bus Stop HDR Workflow............................................................................ 25
Urbex Photo Essay: IM Power Plant....................................................................... 32
Roof topping in Ulsan............................................................................................. 35
Temple at the top workflow article ....................................................................... 39
Realistic vs Surreal HDR – Is it important?............................................................. 45
Gloucester Cathedral ............................................................................................. 47
Understanding the Adjustment Sliders in Photomatix Pro.................................... 49
HDR in motion: realistic HDR for wildlife photographers...................................... 52
.............................................................. 60
HDR One Advisor No2 – A Castle on a Hill……………………………………………………… ….61
....................................... 68
5 Things I wish I knew when I started HDR............................................................ 73
Cathedrals and Churches in HDR ........................................................................... 76
Fritz Photography – Surreal HDR Processing Workflow ........................................ 79
About HDR One...................................................................................................... 84
Copyright notice:
Content found in HDR One Magazine is the property of HDR One and the accredited
photographers/authors. This cannot be reproduced, edited, sold, or used in anyway other
than for personal use, without express permission from HDR One and the accredited
photographers/authors.
What to Expect
HDR One editor, Jimmy McIntyre reviews this month’s
issue.
As our second month in existence passes by, HDR One plays host once
again to some wonderful HDR photographers who’ve given us a wealth
of information that most paid ebooks couldn’t offer.
From tutorials on moving objects and single RAWs, to surreal
workflows, and HDR for wildlife, there’s something for everyone in this
month’s edition.
In our recent HDR One Advisor feature, James Pawlowski had a
particularly difficult challenge ahead of him. The guys at NIK software
even gave it a go.
The NIK photo contest is still going (enter here), and we’re holding our
first HDR One blog of the year awards. Please vote for your favourite
blog.
As well as all that there’s an urbex photo essay, a reflective article from
an experienced HDRist, and some great advice for shooting in
cathedrals and churches.
The biggest change to the magazine is that it is now open to the public.
You can become a contributor and feature on the site and monthly
magazine. Read more about it here
Finally, don’t forget to start an HDR One portfolio and show us your best
work!
All the best
Jimmy McIntyre

Working Through my HDR Workflow
by Justin Brown - http://www.flickr.com/photos/justininsd/
As a photographer, I am constantly studying the work of others. My
favorite source of inspiration comes from all the images posted to the
internet every day. I am constantly looking to improve my knowledge
and my ability as a photographer. Over time I have studied images,
read books, watched videos, and read articles like this. Through my
learning process, a few things have become clear. First, there is no
right or wrong answer when it comes to processing an image. The best
workflow is the one that works for you, and the best way to learn, is
keep doing it a lot. I’ve found there are no two photographers that
follow the same process, and I regularly find myself changing my
workflow from image to image. There are not any magic formulas, or
any perfect presets that will give you an amazing result every time. As
you read through this, or any HDR tutorial, I hope you are able to learn
something, but I also want to point out that what works for me, may not
always work for you. If you are new to HDR, there is nothing wrong with
following along closely, but as you spend more time, try new things, and
learn what works for you.
Setting Up An HDR Shot
When it comes to HDR, the most important piece of hardware (other
than the camera), is a good sturdy tripod. Nothing will improve your
HDR more than shooting at low ISO from a fixed position. Image
alignment in HDR software is not too bad, but there is no substitute to
having the images aligned from the start. Also, shooting at low ISO will
help limit the noise created during the tone mapping process. The HDR
process adds to any existing noise, so starting out with the least noise
possible will result in a better finished image. I almost always shoot
brackets in aperture priority mode, and I use the lowest possible ISO.
Shooting the Bracket
When I shoot an HDR bracket, I most often use 5 exposures from -3EV
to +3EV. If your camera only shoots 3 exposure brackets, there is a
good chance a +2/0/-2 will give you all that you need to create an
HDR. If not, you can shoot 3 exposures below 0EV, then using
exposure compensation in your camera shift the exposure above 0EV
and shoot three more exposures. I’ve found -3EV to +3EV works for
me. It consistently covers the full tonal range of the scene and I rarely
worry that I’ve missed anything. The only time I might go beyond +/-
3EV is if I shoot straight into the sun. The goal of an HDR bracket is to
get image data that covers the full tonal range of the scene, from the
darkest shadow, to the brightest highlight. The darkest exposure should
not have any clipped highlights, and the brightest exposure should not
have any black shadows. The histogram on the back of the camera is a
great tool to make sure you have achieved this in your images. Here
are the 5 sources files I will be working through in this tutorial. The
exposure value for each image is -3EV, -1.5EV, 0EV, +1.5EV, and
+3EV.

Exporting to Photomatix
Before exporting, verify the color temperature and tint is the same for all
of the bracketed images. If the images were all shot in one auto
exposure bracket, this should not be a problem. I use Adobe
Lightroom, so the first step is to select the files I want to export. The
easiest way to do this is click the first image in the sequence, then hold
shift and click the last image in the sequence. With all the bracketed
images selected, right click and choose Export -> Photomatix Pro. This
will open the Photomatix Export window.
If the camera was on a tripod, the align images check box does not
need to be marked. If the bracket was shot handheld, check the align
images box, and use the by matching features option. I never select

reduce ghosting artefacts, even if subjects are moving in the scene. I
don’t think the ghost reduction in Photomatix does a very good job, and
it tends to add a lot of noise. This bracket was shot at ISO 400 so I
decided to check the reduce noise button. Sometimes I use Lightroom
to reduce noise, and sometimes I wait until after the tone mapping is
finished to reduce noise, in this case, I checked the box. If the ISO had
been any lower I would not have used this feature. I never check the
reduce chromatic aberrations box or the show 32-bit box, now I am
ready to Export. Press the Export button to open Photomatix.
Tone Mapping in Photomatix
Once the export finishes, the image will open in Photomatix. If this is
your first time in Photomatix, it will open with the default settings
applied. If you have used Photomatix before, it will open your last used
settings. I always like to start from the default, so each time I open
Photomatix I click the default button near the bottom.
Now it’s time to start playing with the sliders. The tone mapped image
generated by Photomatix is almost never perfect, so I just try to get as
much of the image looking good as possible. I usually start with the
Strength slider and set it to 100, then go to the Detail Contrast and
move it up to between 3 and 4. Next I move the black point up from
zero. The image should be starting to get pretty dark at this point. I use
a combination of Gamma, Luminosity and White Point to bring the
brightness back up.
Once the light is pretty well balanced, I go to the Lighting Adjustments
slider. I always stick with the slider and never the Lighting Effects
Mode. I usually try the slider on both sides of zero before I settle on a
position, anything to the left is going to have a more “HDR” type look,
and anything to the right will give a bit more realistic look. My position
with this slider varies from image to image, but I usually try to keep it
relatively close to the center. It is very rare I will ever exceed +3 or -
3. After Lighting Adjustments I check Color Saturation, and adjust it as
need for the image.
Next, I revisit Detail Contrast, Luminosity, and Gamma to make sure I
am happy with everything so far. I do not usually touch any of the other
sliders with the exception of micro-smoothing. If I want an image to look
gritty or have a lot of texture, sometimes I will decrease this slider a few
notches. As usual, the image is not perfect at this point, but it looks
good enough for now. I noticed some haloing around the bridge’s
support cables, and there is ghosting of a car driving past the stadium,
but these are issues that can be addressed later in Photoshop. When
I’m done in Photomatix I click Save and Re-import to send the finished
file back to Lightroom. Here are the settings I ended up using for this
image; I would say these values are pretty typical for most of my HDRs.

Back in Lightroom
Once the tone mapped file arrives back in Lightroom I do some basic
cleanup before I send it out to Photoshop to be masked with the source
files. I like to add some contrast and clarity, and correct clipped
shadows, highlights, whites and blacks. An easy way to see if any of
these settings are clipped is to alt-click (option-click on a mac) the
slider.
The clipped areas are highlighted, and they disappear as the slider
moves. Once the basic adjustments are finished, it’s on to masking. In
my opinion, masking is the most important part of any HDR
workflow. To export the files to Photoshop, select the 5 source files and
the tone mapped output from Photomatix. Right click one of the images
and select Edit In -> Open as Layers in Photoshop.
Working in Photoshop
The files should each open in their own layer in Photoshop.

If the brackets were shot with a tripod, they should already be aligned,
but if they were shot hand held, do not forget to align each layer. Auto-
align in Photoshop usually works pretty well, but sometimes it needs a
little help to get everything straight. Once alignment is finished, I’m
ready to start masking source files. I like to move the tone mapped
image to the top of the layer stack, and open a new layer mask. To
open a layer mask, click the rectangular icon with a circle in the middle
at the bottom right of the screen, or just go to the menu at the top of the
window and click Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal All. Once the layer
mask is created select the brush tool. I set my brush to a soft (hardness
<10%) round brush, and set a low opacity (10-20%). Set the color to
black and start to paint, the image directly below the top layer will begin
to show through. I like to start by blending the 0EV exposure. The 0EV
exposure usually helps where contrast is low, or where the image is
tonally flat after the tone mapping process. In this image I masked in a
little bit of the bridge, the bright lights were a little flat after tone
mapping, and I wanted to show some of the brightness from the lights
and give the bridge a little more contrast. I did the same in the lit part of
the stadium. The layer mask ended up looking like this.
After I finished with the 0EV layer I merged the tone mapped layer and
the 0EV layer, and then created another layer mask to start masking the
+1.5EV exposure. When I was in Photomatix I noticed some haloing
around the bridge’s support cables. The +1.5EV exposure has a sky
that is close to the same tone as the sky from the tone mapped

image. This is the best source file to mask in the sky and eliminate the
halos around the support cables. Again I used a soft round brush, this
time at a little higher opacity, and painted in all the sky in the image. I
also used the +1.5EV image to mask away the ghosted cars driving
past the stadium. The layer mask for this layer looked like this.
Once I finished I merged the layers and opened a new layer mask to
use with the -1.5EV image. For this bracket the -1.5EV exposure is
pretty dark. It will be useful for any areas that are very bright in the tone
mapped image. In this case, I only used it to mask part of the Petco
Park sign. Masking the sign at low opacity made it pop just a little
more. I didn’t find any other areas that I thought would benefit from the
dark exposure. I merged these two layers, and next examined the
+3EV and the -3EV images. The +3EV ended up being too bright, and
the -3EV was too dark, for masking so I just deleted those layers.
Noise Reduction
With source masking complete, I am ready to move on to noise
reduction. There are many options when it comes to noise reduction,
but the one that works for me is Topaz Denoise. From Photoshop,
duplicate the existing layer by pressing Control-J (Command-J on a
Mac). Select the top layer and go to Filter -> Topaz Labs -> Topaz
Denoise. Denoise will open in a new window on top of Photoshop. I
usually just stick with one of the presets since they seem to work pretty

well. I like to start with RAW – light, and work my way up until the
visible noise is gone. Usually noise is most visible in the sky, but since
this sky was masked from one of the source files, it may not have as
much noise as other areas of the frame. The RAW-moderate preset
looked pretty good so I selected it and clicked the OK button.
This brings the image back to Photoshop. Since noise reduction can
reduce detail I created a layer mask and masked out the areas of the
image with the most detail. This ended up being primarily the stadium
and some parts of the bridge. Here is the layer mask I created.
Color Correcting in Photoshop
With noise reduction finished, I am ready to move on to color
correction. I don’t like how yellow the street lights are around the base
of the stadium, they cast a harsh yellow glow on everything that I do not
find pleasing. I cannot correct the color by simply cooling the entire
image because the white light from the bridge will turn blue. Instead, I
will add a cooling photo filter, and mask it in the areas I find too
yellow. First create the filter by clicking on the photo filter adjustment
layer. Then select which filter works best from the filter drop down
menu.

