Trying out photomatix

[thunderflash]

Recently gotten my hands on photomatix so decided to play ard with hdr and tone mapping settings. Most of the original pictures i guess do have the dynamic range, so i am not sure whether they are considered hdr. As i dont know much about photoshop, those burnings and dodging tools which i guess could probably get a less surreal picture; therefore i just throw everything into photomatix and play with the sliders. Do CnC and let me know whether u think its overdone, or still consider acceptable. I am an idiot at post processing. Thanks

1. This shot is done with raw file, converted to jpeg with 3 different exposures. (photomatix does not support Lx3 raw)


2. This is actually done with jpeg as the original file. Use silkypix to convert into 3 different exposures.


3. This shot is done similar as 1, but i think the dynamic range is lesser therefore a lot of noise. Please pardon me on that

[waltztitus]

Hey Bro pretty good try on the HDRs and i personally think that photomatix is an excellent program for HDR.
Very simple and easy to handle.
The pictures are decent but its neither to the surreal side nor the realistic side.
Looks abit rough to me. But i like the Hanoi Flag Tower!
You could try some settings which i use on photomatix!

Strength at 80-100
Color Saturation at 60-80
Light smoothing (to your liking) i put mine between 2-4

Something i discovered accidently
Gamma slide to the left more around 1.5
and Luminosity between 6-8
Under Color tab adjust your temp base on what kind of feeling you want to achieve (warm color red or cool color blue)

Then adjust white pt and black pt to your liking and fine tune the rest to your taste.

Here are some of the samples from the settings. Of course you can sample and find out other styles





Looking forward to seeing your new HDRs!
Hope the post Helps!

[thunderflash]

Hi thanks for the advice, i will try it out. Your pictures look great, thanks for sharing.

[limwhow]

Hello, I can't help but read carefully what you are discussing here.
I have no experience in Photomatix at all.
This is a really untintelligent question, but I just needed to ask: If we just buy one single Photomatix software, that will be all we need to do HDR, right?
And if so, where do you buy your Photomatix software and how much roughly does it cost?

[thunderflash]

Originally Posted by limwhow Hello, I can't help but read carefully what you are discussing here. I have no experience in Photomatix at all. This is a really untintelligent question, but I just needed to ask: If we just buy one single Photomatix software, that will be all we need to do HDR, right? And if so, where do you buy your Photomatix software and how much roughly does it cost?

yea u will be able to do hdr with just photmatix, as for hw much it costs i m nt too sure, u can check out their site. for me i m just using a trial version. u can dwld it from their website.

[limwhow]

Originally Posted by thunderflash yea u will be able to do hdr with just photmatix, as for hw much it costs i m nt too sure, u can check out their site. for me i m just using a trial version. u can dwld it from their website.

Thanks so much, thunderflash, for your information.

[kikiaw]

Originally Posted by limwhow Hello, I can't help but read carefully what you are discussing here. I have no experience in Photomatix at all. This is a really untintelligent question, but I just needed to ask: If we just buy one single Photomatix software, that will be all we need to do HDR, right? And if so, where do you buy your Photomatix software and how much roughly does it cost?

One of the best program for me for HDR. U can purchase it online for the price of US$99.. is abt S$144 base on the rate now.

Other HDR programs that is free n user friendly.

1. Dynamic Photo HDR 4 (unlimited trial full ver with many features other then just creating HDR, has watermark at the bottom of ur image.. but can easily crop off) - http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/index.html

2. Essential HDR Community Edition (save file max 1M pixel) - http://www.imagingluminary.com/Default.aspx

[limwhow]

Thanks for your info, kikiaw.
I will try the free ones first. Maybe when I begin to know HDR a little better, I will buy the Photomatix.

Originally Posted by kikiaw One of the best program for me for HDR. U can purchase it online for the price of US$99.. is abt S$144 base on the rate now. Other HDR programs that is free n user friendly. 1. Dynamic Photo HDR 4 (unlimited trial full ver with many features other then just creating HDR, has watermark at the bottom of ur image.. but can easily crop off) - http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/index.html 2. Essential HDR Community Edition (save file max 1M pixel) - http://www.imagingluminary.com/Default.aspx

[night86mare]

painful

[rgy1993]

hmm
needs work.. the sky in the first one is pretty washed out..
for proper HDR yous hould really do the 3 exposures thing, only do the 3 exposures from one raw file if youre taking an action shot of some sort...

here are some of my "action" hdrs
http://is.pinkbike.com/photo/3191/pbpic3191131.jpg
http://is.pinkbike.com/photo/2887/pbpic2887684.jpg
http://is.pinkbike.com/photo/3093/pbpic3093403.jpg