Photomatix Tutorial

Note: This tutorial may be easier to read from my blog as all of the images will be visible [link]

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This Photomatix Tutorial will be geared towards the beginning user. When I was a newbie to Photography in general I didn't even know the difference between aperture and shutter speed. When I was new to HDR I felt a similar sense of ignorance when I ran across certain terms related to HDR. I only began using Photomatix myself a few months ago but due to a pretty heavy immersion I've picked up quite a lot of information in that period of time.

I'm breaking this tutorial up into two main parts. Part one is a very basic walk-through of HDR and Photomatix. Part two will go into the various adjustment sliders in the Details Enhancer mode, which is the most commonly used mode in Photomatix.

Although there are several versions of Photomatix (including a Light version), I'm going to talk mostly about Photomatix Pro. This is the standalone version of the software and is the most commonly purchased version.

I actually initially bought the Light version because I was feeling pretty tight with money at the time. Although it is less expensive than the Pro version, it's also considerably "Lighter". After upgrading to the Pro version I ran some experiments using the same three bracketed images. The final result from the Light version was pretty good but the result from the Pro version was better. You can read my Photomatix Review for more information on this.

Part One of the Photomatix Tutorial For Beginners

Let's start with the basics. Some of you may already have Photomatix Pro installed on your computer. If you don't, you can download a fully functional trial from HDRsoft. The HDRsoft website contains a wealth of information about Photomatix including a resource page which contains links to books and other tutorials.

Here is the link to download the Windows version: [link]

Here is the Mac version: [link]

If you decide to purchase a license to any of the Photomatix products you can get a 15% discount by using the coupon code: RoyaltyFreeStock

The trial version of Photomatix Pro functions exactly the same as the licensed version only it puts a watermark on the saved images. If you decide to purchase a license you can run these watermarked images back through Photomatix and the watermark will be removed. This will only work on images that were saved straight out of Photomatix so if you want to manipulate them in Photoshop keep this in mind.

Once you have the program installed proceed to step 1.

Step 1 - Take your bracketed exposures

Every camera is going to have its own menu options for this so you will have to consult your camera manual if you aren't sure how to do this. For the sake of this tutorial we will work with three exposures. In reality you can take as many exposures as you want. The goal is to cover the entire dynamic range of a scene. Most of the time three exposures at +2ev, 0ev and -2ev will cover the needed range. If you need more than three exposures to cover the range of a scene you may have to put your camera into manual mode.

All of the exposures must be shot with the same aperture. If you don't need to take your shots in manual mode you can simply put your camera into aperture priority. This will keep a consistent aperture. Your camera will adjust the shutter speed to get the different exposures. Again, all cameras are different so if you're not sure how to do this check your manual. Having shots with different apertures will result in an out of focus HDR result as they will all have a different depth of field.

A tripod is very important when it comes to HDR. It's impossible to hand hold a camera still enough for the shots to be identical. Photomatix Pro does have an alignment feature but the results from this are not as good as using a tripod in my experience. I have a steady hand...but not steady enough.

Ideally, once you have your camera on your tripod, you should use a remote to trip the shutter. I don't have a remote for my camera so I usually put the camera into multiple exposure mode in addition to the bracketed exposure mode. This will cause it to take my three bracketed images in rapid succession. You can also take them more slowly using the self-timer. This will eliminate any chance of camera shake from your hands slightly moving the tripod as you push the button. However, if your tripod is really sturdy this should not be a problem. I have one sturdy tripod and one very lightweight one that I would not trust with HDR.

Here are the three bracketed images we will be working with in this tutorial. For the sake of consistency I'm going to use the same three images used in my review of Photomatix. It's a nice simple scene with no skies to contend with. Here they are:

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Step 2 - Load your images into Photomatix Pro

There are several ways to load your images into Photomatix Pro.

If your computer is a Mac, you can simply drag your images to the Photomatix icon in your dock at the bottom of your desktop.

A dialog box will open with three different options. For the sake of this tutorial we will be choosing "Generate an HDR Image".

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For both Mac and PC another way to load your images is to click the "Generate HDR" button and either drag and drop your files or browse for them. You can also go to the "Process" menu and then select "Generate HDR."

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Once you've chosen your images you will see this:

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The official recommendation from the HDRstoft website is to have the "Align Source Images" option checked. I often leave it unchecked if I've used a tripod as the processing time when this option is checked is pretty substantial.

For the sake of this beginners tutorial we are going to ignore the next 3 options.

"Take Tone Curve Of Color Profile" should be checked.