At this point the filter is affecting the entire image, but that is easy to fix
by inverting the mask. Click on the layer mask in the adjustment layer
and then click control-i (command-i on a Mac). This will invert the layer
mask turning it all black and removing its effect from the image. Now
select the layer mask and choose a soft white adjustment brush. (A
quick tip about brush colors, if the foreground and background colors in
Photoshop are set to white and black, simply pressing the ‘X’ button will
toggle between the two. This makes quickly switching between
masking in or out a breeze.) Now start painting with a white adjustment
brush in the areas of the image that are too yellow. The finished
adjustment layer looks like this.
The stadium still looks a little yellower than I would like it to be, but if I
keep adding photo filters it will turn the neutral colors blue. In order to
keep reducing the yellow in the stadium I chose to use a saturation
adjustment layer. Within the adjustment window I selected Yellows
from the drop down list (which is set to master by default, master
includes all colors). Then I reduced the saturation slider until I liked the
level of yellow in the stadium. I didn’t want to pull yellow out of the
entire image, so again I inverted the mask by pressing control-i and
opened a soft white adjustment brush. I painted the effect on the
stadium until I ended up with this.

Stylizing with Photoshop Plug-Ins
I’m pretty happy with the colors at this point, and I’m ready to add some
stylistic effects to the image. When I’m ready to finish an image I open
up Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Topaz Adjust, or OnOne Perfect Effects. My
favorite of the three is Nik Color Efex because they have the cleanest
user interface, the most stable software, and they have some of my
favorite effects. Select the image layer and browse to Filter -> Nik
Software -> Color Efex Pro 4 and the Color Efex window will open on
top of Photoshop.
The Color Efex interface allows multiple effects to be stacked together,
and has a feature called control points that intelligently adds or removes
a filter in the region you select. I prefer to mask individual effects in
Photoshop, but on occasion the control points and filter stacking can be
useful. My favorite filters from Color Efex are Tonal Contrast, Detail
Extractor, Bleach Bypass, and Glamor Glow. In this image, I added
Detail Extractor and Tonal Contrast. Both filters help add texture and
local contrast. I used the default settings for each, but reduced the
opacity for both filters to around 50%. I applied each filter separately,
and below are the layer masks I used for each.

The screen shots above are a little misleading, the layer labeled “Photo
Filter” is the original image file before the Color Efex Filter was added,
and the layer below is the output from Color Efex with the filter
applied. The dark sections of the masks are where the filter will be
visible, in both cases I focused on the stadium and the bridge to bring
out texture and add contrast.
Sharpening with Photoshop
The final step in the process is to sharpen the image. There are many
ways to perform sharpening; I like to use the high pass filter method in
Photoshop. Tone mapping has a tendency to soften edges, so
sharpening is an important tool in the HDR workflow. I start with the
image selected in Photoshop and click Control-J to duplicate the
layer. Select the top layer and go to Filter -> Other -> High Pass.
This turns everything gray and opens a dialog box with a Radius
slider. I usually select a radius between 3 and 4 pixels, depending on
what looks good, and then click ok. Next, in the blend mode (pull-down
located in the layers tab on the right), select soft light. This will apply
sharpening to the entire image. I like to apply sharpening selectively to
avoid creating extra noise. Again I create a layer mask for the high
pass layer, invert the layer, and paint with a white brush where I want to
add detail sharpness. The images below show a before and after
comparison of the sharpening at 105% crop.

Finishing Up
After masking the high pass layer I merge it with the original and save
the file. Once the save is complete, close Photoshop and go back to
Lightroom. I use Lightroom for any final adjustments, crop, and add a
vignette, if needed. For this image I cropped out some of the street at
the bottom of the frame and added a slight vignette of -14 in
Lightroom. Here is the final image after export from Lightroom.
Follow the comments on this article here -
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/08/26/walking-through-my-hdr-workflow-
by-justin-brown/

Surreal HDR Workflow
By David Rodriguez Palomar -
http://www.facebook.com/david.rodriguezpalomar
This photo was taken during my short stay in Venice last summer. I
spent three days there and it was enough time to realize how much the
weather can change in that city. The days can start dark and cloudy,
even with heavy rains and storms but finish with a beautiful sunset in
the afternoon… and the other way around. So carrying the camera
almost becomes a must to capture the beautiful skies that occur over
there.
To take the picture, I turned the mode dial of my camera to “Av”
(aperture priority), and I used the auto-bracketing [0, -2, +2] EV. I
adjusted the ISO to 100 because despite of the clouds, there was much
light, and F8 to get the proper depth of field. I always save the files as
“RAW + JPEG”, then I can display them more easily later because of
the lightness of the JPEG compared to the RAW file.
Once the photographs were taken (image 1), it was time of post-
processing. Starting with Adobe Camera RAW (in Photoshop), to open
the 3 RAW files. Here I adjusted some values like the white balance,
lens distortion, chromatic aberrations, details, etc…
Image 1.

After this, I saved the new images as a JPEG format (I did this with
each RAW file).The final step right before the HDR process consisted of
aligning the 3 images. This was quite easy, opening the 3 images into
one file and using the option “auto-align layers” in Photoshop. Finally I
cropped them to remove the empty areas.
Now I moved on to another program, Photomatix. This is where I
introduced the 3 JPEG files previously aligned. I never use the same
combination of settings to process my photos in this program, and do
not even choose a preset, I think every image requires its own level of
adjustment. But I always prefer to give the image a real look rather than
unrealistic or psychedelic. Below you can see the tone mapped image
Image 2.
As you can see, the auto-alignment works pretty well in the areas of
steady objects, but obviously it doesn’t do when moving objects appear
on the scene, like people moving. To avoid this “ghost effect“, I needed
to use masks. What you can do in these cases is merge the resultant
tone mapped image with one of the JPEG files (previously processed
with Camera RAW), or else tone mapping one single raw, which will
give to the image a similar ‘HDR look’ than the first one. I chose the
second way, and here you can see the differences before and after
masking (image 3).
Okay, once I had completed this step, I had my HDR image ready.
From that, I started observing the photo and thinking about what I could
do to give a more interesting look to it. To be honest, during my stay in
Venice I wanted to take a picture that later I’d have used as a reference
to make a painting or a drawing. Finally I decided It’d be more
interesting if I combined a picture and a painting together, I mean, real
elements with sketches. And that’s what I did with this photo, which is
very similar to a Matte Painting technique.
I had no hurry to finish the image and I took my time looking at it and
creating ideas in my head… When I’m not sure about how to process a
picture I prefer to leave it for some time and start processing a new one,
but this time my inspiration didn’t come too late. The original cloud
shapes were quite interesting, so I tried to follow those lines by
stretching and exaggerating them with the help of the brushes.

Image 4.
The red touches of one of the images above (image 4), represent the
idea I had about how would be the final result. It was time to catch my
graphic tablet and begin to paint (it might be painted with the mouse but
it’s very frustrating to change the hardness and opacity constantly). I
selected a soft brush (hardness = 0%) and a proper size, according to
the image and the clouds themselves. And I also set the opacity and
flow to 100%. Now I needed to choose the colors to draw. With the
“eyedropper tool” I picked a bright and a dark color from the image itself
(image 5). To save much time you can select the bright as the front
color and the dark as the background color (or vice versa), and switch
them anytime pressing the “X” key (in Windows).
Now I had everything ready to start painting on the photo. Using the
bright color I started creating the new shapes and the dark color helped
me to make the shadows, trying to get a three-dimensional look. The
following pictures show the steps I took to cover the whole sky (image
6). I started from the top right corner because I wanted to keep those
clouds so I used them as a reference, and then moving to the left. When
you have control of the pressure of the pen it’s easier to blend colors
and avoid sharp edges. That’s why I use a tablet, it allows me to do this.

