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High Dynamic Range...HDR...DRO....Dynamic Range Optimization........Heard of them?
Most late model cameras have the ability to capture HDR pretty well now , as long as you don’t push the envelope too far .Capturing a dimly lit room can be done quite well with modern cameras ,It might require a fast lens, fill flash and even a tripod with high ISO values. Then there’s the scene outside....Lovely garden, well lit with natural light , again not a problem, But how do you capture both scenes with the help of a connecting window in the same image under natural light with full detail in all light and dark areas. Well you could fork out major money for the very latest camera manufacturers have to offer in HDR hardware technology but you're still limited by what the engineers perceive to be a good HDR image generated within the camera itself........ Or, you could be smart and cost effective and use the camera that you already have and exercise full and total control with dedicated HDR post processing software.
Even entry level DSLR’s have auto exposure bracketing features now (“AEB”, Not to be confused with white balance bracketing) ,Adjusting the aperture and or shutter open time to over and under expose a series of images firing off 3,5,7 or even 9 images depending on make and model. Exposure steps ranging from .3, .7 or full one EV (Exposure Value) and more steps are now offered. We'll start with the most common scenario of three images, one underexposed, one spot on (as far as the camera believes) and one overexposed (-1EV/0EV/+1EV)
Simply... What does it do?
Ahhhh! The magic of good HDR software? It allows you to take all the perfectly exposed detail of three, five even seven or nine images, discard all over or under exposed information/detail then combine it into one perfectly aligned so called HDR image. As you can see by the images below there really is no other way of obtaining an image with such dynamic range unless extensive lighting, planning and preparation using traditional text book methods and a good bit of luck thrown in.
There also seems to be two camps with HDR, half opting for a somewhat heavy handed approach with blown colours, surreal skies and landscapes, resulting in a futuristic, highly detailed posterization image. Having said that, some of these images can look absolutely fantastic...It all depends on the subject matter. Then there's the other half that use it as a photo enhancement tool applying these changes subtly to achieve the results no other post processing can achieve to get to the Gallery quality images I’ve seen over and over again with this software, ”Truly excellent HDR work you don't know that it's been applied”. Just a question mark in the back of your mind of “Wow, how the Blinking hell did they do that”?
So finally we can begin
Photomatix pro 3 works as a standalone program or as a plug-in for various Adobe products. On installation which is a breeze you'll notice that the program is small, lean and mean at just 3.3MB-32bit and 3.7MB-64 bit. Supporting Window 98 through to W7 and Mac support as well for the junkies. You will need some type of RAW editor to utilise this program be it Photoshop, Capture One, PMB, Raw-shooter, Aperture to name a few. The dashboard is simple and functional and a breeze to learn in a very short period of time with plenty of tutorials on the web and a very good one onboard on the opening screen. Note! Start here, you’ll thank me and yourself later.
For this example we will use three images captured on a modest DSLR camera. The first thing you’ll see is a vertical menu top left giving you the choice of “Generate HDR”, “Exposure Fusion” and “Batch Processing “The rest are greyed out till you load except the bottom one which is where you should start, Again, The tutorial, Minutes spent here will save you hours. So to jump in hit the Generate HDR button up the top. Your little browse window for photos will pop up onto the centre of the screen. Everyone is different, I find the quickest and easiest way is to simply drag and drop image files into the small window provided on the dashboard, dragging one will transfer all images highlighted in your RAW browser. Photomatix needs a minimum of three images. 5, 7 or 9 images can be used depending on how high the dynamic range you're trying to work with.
This program is very CPU hungry, so be warned, the more images you put in dramatically increases processing time with older laptops taking several minutes to process a single five image photo. After your files are in place, hit OK.......the options box appears........If I attempt to cover everything its guna get a little boring.........the tutorial covers this so after filling in this field hit “GO”. This is where you wait a bit and then “Ding” the image pops up and you and even I at first said “YUK”!
I’ve had many people stand around me at this stage and the reaction is universal .But this is where the fun just begins............Down the bottom is a little button marked “Tone-mapping”
Put simply, the Human eye just does not have the ability to take in the, shall we say, the RAW unprocessed HDR image , so tone mapping is required to bring out the cut gem out of the rough stone.
NOTE! Save your-self a lot of time here.....these time waster mistakes I can now call tips!
Detail Enhancer Window
1) In the main control panel down the bottom is “Presets” open and scroll down and reset the default “Every Time”!........Otherwise............Each time you generate a HDR image , the profile from the last image is retained and used when you open your next tone-mapped image. There are also some handy presets to try out and an area to save your own generated presets right here as well.
2) In the “Smoothing” panel switch on (Tick) light mode, the 5 boxes marked min to max will pop up and are effectively 5 more presets in your lighting pocket......use them first , mid-work and at the end, It’s amazing how much they affect the overall image quality and intensity.
3) Most of the sliders are batched into groups of three.........Do your adjustments in groups of three before moving to the next group in a descending order.
4) Don’t touch the “Process” button till you’re absolutely finished. Or do you want to start again?
