I purchased Photomatix

[robpendragon]

After reading all the reviews & taking an interest in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography I went to the NAPP site & found out that members get 20% off, it came to $80.00 for the program (it's even less for the plug in).
Using some HDR presets I found for Lightroom I fiddled with it for some really fascinating results, when I get a really nice day to head outside I'll bracket some shots to do it correctly & then post some photos.
It's pretty simple & the software download is only 3.1 mb.
I should have something to view posted this weekend. If anyone here is using Photomatix feel free to share some helpful hints or tricks.

Rob

[sosdog]

Thanks for the heads-up. went ahead an purchased with NAPP discount. Looking forward to some pictures.

[JulieM]

For anyone who might be interested, Photoshop Elements Sight is giving away a copy of Photomatix as one of the prizes in their 2nd Photo Contest. HERE (http://photoshopelementsight.com/Sight/Contests.html) are the details.

(EV members took all the prizes in their 1st contest, by the way...:))

[Joe M]

Congratulations Rob I think you will enjoy it.

Julie if I happen to win the contest (doubtful) I'll give you the copy of Photomatix.

Rob I would definitely use Presets. I have 3, one is called Normal (you'll have to decide what is normal), two is Color, and three is Black & White. The Color and Black and White can be combined to create a very strong HDR image with an almost painterly fantasy look. It doesn't work for all images but it can be a good starting point. Here are my presets:

High Color Image PRESET

Strength-100
Color Saturation-75 (Higher depending on the image.)
Light Smoothing-Medium
Luminosity-10
White Point, Black Point, Gamma-Default
Color Temperature-0 (Can be changed if you're looking for something special on that particular image.)
Saturation Highlights-10
Saturation Shadows-10
Micro Contrast-10 (Can be changed to -10 for a softer look that can be controlled with the opacity of the BW layer)
Micro Smoothing-0
Highlights Smoothing-0
Shadows Smoothing-0
Shadows Clipping-0

Black and White PRESET

Strength-100
Color Saturation-0
Light Smoothing-Very Low
Luminosity- -10 (Minus Ten)
White Point, Black Point, Gamma-Default
Color Temperature-0
Saturation Highlights- -10 (Minus 10)
Saturation Shadows- -10 (Minus 10)
Micro Contrast-10
Micro Smoothing-0
Highlights Smoothing-0
Shadows Smoothing-0
Shadows Clipping-100

Save both as 16 bit .tiff files. Load the Color Image and do your normal curves adjustment to correct any problems you see. Move the Black and White Image above your curves adjustment and set the blend mode to Hard Light with an opacity of the layer at about 45%. You can play with the opacity to your liking and even the blend mode, try Overlay and Soft Light.

(I added a few things after first posting this so you could benefit from everything I have learned. For example changing the Micro Contrast on Color Image from 10 to -10.)

The idea behind this method came from The HDRI Handbook.

[robpendragon]

Awesome Joe, thanks. I'm also going to take a stab at Infrared HDR sometime this weekend to see how it will turn out.

[JulieM]

Julie if I happen to win the contest (doubtful) I'll give you the copy of Photomatix.



Well, aren't you a sweetie! I haven't entered anything yet but the entries so far are very strong, including yours of course.

[ljameso1]

Joe, Tx for the presets, I usually just play around. My advice is take your exposures 1 Fstop apart and have fun.