Image 6. At this point the photo was almost finished. I do always reduce noise as
a rule, but in this case I didn’t. There was only a little bit of noise in the
sky but it was really subtle and after painting with the brush it almost
disappeared. Therefore, one of the last steps I did was applying
“curves” to darken shadows as well as enhancing the lights, increasing
the global contrast. And finally the sharpening of the image using an
“unsharp mask” with low values. Finally my image was done.
I’m constantly experimenting with my photos, so every of them
constitute an exception in my way of editing. And I encourage people to
do the same. Hope this simple “step by step” was useful and interesting
for those who love photography, HDR and experimental techniques.
Thanks a lot for reading it! And if you have any doubt you can post your
coment below, I’ll be glad to answer you.
Follow the comments on this article here -
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/02/surreal-hdr-workflow/

Moving Objects in HDR – Using A
Single RAW
By Jimmy McIntyre – http://strange-lands.com/daily
In order to capture the full range of light in any given scene we often
have to use multiple exposures. The number of exposures needed
varies greatly from scene to scene. Sometimes, however, we are forced
into a situation where only one image is usable for the HDR process.
Why use a single image?
Often when light is sparse and we can’t use a tripod it is almost
impossible to capture those higher exposure shots. We can crank up
the ISO but any HDR photographer can tell you how disastrous that can
be. HDR programs simply can’t handle high noise levels.
A second reason for only capturing one image is excessive movement.
Moving objects aren’t usually a challenge to fix using Photomatix’s
deghosting function and then cleaning up in Photoshop. But sometimes
movement is so excessive the images won’t align correctly.
When can’t you use a single image?
When the scenes are too contrasting the 0 exposure shot will not
encompass a sufficient range of light. For example, during a sunny day
objects in the foreground may look fine while the sky is often completely
white. Even if you manually lower the exposures in Lightroom or an
equivalent later, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to salvage much detail.
For example, the shot below of Prambanan temple was far too
contrasting. The RAW file had very little information for the sky.Even
manually lowering the exposure in Lightroom left me with next to
nothing to work with.
After combining this with -2 (and +2 exposures) I was able to pull more
than enough detail from the sky.

What we’ll do today
There are as many ways to process a single image as there are photos.
Every shot demands its own workflow. For this particular photo I’m
going to combine HDR processing and Lightroom editing to go from
this:
To this:
About the image
Essentially this is not a perfectly processed image of course. On close
inspection you’ll see imperfections, and like any other photo
compositional improvements can be made. However, I chose this image
because it had everything necessary for this tutorial – a reasonably low
contrasting scene, moving objects, and darker areas that are difficult to
render in Photomatix.
What’s needed?
- A low contrasting scene or you can use my photo – here
- Lightroom

Photoshop
- Photomatix
- Noise removal software (I’ll use Topaz Denoise)
- This image http://www.mediafire.com/?gzgyh1tb5i5seez
- A moderate understanding of photoshop
Step One
Export the image from Lightroom onto your desktop. Call this image
‘Main’.
Step Two
Go in to the Develop section of Lightroom, and on the same image put
the following sliders on these numbers:
Recovery = 64
Fill light = 80
Blacks = 5
Contrast = 41
Now export this image and call it ‘Girl’.
This is the image you should have after Lightroom.
Step Three
Open Photoshop and run the images through your noise removal
program. I’ll use the default Moderate setting in Todaz De-noise.
This is an absoltely essential step when processing a single image.
Since your photo won’t contain anywhere near enough information to
create a well-balanced image, the HDR process will bring out
horrendous noise in some areas. On this particular image the horse will
be a burning red. In fact, you’ll see that the image still contains a lot of
noise after being tone mapped.
Run all three images through your noise removal software.
Step Four
Open Photomatix and drag and drop the Main image. Run it through
Tone mapping and make all of the dials look like mine.

Save image as ‘Main 1’.
The problem with this image is that it contains a few halos. Not
conventional white halos, but mirky dark halos, especially around the
horse’s legs.
Step Five
We now want to create an image with similar contrast and color but with
no halos. Drag and drop the Main image again into Photomatix and
copy the dials below.

Reducing Strength, Luminosity and detail contrast will flatten your
image but it will also remove any halos, as you can see below.
Now save this image as ‘No Halos’.
Step Six
In Photoshop open the file ‘No Halos’. Then, on top of ‘No Halos’ drag
and drop the ‘Main’ image. They will align perfectly.
What we need to do here is to replace the areas with halos on the top
image with the cleaner parts of the image below. You can do this by
simply selecting the Eraser Tool on the left and going over those parts. I
set the opacity to around 50% since there were some differences
between colour and contrast in the images. Remember to use the Soft
Round brush so the transition is smoother.
Once you’ve finished, flatten these images (Layer>Flatten Image) and
save the resulting image as ‘Main 2’.
Step Seven
By now you should have an image without any serious haloing but the
woman, the horse, and the guide to the right will be riddled with
red/purple/blue noise.
This is where the image ‘Girl’ comes into play. Open it in Photoshop and
then place ‘Main 2’ on top of it. What we want here is the detail and
colour from the girl, horse, and guide found in the ‘Girl’ image to replace
its noisy counterpart in the ‘Main 2’.
As before, select the Eraser Tool, and slowly work your way around
those objects at 100% opacity. When you’ve finished, don’t flatten the
images. Sharpen the ‘Girl’ layer first and adjust the contrast to fit with
the contrast of ‘Main 2’.
Now flatten the image.

Step Eight
If you look closely you’ll see a lot of chromatic aberration around the girl
and horse. Usually I’d remove this before the HDR processing but on
this occasion it wasn’t very effective. There are a lot of different ways to
remove chromatic aberration, but in this situation you are going to trim
the edge of the object by using the Clone Stamp.
Zoom into the girls head. Make the Clone Stamp around 9 in size and
make sure to use the Hard Round brush. Clone just to the right side of
the girl’s head (the sky), perfectly parallel to the part you’re going to
start with. Then begin replacing the chromatic aberration. Do this with
every other area that needs it too.
Step Nine
Now play with the contrast and colours until you find what pleases you
most.
This is the final image:
Final Words
In my personal opinion, processing a single image should never be a
substitute for multiple exposures if you have the choice. You will lose
contrast, details, and depth of colours.
I actually processed the image we’ve worked with today using 3
exposures and there is a marked improvement in the shot. There’s
greater detail and contrast on the sky and on the ground, as well as
rounder colours throughout the picture.However, I still had to use only
the Main image for details on the moving objects.
The same image using 3 exposures.
Follow the comments on this article here:
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/02/moving-objects-in-hdr-using-a-
single-raw/

Big Ben Bus Stop HDR Workflow
by Yhun Suarez - http://yhun-suarez.artistwebsites.com/
This image was taken during the 2nd
week of the London Olympics
2012. As I live in Derbyshire (which is over a hundred miles north from
London), I rarely get a chance to visit this city. But whenever I do, I
always try and make the most of my time taking as many photos as I
can. Lucky for me the good weather was on my side and I had the
perfect opportunity to capture this beautiful sunset at the world-famous
Big Ben!
So in case you are interested to know how I processed this image,
please browse through the work flow that I have laid out step by step
below.
Capturing The Image & Composition:
I have taken a shot of this angle a few times before but never during a
sunset with less light. My aim was to get some light trails for a change
but there was hardly any traffic at the time and most cars & buses didn’t
have their lights on. So I thought that the blur from a moving bus is a
good alternative if I can get the timing right.
I picked a nice spot with a “bus stop” road sign to add interest to the
shot, just so the bottom 3rd
of the frame doesn’t look too empty. It also
gives that irony of the bus not stopping where it should be. I needed
space for the bus motion blur so I deliberately positioned the Big Ben
tower to the right side of the frame where the sun is also nicely
positioned as it gradually sets. Got my Nikon D90 with a Tamron 10-24
mm lens secured on a tripod and framed the shot as planned. Camera
was set up on aperture priority mode, auto exposure bracketing (-2, 0,
+2) as RAW files, focal length 10 mm, f/22, lowest ISO speed.
With my remote trigger on hand, I just needed the bus to slightly go past
the tower before opening the shutter. Of course it took me a few tries
until I got satisfied with the result.
These are the 3 bracketted exposures:

Tone mapping Through Photomatix:
The 3 RAW images above were imported to Photomatix and adjusted to
these settings.
I always use the sliders for the details enhancer in Photomatix. The
values & settings vary depending on the image I have and the effect I
would like to create.
If I’m unsure I sometimes start with the default setting and adjust the
sliders from there.
My estimated values that I use:
Strength: I like this quite high from 70-100
Color Saturation: Somewhere in the middle. You can always adjust your
saturation after.
Luminosity: Somewhere in the middle and to the right.
Microcontrast: I try and keep it at the negatives. Again, you can adjust
contrast later.
Smoothing: Between middle and far right.
White point: Around the .60% value.
Black point: Far left.
Gamma: Somewhere in the middle and left.
Colour Settings: Middle.
Miscellaneous Settings: Usually far left apart from micro-smoothing. It
sometimes come out too noisy and grungy at far left so I move it to the
right to bring it down a notch.
Save file as tif of jpeg. I always save my images as tif for better results
in post processing.

The tone mapped image:
The post Photomatix image is a bit dull and desaturated. This is when I
export the tif file to Photoshop for further adjustment.
First thing I decided to sort out was this ghosting on the far right side of
the image:
To cover this up, I opened the +2 (overexposed image) as a layer mask
on top of it as it doesn’t have the ‘ghost’ (unlike the 0 & -2 exposures). If
in case you are not familiar with the layer masking technique, you may
want to have a quick stop at a youtube tutorial video regarding this.
Since the
overexposed layer
is brighter by 2 stops compared to the tone mapped image, I had to

decrease the brightness of the layer using (image > adjustments >
brightness/contrast) to blend it
together.
Note that the pavement looks out of line. As a remedy, the top layer is
positioned using the Move Tool until the two layers are both in place.
Still, there is that horrible ghost left at the right side of the image. I
thought about covering it up with a clone tool but an easier option is just
simply to crop it out of the picture.
Noise Removal:

Tone mapped images usually get a lot of noise. With the use of noise
removal plug ins like Topaz Adjust De Noise, this can be decreased or
eliminated.
After noise removal:
Linear contrast using curves:
I noticed that the sky on the far right side near the tower is slightly over
exposed.
Before:
Clouds over
exposed
with no
detail.
To balance it
out, I used
the
brightness/co
ntrast layer
adjustment
(layer > new
adjustment

layer > brightness/contrast) and decreased the brightness to about -45.
I then erased the rest of the image with an eraser tool over a layer mask
avoiding the ‘cloud’ area that I darkened.
After: More details in the clouds
To boost up the saturation I added up a couple of Bi-Color Filters using
the plug in Nik Color Efex…
…brushing off the tint on the road with a 75% eraser brush to keep its
natural tarmac colour.

