We have all fallen victim to the lazy HDRtist. You know, when you are processing an image in Photomatix and there are distracting highlight blow outs so you do everything in your power to fix them and in turn end up sacrificing the rest of the image. So you tell yourself, eh, I can fix the rest in Photoshop in post, no big deal….
Instead, how about processing the image twice. Process it once for the great image with highlight blowouts and then process it again without the blowouts. Then in post combine the best of both worlds! If you think that is advanced you may want to check out this tutorial, it is much easier than you may be thinking! I use this technique all the time, I cannot tell you how many times it has pulled me out of a tight spot.
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jason
February 3, 2012 at 06:31 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
i appreciate your lessons but i enjoy your commentary … literally lol a couple of times… keep it up bro
Jason from Summerville, SC
Blake Rudis
February 3, 2012 at 17:28 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Awesome! Thanks Jason! I am glad you have found the tutorial helpful!
Christian
February 3, 2012 at 21:28 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This HDR tutorial was very informative, I am just getting started.. Thank you for sharing this.
Blake Rudis
February 3, 2012 at 22:17 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No problem Christian. I am glad it has helped you, if you need any help in the future, you know who to come to. Happy HDR-ing!
Connie
February 19, 2012 at 21:02 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Watched your tutorial. What is the difference if you shoot to meter the highlights and shadows and then use the HDR automation in Photoghop? That is new to me. In the past I would have done things similar to your video. Just trying to get a handle on when to use the different methods.
Connie
Blake Rudis
February 19, 2012 at 21:25 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks for stopping by! Well you could meter for the highlights and meter for the shadows, but sometimes we forget to do that as photographers. Also the tone mapping process in Photomatix doesn’t really care too much about your meter, for some reason the algorithm embedded in Photomatix hates white areas, it makes them really dirty! When you get the setting you like for most of the image, the highlighted areas turn out dirty, when you fix those areas the rest looks not so HDR. This is a great technique to use when you want the best of both worlds from one set of exposures without metering for both the highlights and shadows.
In the case of this scene, I was grab and go! I had 1 hour to shoot my favorite areas of the museum, I needed to get on my HDR Exposure horse and go to town! Unfortunately, I had to have extremely long shutter speeds due to the lighting scenarios presented, while I love my camera it is very unforgiving at higher ISOs (yes I mean higher than 200, especially with HDR).
I hope that helps! Take care Connie, please feel free stop by often!
Celso Bressan
March 1, 2012 at 11:54 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks, Blake, for this very informative video!
I always wondering what to do with those blown up areas that, sometimes, ruined my HDRs. Now, I know!
Keep it up!
Bressan
Blake Rudis
March 1, 2012 at 21:06 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Awesome, I am glad I helped! Comments like that keep me going, fuel for the fire!
Jose Parcerisa v
May 22, 2013 at 13:06 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Blake extraordinary explanation as usual. Thank you very much.
Your friend José
Blake Rudis
May 22, 2013 at 18:07 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks Jose!
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March 26, 2012 at 03:57 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
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