These settings produced a tone mapped image looking like this:
CS2 Final Touch-up
A tone mapped HDR image can not be considered final any more than images straight out of the camera or RAW converter are final. After some consideration and editing, here is my final result:
The following adjustments were made to the converted HDR image to produce the above image:
- brightness increased slightly via an adjustment layer
- black point increased via a levels layer
- midtones punched up slightly via a curves layer
- selective brightness of trees increased slightly via a masked layer
- snowy / icy parts brightened (white point dropped slightly), via a masked levels layer
- whites of selected small areas of snow and ice increased further via a masked saturation adjustment layer
- a bit more snap added via a high pass overlay layer at 20% opacity
- noise reduction and selective sharpening on the base layer
I like the final image a lot more than the one that came straight out of the HDR Conversion. However, I am still not satisfied given the 2 hours of work that went into the image. I like the sky, and the flat gray of the midtones has been minimized. But the ice in particular is still not as punchy and detailed as I would like, and a lot of the whites have been compromised.
Working things to this point has taken quite a bit of time and involved numerous trials especially with the curve and contrast enhancement settings in the HDR Conversion panel. I do not know how much better a result could be achieved with additional work, at least at my level of expertise. In my experience so far with CS2 HDR processing this is not an isolated situation. Rather, it seems that each attempt I make gets to a certain point and then no further. Depending on the image, this point may be more or less satisfying, but generally I am left wanting more.
Instead of proceeding with more efforts to tweak this image in CS2, I will switch gears and see what results can be obtained using a different tool – Photomatix Pro.
This second example is based on using Photomatix Pro to do the HDR processing. Other aspects of the workflow are performed as usual, including in my case Rawshooter Premium for RAW conversion and Photoshop CS2 for final touch-up.
Photomatix Pro is a stand-alone application from the French company MultimediaPhoto SARL. It may be new to you, but I suspect currently the Photomatix application is the most popular HDR tool among people actively working with HDR photography. The first version came out in early 2003, and I have been using it since late 2005. A free trial version is available; it is fully functional but applies a watermark to all generated images. Note: I have no connection with the company other than being a happy customer.
One advantage of using a stand-alone application for HDR processing is that it does not require you to have Photoshop CS2. When I began working with HDR, I was still using Photoshop Elements 3. Using Photomatix Pro, which can import JPEG and TIFF images created elsewhere and output 8- or 16-bit TIFF images in turn, was a much cheaper way to get into the game than purchasing CS2. (In the end I got CS2 anyway, one of the biggest reasons being to work with 16-bit layers, a necessity for this kind of work.) In general, I am a fan of using “best of breed” tools. CS2 is an incredibly capable application, but it is not the best at everything.
Another advantage of Photomatix Pro is that it contains several exposure processing functions besides HDR tone mapping. The tone mapper used for HDR images can even be applied to a single 16-bit TIFF image. Depending on the DR present in the original capture, tone mapping a single image can potentially add some interesting “pop”. For multi-image processing, in addition to an HDR work-up, the images can be run through more traditional exposure blending functions that do not do their work in a 32-bit HDR mode. Photomatix Pro also has some batch processing functions that can automate the process of converting several groups of input images.
If you prefer to stay within CS2, the Photomatix tone mapper is available as a plug-in that can be used in place of CS2’s own HDR Conversion function. You still use CS2’s Merge to HDR function to create the HDR image, however you then use the Photomatix plug-in to generate a tone mapped 8- or 16-bit image file. Most of the other Photomatix Pro features are not available in the plug-in, including batch processing and the “highlights and shadows” exposure blending functions.
The main focus of this section is to look at how the stand-alone Photomatix Pro application can be used as an alternative HDR processing tool. As with CS2, there are two key functions to work with. The first is Generate HDR, accessed via the HDRI>Generate HDR menu item in Photomatix Pro. This is how you initially combine several input images taken at different exposures into a single HDR image. The second function is Tone Mapping, accessed via the HDRI>Tone Mapping menu item when a previously created HDR 32-bit image is open.
Photomatix Generate HDR
The initial step is to process the same three example images into a single HDR file. With Photomatix open, select the HDRI>Generate HDR menu item. This brings up the Generate HDR – Step One panel:
I have navigated to the folder containing the input images and selected them. There is nothing else to do in this panel, so I proceed by clicking OK to get to the next step:
The purpose of this Exposure Values panel is to confirm the estimates the software made about the exposure range of the input images. If you shoot the input series with a consistent exposure interval such as 1 or 2 EV, Photomatix normally can accurately guess the relative exposure values. If it does not get them right, select the EV interval from the drop-down list, or manually enter the relative EV values beside each image thumbnail. Once these values are entered, clicking OK proceeds to the final step:
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