Using a healing brush tool and clone stamp tool, I cleaned up spots on
details that don’t look right.
After applying healing brush tool:
I also added a lens flare (filter > render > lens flare) on the right side of
the tower to add a little spark to the image.
To sharpen the image I either use the Unsharp Mask (filter > sharpen>
unsharp mask) or High Pass Filter (filter > other > high pass – then

choose overlay). With this image, I used the Unsharp Mask with the
Amount 100%, Radius 4.0 pixels & Threshold of 0.
Similarly, I also apply a lower radius value for the High Pass Filter and
use the outline of the image as a guide as to how much sharpening I
would like to add.
The sky (and other areas that don’t need sharpening) was erased using
a layer mask as some noise appeared during sharpening.
To follow comments on this article click here:
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/09/big-ben-bus-stop-hdr-workflow-by-
yhun-suarez/
Urbex Photo Essay: IM Power Plant
By Danny Barter - http://danielbarter.co.uk
The silent watcher
IM Power Plant is one of the foremost abandoned power plants on the
continent. This coal fired monstrosity had been top of my to do list for
some time. A recent visit to Belgium provided the perfect opportunity
for myself and a small team, to visit and explore the wonders of
industrial symmetry contained within.
We arrived at the site at 9pm and after initially being harassed by
Belgian police found ourselves a quiet spot for some urban
camping. Our sleep was rudely interrupted by what turned out to be
regular security patrols – Little did they know how close they came to
finding us. Once it had gotten to 5am in the morning we dressed and

ready ourselves for what was to be quite an experience. IM was our
oyster and I for one wanted to peel back its shell and dive right in.
After walking around for what seemed like an eternity I started to take
pictures. I already had a visual style in mind for IM, it was just a matter
of implementing it. I generally prefer my industrial images to have a
cinematic feel. I want them to appear as if stills from a big budget sci-fi
movie. This is achieved with 6 bracket HDR’s or with highly processed
singular raws. I grade my images with consistent tones, taken straight
from preferred films to obtain my overall look.
The Nautilus
Scorponok
Once finished with the main complex we crossed a small footbridge and
entered the crown jewel of IM.

Tartarus
This cooling tower is one of the most unique I have had the pleasure of
being inside. Not only do you get the sublime aural overload that comes
of being in one of these acoustically appealing structures but the mix of
concrete and wooden construction makes for some stunning
composition opportunities.
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/10/urbex-photo-essay-im-power-plant/
The Cyclops
Standing at the edge of the abyss

Roof topping in Ulsan
By Jason Teale - http://jasonteale.com/blog/
Sinbok
Years ago when a photographer friend led me onto the roof of the
Namun Plaza near the sinbok rotary in Ulsan, I was taken back by the
sight before me and the sneakiness getting to the top without being
seen. Little did I know that this would become a trend in some circles of
photography and a passion of my own.
For me, getting to the top of a particular building was a challenge. Even
more so now because of the electronic coded locks on all of the new
high-rise apartment buildings that line the horizon in Ulsan. As a
foreigner, you don’t exactly blend in, but I have never really been
hassled while taking photos in some pretty strange spots. Even today I
find myself humming the “mission complete” music from game “metal
gear solid”
The biggest draw to me was how the right vantage point changes how
you see the city. From a roof top you can see the old buildings, the new
buildings and everything in between. Living in Ulsan for so long, I can
see the changes in the skyline and remember when certain places
didn’t exist.
Ulsan Factory
There is also that sense of calm in me. Be it standing on a ledge 20
floor up or finding on one of those cool roof top parks that no one uses, I
enjoy my time up there and no matter how many times I go to a
particular location I am still happy to be up there.

When I started to use HDR, the results were amazing or at least I
thought so. I was able to pull out more detail and colour from the shots.
The sharpness and richness of the colour made the city come alive.
This is important when your subject is not known for being nothing more
than an industrial city with an appetite for whale meat.
Getting to the Top
I must admit that times are changing and the once open doors that
would lead you to the roof are slowly being locked. The newer the
buildings in Korea, the less chance you’ll have to get to the top.
A good working knowledge of the language is key if you want to ask
security to let you in. This always has mixed results as I have found that
it is easier for a security guard to say “no” than take the risk in letting
you up.
Timing is also key. If you can catch the door or elevator as someone is
leaving, then you got your easy ticket in, at least to the top if security
does notice that you slipped through the door.
The rest of the time, buildings and business towers are pretty laid back
when it comes to shooting from the roof. I have even had security hold
the door for me with a sort of puzzled look like “where is that guy
going?” I have had people even suggest alternate locations when I’ve
stumbled onto a rooftop meeting.

Samsan
Choosing your location
Research is the best. Check around town to see where the best
vantage points are. Check other photographer’s work and see where
people are shooting from or other possible locations. If you don’t know a
location, go there early and see if you can get in or what the view from
the top even looks like.
haksung

Often a location may seem cool from street level and then not really pan
out once you are on top. A few weeks ago, I was trying to get a shot of
the Samsandong area in Ulsan. I got to the roof, scaled over a plastic
skylight, only to find that the view was not that interesting or at least not
what I was hoping for. It is all just a part of the game.
Roof topping as this style is now referred to is invigorating. With new
places popping up all the time there is alway somewhere to shoot from.
There will always be one more challenge to see if you can get in it. With
that in mind, get out there and see what the world looks like in HDR…
from the top.
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/12/roof-topping-in-ulsan/
Lotte Hotel

Temple at the top workflow article
By Ben Fewtrell – http://onthreelegs.com
STEP 1 – Capture your image
Like every good HDR image, it all starts with a great capture. Most of
my shots I use a tripod, it just makes it easier when I get back home
and start processing images, I don’t have to think about whether or not
to align my images… having a tripod also forces me to take my time,
and as a result I always end up with a sharper image.
I typically will take 5 exposures every time I take a photo, unless I am
taking it into the sun, then I will increase this to 7 exposures…. Why 5
exposure? well, to create a HDR image you need multiple exposures, I
really only need 3 out of the 5 but my Nikon D800 has an ‘auto
bracketing’ feature that only takes exposures at 1 EV (Exposure Value)
spacing. For HDR like the photo we’re about to work on, I like to have -
2EV to +2EV, to get this with Auto Bracketing I have to take 5 shots…
Even though I could create the image with just the -2ev, the properly
exposed image and the +2ev, I still use all 5… this becomes important
in the photoshop stage of the workflow.
Every camera works slightly differently, so you may need to read your
manual to understand how to use ‘bracketing’.
To get this particular image I used my 16-35mm VR lens at 16mm, VR
was off (always keep VR or IS off when using a tripod). My ISO was set
to 100 and aperture was f6.3, I would normally use a smaller aperture
(higher f number) but my travel tripod is not as sturdy as I would like, so
by selecting a bigger aperture it increases my shutter speed and this
minimizes the chance of my shots not being sharp… when using lower f
numbers I run the risk of not getting everything in focus due to the
shallower depth of field, not a huge problem with a wide angle lens but
certainly something to keep in mind.
In regards to your ISO, always shoot at your base ISO if you can, HDR
does not handle even the slightest bit of noise, so whilst your camera
may normally shoot a descent image at ISO3200, once you start tone-
mapping images this noise becomes far more noticeable.

Once I am home, I use aperture to import and organize my files. I will
select the files I want to use and right click and select export > versions
. I then export my 5 images as JPEG files to a folder called ‘processing’.
Step 2 – Tone Mapping
I use Photomatix Pro to do this step. You can download a free trial here
http://www.hdrsoft.com.
I have tried a few different ways of processing my HDR images, but
have kept coming back to Photomatix Pro, it is quick, easy and does a
good job.
Open Photomatix and select ‘Load Bracketed Photos’ then find the
folder you have your 5 exposures stored in (in my case this is the
processing folder) and the click OK.
A ‘Preprocessing Options’ window will appear, you have 4 choices to
make. Firstly is whether or not to align your image. I only use this if I
have not used a tripod to take the photos. I shot this Temple using a

tripod so I don’t need to use ‘Align Source Images’. The next option is to
Remove Ghosts. You can use this option to remove ghosting that was
caused by anything that moved during your multiple exposures. I don’t
use this at all, I always use photoshop later to remove ghosts, and
sometimes I leave ghosting to give a sense of movement to my image.
The third option is then noise removal, I only use this if I have shot at a
higher ISO than my base ISO of 100, and sometimes I will let
photomatix process one with noise removal and one without and use
both in my post processing. In this case, I shot the temple at ISO100 so
no need for any noise removal at this stage. The final option is to
remove chromatic aberrations. I have never used this feature in
Photomatix, I tend to remove chromatic aberrations later in photoshop.
Now hit ‘Preprocess’ and wait for the magic to happen!
I always then close the preset thumbnails that will appear below or
beside your image, and I also usually hit the Reset: Default button for a
new image, if I am working on a series (say for a panoramic HDR) then
I will use the setting stored from the last image processed. You will see
that Photomatix has a lot of sliders you can move around, and I
encourage you to slide them all over the place. Here is my order of
slider adjustment for the first 4 adjustments I always make;
Move strength to 100 (full right)
Move Black point to half
Increase Detail Contrast (about +6)
Increase Gamma until it looks okay…
Now these 4 steps are not going to work the same with every image,
but these are the first things I move around to give the image ‘depth’.
you will have to play around with them to get the look you’re after, but
this is a good start, and I always start with these 4 in this order. I will
then play with the white point, keeping an eye on the histogram as
increasing this too far can cause you to have blown highlights.
Depending on the image, I may increase color saturation, adjust
luminosity and lighting adjustments. Sometimes I just leave these all in
the middle…
My tip for great HDR is not to expect Photomatix to work great with
100% of your image… I always work towards getting the main feature of
my image the way I want it, then hit ‘Process’. For the Temple image, I
am making sure the temple is looking great, the rest I can fix later in
photoshop. Photomatix will make blue skies look dirty and your whites
look grey if you’re not careful. So just focus on getting the most
important part of your image right and learn how to polish it off in
photoshop.

Here is the image after it has been processed by Photomatix. The main
issue is there is a Halo around the roof of the temple and the sky is not
looking very good at all.
Step 3 – Finish it off in Photoshop
My 3rd workflow step is to make any final adjustments in photoshop. I
use Adobe Bridge for organizing my ‘processing’ images, so next I open
this and locate my 5 original exposures and also my newly tonemapped
image from what we did in step 2 with Photomatix.
What Photomatix does if you do not change the file name (I never do) is
add 1_2_3_4_5_tonemapped to your original image name so it should be
easy to find, of course, if you were using 7 images for your HDR image
then that would include the numbers 6 and 7.