Click the blue "Generate HDR" button. Your initial image will not be very attractive. Don't freak out. Here's mine so far:

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Step 3 - Tone Mapping

Click the "Tone Mapping" button seen above. Here is my image so far using the "default" setting:

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Notice the presets you can experiment with: Natural, Smooth Skies, Painterly and Grunge. Here is my image after choosing each of these:

Natural:

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Smooth Skies:

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Painterly:

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Grunge:

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Often what I do, is pick one of the presets that is closest to what I am hoping the end result to be, although this may not be ideal for everybody. For this image I chose "grunge" and then tweaked the sliders until I got what I desired. I've read accounts from other photographers of always starting in "Default" mode. Experiment to see what works best for you. Here is the final result still in preview mode:

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Here is the image after clicking the "Process" button and then saving the result:

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Those are the basic steps to creating an HDR image in Photomatix.

Part Two of the Photomatix Tutorial For Beginners

In this next section of the tutorial I will be going over the various settings in the "Details Enhancer" mode. This is the most widely used mode and is responsible for the surreal and otherworldly look of many HDR images. This is often called the "HDR look" and is generally either loved or hated by photographers.

I happen to love the " HDR look" as my mind is geared toward the surreal. The photographers that hate it...well...they seem to have minds that are geared toward something different. To each his own. If you are curious about this issue, just go to the HDR or Photomatix groups on Flickr. Many heated, and often snide, discussions abound! Don't let anyone decide for you what the "proper" use of HDR is.

For this part of the tutorial we will be using a different set of three bracketed exposures. These were taken today and have not been processed in Photomatix until now:

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Here is the initial HDR result before tone mapping:

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Here is the result of tone mapping in "Default" mode. Notice where the visible sliders are:

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I'm going to use default mode as a starting point for tone mapping this image. Before I make any further edits however, I'm going to explain each slider in the Details Enhancer mode.

Strength:

The strength slider controls the overall amount of contrast enhancement. For a more natural "traditional photograph" look set the strength slider somewhere between 25 and 50. If you are after a surreal HDR look set the strength slider to somewhere between 50 and 100.

Color Saturation:

This slider adjusts the overall color saturation. Adjust this to your liking. Sometimes increasing the saturation will cause strange effects in skies. If this happens I adjust the strength as high as it will go without causing the unwanted effects. I then increase Saturation Highlights and Saturation Shadows to my liking.

Luminosity:

The Luminosity slider controls the amount of detail in the shadows. Increasing luminosity has the effect of brightening the image and decreasing halos around objects which are very undesirable. Here is a good example of the halo effect. Notice the pale glow around the tractor and the trees:

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Micro-Contrast:

The Micro-Contrast slider adjusts the level of local detail. I usually turn this all the way up or most of the way up as I really like the intense detail it brings out in an image.

Smoothing:

This can be used in "Light" mode or with Light smoothing unchecked. Checking Light smoothing has the effect of lightening shadows in a similar way to increasing Luminosity.

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Tone Settings:

White Point and Black Point are basically just curves adjustments. You can just leave these alone if you would rather adjust these in Photoshop.

Gamma controls the overall brightness of the image. I have found that very small adjustments can have a dramatic effect. I prefer to use Luminosity when I desire to brighten my image but occasionally make small Gamma corrections.

Color Settings:

The Temperature slider will change the temperature of the light either cooler or warmer.

Saturation Highlights will allow you to increase the saturation in the highlights without increasing color noise in the shadows.

Saturation Shadows is good for lowering color noise already present in shadows.

Miscellaneous Settings:

Micro-Smoothing will smooth harsh micro-contrast. It's best to avoid setting this high when you also have Micro-Contrast set high. Also, having Micro-Contrast set to high and Micro-Smoothing set to low will create a very artsy and surreal result...I like that.

Increasing Highlights Smoothness is a good way to reduce noise in a sky. Often it's desirable to have strong micro-contrast in your subject but a smooth noise free sky. If your sky is noisy but your subject looks good, try turning this slider up until the sky looks good. Sometimes you may have to turn it all the way up to achieve this.

Adjusting Shadows Smoothness is a good way to reduce grainy noise in the shadows.

Shadows Clipping will effect the intensity of the shadows.

Here is my finished tone mapping result still in preview mode:

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Here is the final tone-mapped result after clicking the Process button, saving and then cropping in Photoshop:

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Here is the same image as above after some post processing in Photoshop. I adjusted Curves, Levels and Saturation:

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If "Details Enhancer" mode creates too much of a surreal effect you can try using "Tone Compressor" mode. I personally never use this mode so I'm not qualified to write a tutorial on it. If you would like more information about the Tone Compressor mode see the HDRsoft website.

For an even more natural result you might want to try "Exposure Fusion". This option can be found on the initial menu that pops up when Photomatix is first started. Again, I don't use this option so I'm not qualified to give instructions. See the HDRsoft website for more information.

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Once again, you can get 15% off of any Photomatix product by using the coupon code: RoyaltyFreeStock

Here is a link to the HDRsoft website.

Enjoy using Photomatix Pro and thank you for reading my tutorial!