dan_hall4 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I just downloaded Photomatix Pro. I choose "generate hdr" and then picked the three images to work with. They were shot in RAW. But I had no chance to work on them in ACR as I normally would. Should that be done prior to choosing the RAW images? I put them into Photomatix, and it formed an HDR (I guess), then I selected tone mapping. Where I had all kinds of choices to make. What to do? I don't know what the different sliders mean. Where do I learn this. Sorry to bore you, but I have little computer knowledge. Anyone willing to point me in the right direction? Do I save as a jpeg, or Tiff, and if Tiff, what do I do with that. Never used that format before. I am not too impressed with the results. And the worst of it is, I have spots on the images. I did not see it on the regular images in "my pictures" folders where I stored the originals. Is this something that the HDR conversion added? It looks like sensor dust. I am lost. Obviously. Please help... Anyone. Below is a link to Flickr where I have included my first HDR attempt. See the spots in the upper left. Is it a mistake in the HDR process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertChura Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 They have an on line manual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainer_t Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 -- "Below is a link to Flickr where I have included my first HDR attempt." Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann_clancy6 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 just play around with the sliders and see what you like. when you finish you can save with any format you wish. i doubt the spots are from the software, but rather dust. just remove them with another editing program. And as has been suggested read the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_o_connor Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Check this out.. http://beforethecoffee.wordpress.com/photomatix-tutorial/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_hall4 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Sorry. Here is the Flickr link. Too much Amstel Light. I will be sure to read the online resources. Thanks for posting. I just downloaded Photomatix last night and gave it a go. Lost does not describe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_hall4 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Thanks for the help so far. Being pretty new to RAW, I am in need of some suggestions. I shoot RAW, convert to DNG, and save that as the master file. When I put the DNG's into PSE 6.0, ACR comes up and I make adjustments. But with my images for HDR, I was putting the DNG (unedited) file into Photomatix. Should I be processing the DNG's in PSE 6.0 (like normal) before putting them into the "generate HDR" part of Photomatix? Or do I save as a Tiff as you mention, then put the finished and tone mapped HDR into PSE 6.0 for further editing. And if doing that, does it pull up ACR like my normal workflow would with the DNG's? Any help appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcooper Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I wouldn't convert to DNG. I just copy the RAW or jpg file before I start (as insurance against a major error on my part), and process the RAW images in Photomatix. DNG is proprietary to Adobe, and not really very useful for Photomatix. If you actually do need to edit your images before converting to HDR (why would you need to edit an intentionally under/overexposed image?), do that editing, and then save them as tiff (or even jpg), and then process them in Photomatix to get the HDR. There's nothing at all wrong with putting jpgs through Photomatix (why work harder and complicate things more than you have to?). The more changes you make before Photomatix, the more chances you have for something to go wrong. I'd shoot all jpg for HDR with Photomatix until I got more comfortable with it. You don't actually need RAW for it, and converting to HDR in RAW makes monster-huge image files - much, much bigger than they need to be. I only figured that one out after I made my first successful HDR image and then tried to email it to a buddy - it was like a 17mb file (I think I used 7 exposures on my then-new D200 to make the HDR - it was a night shot, too). If it was me, I'd download the older version of Photomatix at their website, and use it to get comfortable with HDR. It's a much less steep learning curve, and the results are great! Photomatix 'brought it back' by popular demand (a lot of folks didn't like the 'upgrade' to the current version). There's basically just two ways to make an HDR image with it - 'straight' blending, and tone mapping. You can try them both, and see what each one does for you. It's much more intuitive than the current release. Just goof around with it, play with the sliders, and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_hall4 Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Thanks DB. Will do. I appreciate the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas_coon1 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Take a look at this tutorial. http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/category-technical/44-technical/189-the-high-dynamic-range-hdr-landscape-photography-tutorial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emre Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 This scene looks like it had not dynamic range to begin with. Why bother? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now