Once you have selected your images in bridge, select tools > Photoshop >
Load files into Photoshop layers…
Photoshop should now load your images as layers, once loaded hit the F key
to go to full screen. During this next part of my workflow I use layer
masking to bring through parts from my original 5 exposures, for example,
in 99% of cases I will mask in a sky from one of the original exposures, this
will fix what Photomatix has not done a good job with. I also use layer
masking to remove any ghosting, I just choose my favourite photo from the
multiple exposures, if it is too dark or too bright I will adjust the exposure
value in an original RAW file, and bring it into photoshop as another layer.
If you haven’t used layer masking before I suggest you google it… there are
many great tutorials and it really is the secret to producing great HDR.
Once I am happy with my overall image, I have removed ghosting and
halos, fixed anything that is out of place, I will then flatten it into one layer
and decide if I am going to use a plug in to make further enhancements. I
really like using Topaz Adjust. Before I do make any changes I will save
the .psd file then make a copy of the layer. That way I have the copy as a
backup should I mess things up really bad…
Once I am completely happy with everything about my images and I have
finished applying filters, sharpening etc. My final part of the workflow is to
inspect the image at 100%, I am looking for noise and dust bunnies… I will
remove any dust bunnies using the healing brush, and then if I need to
remove noise, I make a copy of my layer, run the Photoshop reduce noise
filter on the layer copy.

My settings are Strength on 10, Preserve details at 0%, Reduce Color Noise
on 100% and Sharpen Details on 0%, I select Remove JPEG Artifact and hit
OK.
This creates a VERY soft layer copy of your image, I will now create a
layer mask on my top layer and brush through the noise reduced area until I
am happy, usually the sky can be at 100% opacity and less on other areas, it
is also a great way to apply softness to areas of your image that aren’t the
focal point, making the feature of your image POP out!
I then save 2 sizes of my image in JPEG, one at full size, this is for prints,
and a smaller version for Blogs, Facebook etc. They get saved in two
seperate folders, one is called DONE and the other is TO BE BLOGGED…
I hope this give you an insight into how I process my HDR images. The
main thing to remember is to try different things, just be careful not to
overdo your HDR…. Have fun!
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/13/temple-at-the-top-the-workflow-behind-
the-image-by-ben-fewtrell/

Realistic vs Surreal HDR – Is it
important?
By HDR One editor, Jimmy McIntyre – http://strange-lands.com/daily
As photographers we inevitably have a style that is uniquely our own.
Our tastes are influenced by a myriad of factors, most of which will
remain unconscious to us. Conversely, there are people or styles that
we consciously aspire to, or allow ourselves to be influenced by.
We, as intelligent humans, know that there is no ‘correct’ style. Yet even
in the world of HDR there is a very noticeable divide between surreal
and realistic photography, which sometimes leads to snobbery.
Fortunately, this negativity isn’t often present between photographers,
but it shows up commonly when photographers describe their own style.
I recently came across a photographer who described his style as ‘Truly
realistic HDR – none of that fake looking crap’. On the other hand, I’ve
never seen anyone describe their images as ‘Truly surreal HDR – none
of that realistic crap’.
I wonder why this paradigm exists?
A photographer on facebook asked for my feedback last month on a
photo he took. Rather unexpectedly he sent me two pictures; one
realistic and the other surreal. He said the surreal one was just him
having fun, and the realistic shot he would publish on flickr and
facebook. It struck me as odd that he wouldn’t publish both, that the one
he did mostly for the enjoyment he would keep under lock and key.
Even during the short life span of this magazine we’ve experienced
negativity towards surreal HDR. The comment below was posted in the
first edition:
“Is’nt there a way to distinguish between a good realistic HDR image
and one that has become something else? While I like the looks of
images such as your Kings Cross Station shot, I dont see much true
HDR in your first edition. I hope we will see some in the future.”
I have to stop myself before I begin to sensationalize the situation.
Essentially there isn’t this huge divide between realistic and surreal
HDR. Most of us enjoy a touch of both. Sometimes a scene is so
magnificently beautiful it seems a shame to try to embellish it. On the
other hand, some scenes cry out to be tampered with, to have that
fantastical dimension added to them. Nevertheless, there are some, we
could call them ‘HDR purists’, who are openly and unnecessarily critical
of surreal work, even when the photographer hasn’t asked for their
opinion. Yet you would struggle to find HDR surrealists openly criticising
work for being too realistic.
As an HDRist I’ve gone through a number of stages, none of which I
regret, all of which have helped me to develop a skill set that I regularly
use. When I first started with HDR most of my images were certainly
surreal. As I began to make finer and finer distinctions between well-
processed and poorly-processed images, I started to sway towards
natural looking HDR. Then, I began to consider realistic HDR the
supreme form of processing.
In my own mind I would think ‘This sky should be less dramatic” or
“These shadows shouldn’t be as bold”. I was using a yard stick of
‘shoulds’ to determine how my image should look. I wasn’t living by my
own motto. In my first article of HDR One I wrote:
“While guidance can help an individual find their true footing in a
particular art from, the word ‘should’ seeks only to constrict creativity.
When our imaginations begin to fire it is the word ‘should’ that dulls the
flame. ‘Shoulds’ are the walls that we surround ourselves in every day
of our existence. We ‘should’ go to work. We ‘should’ get a pension. We
‘should’ do our homework.
In art there can be only one ‘should’. We ‘should’ not be bound by the
limitations set by others”

However, on this occasion I was living on the limits that I set myself. I
was failing to enjoy each image, and bring it to its full potential, be it
surreal or realistic. I got caught up in a race to realism that I’d invented.
I considered myself a ‘realistic HDR photographer’.
Blyth Beach
Time has moved on since then. I no longer label myself, nor do I even
consider the terms ‘realism’ or ‘surrealism’ in my imagery. My only guide
in processing is emotions. I ask myself what emotions I want my images
to evoke and then I go from there. Ever since, I’ve enjoyed HDR more
and more.
As usual with my posts, I’d like to know what you, the reader, think
about these things. Is one form of HDR superior? Have you gone from
phase to phase? Do you subscribe to one form over another? What is
your philosophy when you edit shots?
Blyth Pier
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/14/realistic-vs-surreal-hdr-is-it-important/

Gloucester Cathedral
By Tim Knifton – http://www.facebook.com/TimKniftonPhotography
Visited on 25th
August with another HDR photographer and good friend
of mine.
A little bit of the history
Gloucester Cathedral has been a place of Christian worship
continuously for over 1300 years, since Osric, an Anglo-Saxon prince,
founded a religious house here in 678-9 AD. Little is known for certain
about the communities which worshipped here or the buildings they
used over the next 400 years although it is believed that the Benedictine
Rule was introduced here early in the 11th century.
A record of the building fabric is made before and during stonework
conservation, detailing the information that repair works uncover about
building history and early building techniques.
The visit
We arrived at 7:30am as they were just about to open up. We were told
that the early morning is the best time before the tourists arrive so that
you can manage to get the Cloisters photographed without other people
being in them or jostling for position.
As the weather wasn’t great, we had the whole place more or less to
ourselves and never had to wait for another person to move out of the
way.
The place is an architectural masterpiece – for photographing as well as
just wandering around and marvelling at the building itself.

The Cloisters were the first place that we started with the Canon wide
17-40mm to capture them in all their glory. After this I moved on to the
Sigma 15mm Fisheye. After the Cloisters, we made our way around the
cathedral and photographed individual areas using the wide, fisheye
and the macro in places.
There is so much to photograph that you will find yourself changing
lenses at regular intervals. The cathedral doesn’t mind tripods so you
can do what you like within reason. Most of my macro photos are single
exposures but they can be found in the set on my Flickr account if you
wish to see more.
The Cathedral
The cathedral advertises the fact that it costs £6,000 GBP A DAY to
run. Goodness knows where the money goes but if you ever decide on
a trip to Gloucester – make sure you put a nice donation in the box as
the cathedral is free for admission and you are guaranteed to get some
shots worth every penny of a donation.
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/14/gloucester-cathedral-2/

Understanding the Adjustment
Sliders in Photomatix Pro
By Curt Fleenor - http://www.curtfleenor.com/
Photomatix is at the core most people’s HDR processing but it comes
with a bit of a learning curve. There are so many adjustment sliders
available that wrapping your mind around them all can be somewhat
intimidating. Adding to the confusion is their tendency to interact with
each other in sometimes unpredictable ways.
Most of the time when I’m processing an image in Photomatix I will
slowly move each slider to each of its extreme points just to see what
effect it has until I find the best setting. I have read many posts by other
photographers who also use this method but at some point you want to
understand the intended effect of the sliders. Knowing what each one is
supposed to do can make your processing experience faster and a little
more pleasant.
Photomatix ships with several presets that can set you up with a good
starting point but I think most people prefer the “Default” preset! This
one sets everything back to the default settings so you can begin to
apply your own feel to the image. It’s important to reset to the defaults
each time you start Photomatix because it remembers the settings that
were used the last time it was
open.
Photomatix has two processing
methods: Tone Mapping and
Exposure Fusion. Details Enhancer
gives you a wide range of controls
and the most flexibility when processing. Since I have only ever used
this method those are the adjustment sliders that I’ll be discussing in
this article.
Primary Options
Strength
The Strength slider is the
foundation that your Tone
Mapped image will be built on. It
sets the initial contrast of the
image to help bring out detail. The
higher value you assign to
Strength the more detail you will
see. For really gritty images,
there’s nothing wrong with
pumping it up to 100% but other
subjects don’t need that much.
For example, I typically don’t use
more that 50% on landscape images because they begin to look too
surreal. Too much strength can add noise to smooth areas of your
image, blue skies will begin to look grey and grainy if too much strength
is applied.
Color Saturation
This one does exactly what it says, controls the global saturation of your
image. You’ll find that you use saturation in different ways depending on
the image you’re processing. Lowering the overall saturation in urbex
images can help draw the viewer’s eye to the details of the image and
enhance the feelings of age and abandonment. Increasing the
saturation in landscapes can help the natural colors pop and create a
vivid image. Of course, you do want to be careful not to apply too much
saturation. Colors that are already close to blowing out will begin to take
on a psychedelic appearance and nobody wants that.
Luminosity
Think of the Luminosity slider as global fill lighting, it increases the
brightness in the darker areas of an image. As with all of the
adjustments, the amount you apply depends on the type of image you