5) The tone compressor tab limits what you can do so you can achieve a more subtle photographic effect with your image although personally now I’m comfortable with tone-mapping in the enhancer window I find the compressor limiting, taking away some of the finer controls I now enjoy.
6) Don’t take it too seriously to begin with...the steepest part of my learning curve was when I was just playing with the sliders to see what they would do! It’s in play we learn the most.
Now Camera Tips!
7) Focus lock. Don’t trust your camera to focus the exact same between exposures. A couple of my lenses change focus very slightly between images due to camera vibration if you don’t use focus lock then focus once and set your lens to manual focus until you’re done taking all X amount of shots
8) Shoot in aperture priority if you can. If the depth of field changes from shot to shot.....Not good at all in Photomatix.
9) Push that iso. In very low light conditions, if your underexposed shot is slower than your shutter’s maximum shutter length, then up that ISO until it’ll fit within your camera’s shutter capabilities regardless of lens.
10) Just like in my Target shooting days if you can sit don’t stand, if you can lie down don’t sit,in other words, always assume the strongest shooting position, sharp shots come from a still camera, Photomatix has a strong ability to align differential image movement but you can only push it so far.
11) Your tripod is your best friend, steadier then any hand hold, try to use your tripod when you can..........You’ll thank yourself many times over in time.
12) Monopods are excellent and under-rated in capable hands.....Even a bunched up jacket or coat can be the difference between a good shot and a £1000 finished image.
13) Image Stabilization If you have image stabilization on the body or lens “Turn it off” when using a tripod, Images will be pin sharp with good glass.
14) Use a cable release or remote.......They cost next to nothing now on EBay, £25 gets you a wireless one that works up to 30 feet! 
This is a fair example of what Photomatix can do with a gentle hand... pulling the very best out of the three images to the left and compiling them into one pleasant to the eye image. Such dynamic range you’d be hard pressed getting with other methods to this tonal depth and quality.
This example highlights Photomatix ability to handle full Sun in your captured images, note the reflected sunlight in the bottom right of the picture... try doing this with conventional methods.
But “Photoshop” can do HDR
And you're absolutely right; Photoshop can do HDR and 10,000 other things to varying degrees of competence. I have used both programs on various images and as far as time, quality output, and ease of use........ It really is chalk and cheese but I’ll let you decide. They say a picture is worth 5000 words so to cut down on my rambling I've included two series of simple landscapes processed in both program.
Photoshop Local Adaptation (default values)
Photoshop Local Adaptation (adjusted)
Photomatix After Tone-mapping
Photoshop Local Adaptation's results look a bit "flat". By contrast, Photomatix Tone Mapping's result is able to recreate the natural lighting of the original scene and seems to have more punch and usable detail but there’s nothing stopping you here, Send it on to other programs as I do for more post processing including Photoshop or Capture One as a 16bit TIFF or even a JPEG file.
Photoshop Local Adaptation
Photomatix Tone Mapping
Photoshop Local Adaptation's result is rather good with this image. However there is some loss of local contrast though, especially in the shadows, contrary to Photomatix Tone Mapping which is able to retrieve more local detail in the interior and a tad more outside. The ceiling lighting and mirror stand are also much richer under Photomatix
Conclusion
Well I think I've covered most of the main points and highlights of Photomatix and hopefully dispelled any objections that may have come to mind.
It's hard to know just how much information to put into these reviews but with a wealth of material, video and tutorials on the net about Photomatix and HDR in general you’re well covered.
Photomatix is available as a full featured download and will work individually as a desk top app or within most Adobe products. Photomatix will require validation to get rid of the watermark on finished images with the trial version. For what this program does and it's feature packed environment, its price point is way below its true value and I pick this as the next really big thing in digital photography.... With in excess of 80,000 hits per month for Photomatix Pro it seems the world is waking up to the next big new trend to sweep the global photographic community.
Not only does it deliver on what it states it can do, it does it Better than anything else on the market to date by a country mile.
There seems to be a gathering wave of users out there jumping on the HDR bandwagon. Going off the amount of material that is appearing on the Internet statistics say that HDR is going to be very, very big indeed. And it was just a matter of time but camera manufacturers are responding to the masses with Sony releasing a new model DSLR camera with a true HDR capability built-in, blending two separate photos into one on board the camera with one press of the shutter button.
So if you don't wish to wait around any longer I’ve manage to secure some 15% off discount coupon codes for a while that you can redeem on “Smart Images website” so be quick, It will be first in best dressed.
“Aussie Allan”
15% Off DISCOUNT CODE: 'smartimagespm'
Buy Photomatix Now
Ease of use.........................................8.7
Desk top workspace............................8.8
Features..............................................9.8
Compared to similar software...........10.0 ...........Defiantly the current Leader!
value.................................................10.0
Total..................................................9.46
NOTE! “This is the highest score to date for any hardware or software to pass this desk”!
And “9.0” and above gets the .......”Camera Heaven Gold Award”