are processing and what result you are looking to achieve. An important
thing to keep in mind here is that setting the Luminosity too far to the left
or right combined with a high Strength slider can produce halos in areas
with high tonal contrast.
Detail Contrast
Adjusting this slider changes the amount of contrast in the details of
your image. It also brings down the brightness in the overall image. As
you may have guessed this is where the sliders begin to work off of
each other. You can use Detail Contrast to add some shadow into your
image and pull back any extra Luminosity that you’ve added. You may
also have to bump up your Luminosity to counteract the effect of Detail
Contrast.
Lighting Adjustments
The overuse, and misuse, of this slider can be blamed for many of the
super-surreal and haloed artefacts that are found in so many HDR
images. Lighting Adjustments should be used sparingly and with care.
The effect of this slider is completely different on every image. Pay
attention to you image as you move the slider, you’ll see that it actually
applies light and shadow to different part of the image. It almost
functions like a graduated neutral density filter.
There is a check box called Lighting Effects Mode below the Lighting
Adjustments slider. When this is checked, five presets are made
available: Normal, Normal+, Medium, Surreal and Surreal+. In previous
versions, you had to use either the slider or the presets but with version
4.2 you can choose a preset then use the slider to adjust it’s effect.
Personally, I prefer to work completely with the slider and don’t use the
presets.
More Options
Smooth Highlights
Sometimes the process of merging different exposures can create
harsh artifacts in areas of an image where the lighting quickly moves
from very bright to dark. A bright window or a sunburst are good
examples. The portion of the image surrounding the highlight can be
rendered with a ‘stair-stepped’ transition instead of a smooth fall off
from light to dark. Smooth Highlights can help correct these areas and
return that clean transition.
White/Black Point
White and Black point adjustments
can be made to increase or
decrease the tonal range in an
image. Use this slider with you
histogram to keep the highlights
and shadows from clipping.
Gamma
Gamma applies to the mid-tones
and adjusts the global
brightness/darkness of an image. I
usually don’t touch this one.
Temperature
Temperature is pretty self-explanatory. Use it to vary the color
temperature of your image from cool to warm. I rarely make this
adjustment inside Photomatix but it can help to return color to a clear
sky that has lost its tint during processing.

Advanced Options
Micro-Smoothing
This is where you can begin to remove some of the noise that will
inevitably show up in your image. Clear skies are the worst but a heavy
dose of Micro-Smoothing will help
smooth them out. Be careful though,
this adjusts the fine details of the
whole image and will smooth sharp,
gritty details that you may want to
keep. The zoom-loupe doesn’t
always render the effects of this
slider so you really just have to wing
it most of the time.
Saturation Highlights/Shadows
If you need to change the saturation levels in the highlight or shadow
areas of your image separately these are the sliders for you.
Shadows Smoothness
Sometimes the adjustments we make during the tone mapping process
can add unwanted artifacts or gradients in the shadows of an image.
The Shadow Smoothness slider can help smooth out these problem
areas but reducing contrast in the shadows.
Shadows Clipping
Sometimes you need or want to add a little more shadow or smoothing
doesn’t give you the results you were want. Shadow Clipping literally
clips the shadow areas in your image. Use this slider with care because
while shadow adds dimension to an image, too much clipping will
render large areas to completely black.
You will find that not every slider needs to be used with every image
and with a little practice, understanding how the adjustment sliders
function in Photomatix will become second nature. Also keep in mind
that while you can get acceptable results straight out of Photomatix it is
just the starting point for processing your HDR images and more post-
processing is often required.
Note: HDR One readers get a 15% discount. Simply use the code
StrangeLands when you purchase the product on HDRsoft.com
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/17/understanding-the-adjustment-
sliders-in-photomatix-pro/

HDR in motion: realistic HDR for
wildlife photographers
By Jim Austin - http://www.jimages.com/
Image 1 : Salt Water Crocodiles Sydney and Maximo ~ A mating
pair of captive saltwater crocodiles were photographed at 400 mm with
tripod and cable release. Sydney, the female in the foreground is much
smaller than her mate due to sexual dimorphism. Under overcast skies
with even reflectivity, three RAW auto-bracketed exposures were taken
through glass (at 1/2500th
,1/640th
, & 1/160thth
of a second, ISO 400,
F/8, average EV=13.) Photomatix Pro® tone mapping was set to Details
Enhancer > Compressor Deep. Tone mapping was used with settings
to boost contrast on the crocodile’s scales.
INTRODUCTION: Trying HDR with “moving” wildlife subjects.
The idea of this article is to motivate photographers to try HDR with
wildlife subjects. The key is waiting for the animal to pause. In the HDR
software, the main goal is to get the highlights correct. The image needs
detail in the highlights, especially when it is taken under high-contrast
conditions. HDR software engineers have given us brilliant tools to do
this. Now we can apply them to make realistic wildlife images without
tone mapping artifacts. Shooting in RAW, with a tripod, and processing
in Photomatix Pro is my workflow.
Tone Mapping Artifacts
Wildlife and nature photography demands clarity and lifelike color. Tone
mapping, technically, means translating a high dynamic range image to
display on a device with a much lower dynamic range. Most HDR, or
high dynamic range, is tone mapping: the process of mapping a 32-bit
floating point image into a bitmap for display . . . true HDR images
have 32 bits of brightness information with few limits on how many
levels you can represent.
We’ve all seen tone mapping artefacts: hyper-saturated, high-contrast
images. Halos and gray clouds are not a sign that a nature image has a
wide dynamic range, nor do they fit with the photographic tradition of
nature photography. They are artefacts of tone mapping. For wildlife
images, natural-looking color is essential, and contrast must be
controlled both in capture and in post-processing. For wildlife images,
we are trying to get realistic HDR.

Image 2: Galapagos Tortoise.
Three bracketed exposures ( at ISO 200 1/30th
, 1/125th
, and
1/1000th,
ISO 400 f/8 average EV = 12.) with a 400mm lens in overcast
November light in St. Augustine, Florida, at the Alligator Farm
Conservancy. It is not always possible to get 5 frames in register. Image 3: Marabou Stork
With a digital SLR set to Aperture Priority mode, I chose F/6.3 because
this aperture lets in enough light to expose the slowest of 3 frames at
1/125th
of a second ( ISO 200, 1/125th
, 1/500th
and 1/2000th,
f/6.3 ,
average EV ~ 12) 400mm f/5.6 Canon L lens).

TECHNIQUES : Find the stillness within the movement
1. LOWER your ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
Photograph at the lowest ISO possible to minimize noise in your nature
prints. Use RAW file capture at the highest resolution setting on your
camera. Use a tripod instead of raising ISO.
2. TURN off the AUTO
Turn off IS/ VR/OS which are acronyms for image stabilization. Yes, it
is an amazing tool, but turn it off to register your frames in a bracketed
HDR series. With Auto-Bracketing (AEB) set, and Aperture Priority (Av)
mode selected, turn off the Auto-focus. Do not use auto ISO, do not
zoom, and do not use the self-timer.
3. WHITE BALANCE for the best color
Remember to adjust your white balance in the camera menu. Although
Auto White Balance can work well, try Manual White Balance settings
with a white/gray card, a sheet of white paper or customized white
balance gear. Lightroom or Aperture presets may do this more
conveniently for your workflow.
4. SPEEDS, STICKS & STILLNESS for stability
I know from practice that 1/60th
to 1/125th
is about the slowest range of
shutter speeds for stable shots with this 400 mm lens ( Vibration
Reduction/Image Stabilization were not used.) A rule of thumb is to
choose a shutter speed equivalent to the focal length of the lens.
However, most of you reading will be trying even slower shutter speeds
because you are using steady tripods or “sticks”.
Even with a sturdy tripod-mounted camera, shutter speeds slower than
1/60th
of a second place my setup at risk for both subject and camera
movement. So, to minimize subject movement, the main idea is to wait
for moments of stillness when the wildlife animal pauses.
5. STICK with It.
Be persistent. When photographing a restless animal, it will take more
tries to get a sequence of three identical bracketed images. To do this,
wait for those short slices of time when the animal pauses for a split
second. Expose your frames. Then, hang around for the next “in-
between” moment and take yet another bracketed series. Practice on
captive animals first, then move to wild ones for more adventure.
Take off your watch and slow down. Be on “animal time.” Think about
how the animal feels and moves once it sees you. At first, stay far away
and watch. Then, slowly, after the subject settles a little, approach
stealthily, crouch down, and be still. Lower your lens to the animal’s eye
level.
WORKFLOW for Realistic Wildlife Images
Because HDR software needs identical frames, any differences in the
bracketed images makes it harder for software to align the frames.
“Ghosting” happens when the subject moves between frames of a
series of multiple exposures. Correcting ghosting artifacts takes time.
Software programs have built-in ghosting formulas but running them
discards some exposure data as it applies only single exposure
information to parts of the entire photograph. Prevention is better than
treatment.

Click to enlarge
Image 4: Camera RAW Photomatix Image Editor Workflow
This sequence is a workflow for processing a bracketed series. The
initial RAW conversion is done in Adobe Camera RAW to maximize the
information that goes to Photomatix Pro, the HDR software. In
Photomatix, Exposure Fusion > Adjust and Tone Mapping> Tone
Compressor with minimal saturation are settings for realistic color. For
the finishing touches, use your favorite image editor :
Aperture, Lightroom, Photoshop.
The workflow in Image 5 needs some definitions. Looking more closely
at the Photomatix Pro settings helps understand an HDR
workflow. Tone mapping has some basic settings.
Tone Mapping > Tone Compressor
The image below of the white egret was processed with Tone
Compressor. Compared to Details Enhancer, Tone Compressor can
produce a more realistic look to tone mapping by preserving shadow
tone and color. Tone Compressor also allows more control over the
range of tones, often needed for images of wildlife.
Tone Mapping > Details Enhancer
Many of the Photomatix images we see online are processed with Tone
Mapping set to Details Enhancer. Details Enhancer boosts both contrast
and detail, opens up the shadows in an image, it can add a painterly or
surreal look to images. I use it only with specific images. Occasionally,
some highly detailed images that I shoot in bright sunlight can benefit
from Details Enhancer.
In Photomatix Pro you can choose between Exposure Fusion and Tone
Mapping. Again, Tone Compressor and Details Enhancer are options
for Tone Mapping.

Image 5: Great White Egret Example of preserving feather detail
with Tone Mapping > Tone Compressor Setting.
When I saw this egret at 4:30 pm on a June afternoon in Fort Myers,
Florida, it was relatively motionless. At ISO 100, f/6.7 and three
bracketed exposures, the challenge was to preserve detail in the
feathers. So, tone mapping was set to Tone Compressor to preserve
these off-white details.
Image 6A:
African Crowned Cranes
Two cranes touch beaks, perhaps in courtship, in St. Augustine at the
Alligator Farm Conservancy. Tone Mapping with Details Enhancer kept
the textures in the birds golden crown. To preserve overall lighting, the
Photomatix Lighting Adjustments slider was set to Natural by first
checking the Lighting Effects Box.
These cranes moved their necks so often, I was thinking I might get
motion blue, so I raised the ISO up to 500 to minimize the capture time
of the three frames ( ISO 500, Aperture f/7.1 ,3 auto-bracketed
exposures.).

Image 6B: Closeup of the cranes.
On Lighting
Arguably, there is no such thing as good light and bad light. There is
only light. Some of the images in this article were made under overcast
conditions with a exposure value range of less than 5. While it is
tempting to take just a single exposure under cloudy conditions, shoot
at least 3 bracketed shots to practice your HDR methods and learn how
to process them. Cloudy days can also be superb times to create B/W
HDR (see my article here.)
All lighting conditions are worthwhile for trying the Exposure Fusion
settings in Photomatix. While I try to avoid bright sunlight to photograph
wildlife, in the field “it is what it is.” For overcast days with a low dynamic
range, the Exposure Fusion setting may work better, although Exposure
Fusion can result in poor local contrast when the dynamic range of the
scene is high. When there are deep blacks and bright whites in your
scene, try the Photomatix Pro Tone Mapping > Details Enhancer and
lower the saturation and contrast.
Before you expose a bracketed series, ask yourself:
“Where is the light on my wildlife subject coming from?”
“Should I move to get a better direction of light?”
“Am I shooting under the soft light of a cloudy day or under high
contrast sunlight?”
“Can I use my spot meter to meter the shadows and the highlights so I
know what the range is in my scene?”
In the field, practice your HDR skills in a variety of lighting conditions,
with low contrast and high contrast light. Remember to use a wider
range of stops when you bracket exposures in high contrast scenes.
Your experience and preferences will guide your workflow decisions.
PHOTOSHOP WORKFLOW: The Photoshop Layer Cake
Adobe Photoshop tools are valuable. They help restore details you first
saw in with the wildlife. For natural results, I use layers. Photoshop’s
layer adjustments are valuable tools, especially when printing. If a print
is not accurate, adjustment layers can be easily changed. Another
advantage of using Photoshop adjustment layers is that they can be
created above a layer that holds your HDR layer. Adjustment Layers are
easily deleted, modified with a different layer blending modes like soft
light, and they can be archived as master .psd files. They are also
useful to correct color casts.
Here is an example with a wild, wet and weary great horned owl on
Cumberland Island, Georgia, USA. It shows adjustment layers used to
correct a blue color cast.

Image 7: Photoshop CS5 Layers
Great Horned Owl, Cumberland Island, Georgia.
The upper adjustment layer corrected a blue cast from a cloudy sky that
was near the Atlantic Ocean. Photomatix Tone Mapping > Tone
Compressor > Default settings were used to tone map three RAW files.
Saturation was also reduced in the middle adjustment layer.
In the Photoshop part of the workflow, it is a good practice to add
adjustment layers for Hue and Saturation, Levels, Curves and any other
adjustment, then save .psd (Photoshop Shop Document) master files
with your edits.
Another valuable practice is to combine two images in Photoshop
layers. Instead of burning and dodging, layer two different HDR
images, each with a different process. For instance, an Exposure
Fusion > Adjust layer can be combined with a tone mapped layer or
even the initial Tiff file.
Image 8: Photoshop CS5 Layers, Wood Stork
Instead of burning and dodging, two images were processed in
Photomatix Pro, then placed into the layers palette of Photoshop CS5.
The top layer is an image processed with Photomatix > Exposure
Fusion > Adjust. The bottom layer was Photomatix > Exposure Fusion >
Default. The Photoshop layer mask on the top layer corrects both the
highlights and the shadows. The tops layers blend mode, Soft
Light, lowers the contrast of highlight and shadow with the wood stork.
GEAR : Know your range. Add tripod, cable, and fast glass.
Like bees from a hive, digital cameras fly out of the factories each
month, featuring faster capture rates, built-in HDR modes and smaller

and more sensitive CMOS sensors. With more internal electronics, built-
in HDR options are included in point-and-shoot and smart phone
cameras like the iSight camera on the iPhone 5 . You can enjoy the new
machines and still learn how to “see in HDR” now.
Start by asking yourself: “What is the dynamic range of my camera?”
For instance, my old Canon 7D DSLR has a effective dynamic range of
about 8- 8.5 F-stops (compared to the Red camera with 9 and our
brain’s visual system that has a range of almost 24 F-stops.)
ISO & RAW PROCESSING
Put simply, dynamic range is greater at lower ISO speeds than higher
ones. Specifically, for ISO 100, the sensitivity overall is 8.3 EV, with
highlight range sensitivity rage at 3.3 EV and shadow range at -5.0 EV.
So, I to dial in as low an ISO as possible and then process in Adobe
Camera RAW before exporting TIFF files to Photomatix. Manually
processing in Adobe Camera RAW maximizes the dynamic range and
with the Canon 7D, this approaches 10 stops.
SHUTTER SPEEDS & BURST RATES
Wider apertures allow for faster shutter speeds. These are needed to
capture active nature subjects – not for creating shallow depth of field –
but rather to ensure both faster shutter speeds and shorter total capture
time when shooting in bracketed bursts. When shutter speeds are too
slow and the shutter is open too long, the time it takes to make three
exposures gets longer. The animal must be very still under these
conditions. Many wildlife subjects will move in that fraction of a second.
This makes the digital frames go out of alignment creating ghosting
artifacts. To avoid ghosting, using a stable tripod and camera with a fast
burst rate (5-14 frames per second is ideal.)
Some photographers use fast-capture hybrid/mirror-less cameras.
Those that have low-noise sensor are generally more effective for
HDR. With a few exceptions, most point-and-shoot cameras, although
they now have burst capture rates that are adequate for HDR, have too
high signal-to-noise ratios. You get unacceptable noise, or grain, in the
shadow areas.
All variables including aperture, ISO, the camera and the subject itself
must remain unmoved during picture taking. Only the speed varies
between exposures.
SPECIAL SECTION: Slowing down the Shutter
Image 9: American Alligator with Slow Shutter Speed HDR
For this image, a slow shutter was deliberately employed. Captured
RAW, in color, with the camera on a tripod, the American Alligator
image was processed with three bracketed exposures ( 4 sec, 1 sec, ¼
sec ). Photomatix Pro version 4.1.2 settings used were Tone Mapping
> Compressor > Default > Black and White.
First, I took a meter reading. In the overcast light, a spot meter reading
indicated that 4 seconds would be the longest shutter speed, giving an

exposure that I believed would pull detail from the shadows. I chose a
small aperture in Aperture Priority (Av) mode at ISO 100. Because this
gator was motionless, it was an ideal subject for trying a long, slow
shutter speed to blur the water from a nearby inlet.
Summary
Nature and wildlife photographers have choices. To honor the craft,
images can be processed with a subtle touch. It is easy to overdo the
magic of the tools with too many spells; over-saturation, over-
processing and tone mapping artifacts. To resist the urge to process
pictures with tone-mapping artifacts is a challenge for creative digital
artists and thoughtful nature photographers, but nature has her own
wisdom and we have options to employ our tools while guided with a
more natural vision.
FAQ: What is exposure value?
An increase in one exposure value (EV) corresponds to a doubling of
exposure. EV is a number that shows combinations of shutter speeds
and apertures that give the same exposure effect in scenes with similar
brightness and ISO. For instance, at ISO 100, the combination of a 1
second shutter speed and an aperture of f/1.4 is defined as EV 1.
EV also indicates a range of sensitivity. The lower the number the more
sensitive a meter is to light. EV is a scale of values that shows how
sensitive a built in metering system or off camera meter is. On a 35
mm SLR, an EV range might be EV 3 to EV 18 or EV -1 to EV21. For
an EV table, see Bloch, Bethke, Vogl, Steinmuller 2010 The HDRI
Handbook: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG
Artists, page 82 and Fred Parker’s website
at http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/19/hdr-in-motion-realistic-hdr-for-wildlife-
photographers/
Realistic HDR by Alex Koloskov & Genia Larionova
Click here to view more details
Top 10 HDR Mistakes & How To Fix Them by Trey
Ratcliff
HDR Video Tutorial By Trey Ratcliff
Getting Out of Auto by Bethany Salvon
(Beginners Photography)

HDR One Advisor No2 – A Castle on
a Hill
By James Pawlowski - http://www.jpdesignandphotography.co.uk/
Welcome to the second edition of HDR One Magazine’s HDR Advisor. I
would like to start with a thank you to everyone who commented and
sent messages of support after the first article in this series. As I said
previously, it is through discussion that we all learn, and I for one am
very pleased to be sharing in this great base of knowledge that HDR
One Magazine generates. Please keep your comments and your
images coming.
This edition’s image comes from India and poses a different set of
challenges to the image that we looked at previously. The
photographer’s comments were that he was trying to achieve a dramatic
effect but felt that he was not achieving the image he perceived in his
mind.
Above: The original image.
On first seeing the photograph as a small low-resolution image on
Facebook, it looked okay, if a little fake in the sky. However, once
downloaded and opened in Photoshop, other problems soon became
apparent, the biggest of which was the total lack of sharpness in the
focal point of the image (the castle on the hill). Other problems include a
massive amount of dirt and dust on the camera sensor, a lack of tonality
in the processed sky and slightly yellow greens. So lets analyse it.
The three-image set was produced on a Sony Alpha A700 Camera at
the following settings for the middle exposure:
Lens: Sony DT 18-200 F3.5-6.3
Exposure mode: No Data
Shutter speed: 1/90 sec
Aperture: f/11
I.S.O: 100
No fill flash
Producing this range of images:
It is at this point that the biggest problem with this image becomes
apparent. Firstly, the middle exposure is over exposed, leaving a
decided lack of contrast in the base image. The next, and bigger
problem is that I suspect this image to have been shot using one of the

camera’s auto modes, as when I open the bracketed images, the under
exposed image has a different aperture value to the other two, and the
range of shutter-speeds also make no sense for an HDR exposure set,
as the camera has compensated for the change in the aperture.
The over exposed image uses 1/60 sec @ f/6.7 making it about -1.5
stops off the middle exposure, while the under exposed image uses a
shutter speed of 1/200 @ f/6.3, which to my reckoning (which has been
known to be wrong in the past) gives an over exposure of 1&1/3 stops.
While there are no real rights and wrongs on the image processing side
of HDR, there are most definitely wrongs on the technical side of
capturing the image, and a mixture of aperture values is one of the
biggest mistakes people unfamiliar with the HDR process can make. It
is critical that all the aperture values are the same throughout your HDR
sets. This is for a variety of reasons. Firstly, as you change the
aperture, the depth of field alters making certain parts of the image soft
or totally out of focus. Secondly, changing the aperture value on your
camera can change the tonal range captured in the images. Also, for
me, f/11 does not give enough depth of field for this type of image in the
first place, so an aperture of f/6.3 will make the image totally soft, as the
focus point is somewhere in the middle of the wall leading up to the
castle at the top. When this is mixed with a “correct” exposure that is
already slightly over exposed, the results will not be pleasing.
I suspect this image set was shot in this way to avoid using a tripod, but
as I said in the last edition of HDR Advisor, any good HDR
photographer must use one as it is critical, not only for being able to
have a better exposure range, but also for making sure that the subject
has not moved between exposures, as your hand will move, no matter
how still you try to keep it. Images that are not perfectly aligned will look
soft no matter what sharpening software you use, so for optimum
results, this is the only way to ensure each exposure is the same and at
the correct exposure and aperture.
Due to what I have explained above, there is a cast of softness
throughout the image, and most of the detail in the castle is soft to the
point of being totally out of focus, making this a very difficult image to
work on. To get another opinion on the best way to go about the
processing, we contacted NIK Software and had one of their imaging
experts process the set. The results were not encouraging as can be
seen below. While the processing is great, as you would expect, the
final image is muddy and the problems with the sharpness of the castle
remain and do not have the high impact dramatic effect that the
photographer had in mind. I think the image is now also contrast heavy,
which has brought out a lot of detail, but has made the overall effect
very dark and a little dingy. However, there is nothing like a challenge to
get one motivated so, let’s have a go.
Above: NIK’s HDR version of this image set.
For this image set, we are going to use Photomatix Pro to get our base
image and then both Adobe Photoshop CS6 and various tools by NIK
software to achieve the look that we are going for. I am also going to
use a technique that I would not normally employ, but feel may work
well in this case, and that is to make a five image bracketed set from
one exposure using the Camera RAW feature in Photoshop. Due to the
lack of depth in the underexposed image, which I would normally use to
make the other exposures, I will have to use the overexposed middle

shot instead. This will probably result in lost detail, but I will do my best
to correct this later in the process using Photoshop.
The first thing I will do however, is to open the RAW file I am going to
use in Photoshop and then run it through NIK’s RAW Pre-Sharpening
software. This will allow me to punch up the detail before making the
other four, bracketed images and hopefully correct some of the softness
from the low aperture used.
Above: Nik Software RAW Pre-sharpener in action, showing the amount
of recovered detail.
Once I have okayed this and the software has taken me back to
Photoshop, I then save the RAW image as a jpeg. It is at this point that I
will create the bracketed set using the Camera RAW feature in
Photoshop. First dismiss the image that was open and then reopen the
same file again. Be warned, you must click on the tab in Photoshop
preference for all images to be opened through Camera RAW in order
for this step to work. Once the image has appeared in the dialogue box,
use the exposure slider to alter the image exposure to one of the
missing bracketed images and then hit okay. This will open the image at
the new exposure setting. I won’t do anything else at this stage other
than saving the image to a new folder that I created using the exposure
setting as the filename, i.e.: +2.jpg. Repeat this step until you have a full
set of exposures, which in this case is five, +2, +1 -/+0, -1, -2.
Above: Camera RAW in Photoshop.
It is only at this point that I can then run the images through Photomatix
to make the base file for further editing in Photoshop. I load the image
images in the normal way, but forgo the ghosting options, as this image
will have no issues since each of our exposures have been created
from the same image. However, as the files have all been created from
the same image, the software does get a little confused and asks me to
confirm the range of exposures. I choose the 1 stop option and press
continue. For this set, I will use the following settings:

Strength: 100
Color Saturation: 46
Luminosity: 0
Detail Contrast: 0
Lighting Adjustments: -0.1
Smooth Highlights: -26
White Point: 0.250%
Black Point: 0.084%
Micro Smoothing: 8.9
Shadow Smoothness: 44
Shadow Clipping: 37
I then left all the other adjustments at their default setting before hitting
okay to process the file. I then saved the file as a TIFF, making sure the
open in Photoshop option was checked. Although I have not gone into a
great deal of detail here about what I have done and why in Photomatix,
you can read Curt Fleenor’s excellent article
(http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/17/understanding-the-adjustment-
sliders-in-photomatix-pro/) which gives a breakdown of what effect each
slider has on an image in Photomatix. I would really recommend this for
anyone who is new to HDR, or struggles to understand the various
options available within the software.
Above: The image going through the Photomatix software.
On opening the image in Camera RAW, I will also make a few
adjustments, just to take some of the greyness out and add a little more
contrast. Here are the settings:
Exposure: +0.20
Contrast: +48
Highlights: 0
Shadows: 0
Whites: +20
Blacks: +60
Clarity: +20

Vibrance: -12
Saturation: 0
As usual, I also try auto contrast on opening the image in Photoshop,
which pulls out yet more of the contrast in the image. After this I will run
the image through the single image tone mapping facility in Nik’s HDR
Efex Pro 2. This will help to pull out detail in the sky and to put back
some of the detail in the tree line, which has lost definition during the
process.
Above: NIK Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2
The image at this point is still muddy, so I once I go back into
Photoshop, I will run it through levels. I am looking for a histogram that
covers the entire tonal range, and this image is now just about there.
At this point, I am going to use a piece of software that has been
described as both the HDR Photographer’s best friend, or best kept
secret, dependent upon who you speak to. This is Nik Software’s Color
Efex Pro 4. I could wax lyrical about this programme all day and love
using it on my own stuff. Due to its unique ‘recipe’ system, it allows the
user to layer many different filter effects, one over the other to build the
image into whatever was envisaged when taking the original shot.
However, it would take me all day to fully describe all the filter options
within Color Efex 4, so I will only explain those that I have used in
creating the final image for this article.
Above: The Image in NIK Software’s HDR Color Efex 4
As always with HDR software, there is no right or wrong way to go
about using it, however, you must watch for halos and Chromatic
Aberration developing within the image. For this ‘recipe’, I used four
filers: The Contrast Colour Range, the Detail Enhancer, The Bi Colour
Filter and the Graduated Neutral Density Filter. The contrast Colour
Range filter allows me to direct where the contrast in the image is,
removing it from areas that I think are too contrast-heavy, when adding
to those that are too insipid, while the detail enhancer pulls yet more
detail out of the clouds and sky. This does create a little noise, but that
is easily corrected later in the process. The Bi Colour filter feature
allows me to add and mix two filter colours together and then blend then
seamlessly to add real drama to the picture, while the Graduated
Neutral Density filter allows me to rein back the foliage which has gone

a little out of control and yellow under the other filters. This image is
now looking really great, and a few last steps will see it finished.
Above: NIK Software’s Define 2.0.
After okaying the filter set I have used, I then put the image through
Define 2.0 to clear up the noise created during the previous process,
before opening the hue and saturation tab in Photoshop. Despite the
filters, the foliage in the foreground of the image is still a bright yellowy
green, and this process will correct it. This is a good tip for anytime the
green look un-natural in HDR. Once you have opened the
tab (Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation), click on the Master tab and
select the Yellow Channel. Pull the saturation slider into the minus
points until the greens once again look natural and then press okay.
This works great on images that have many different shades of green
and makes them look far more realistic.
Above: Altering the greens in the foreground using the Hue/Saturation
tab in Photoshop
There were two further steps that I took to finish the image. Firstly, the
image is still on the dark side. To correct this I will use the levels sliders
in Photoshop (Image>Adjustments>Levels). Instead of just hitting auto, I
move the highlights, shadow and mid-tones sliders at the bottom of the
histogram display until I have a natural, but dramatic looking image.
This easy step can make all the difference and certainly makes this
image look far brighter and less heavy. At this point I will also correct
the slight chromatic aberration created during this process by using the
Lens Correction feature in Photoshop (Filter>Lens Correction> Custom
tab) and using the sliders to neutralise the white line that has appeared
between the sky and the castle.
My Final step is to put in a little sharpening using NIK Software’s
Sharpener Pro 3.0. I put just a hint of sharpening in here, as the
processing has been so heavy up to this point that it would be very easy
to make this image look over sharpened at this point. Once this is done
the image is finished.

I will leave it up to the those reading this article to decide if I have made
a positive difference and which style they prefer. I could have replicated
the red sky using any number of techniques outlined in this article,
however I choose not to, as my personal preference to make this image
dramatic was for the cloudy and menacing sky with a brighter
foreground. This is purely subjective though and I Iook forward to your
comments on the matter. If you do have any opinions on this article, or
would like to have seen me handle any aspect of this process in a
different way please take the time to write a comment.
Above: My version of the image. Next page: The original.
http://www.hdrone.com/2012/09/25/hdr-one-advisor-no2-a-castle-on-a-hill/

Photographer - Marcel Woudstra
Title - Sunset Hollum

Photographer - Srećko Jubić
Title - Spirit

Photographer - Joanna Pilch
Title - Kasprowe Hills

Photographer - Paul Mack
Title - Fishermen Return

Photographer– Edward Chew
Title – Grange Jetty

HDR One Magazine Issue 2 Highlights

HDR One Magazine Issue 2 Highlights

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