HDR Cookbook – Before and After: Harbor Entrance – La Goulette, Tunisia
This is the before-and-after comparison of “Harbor Entrance – La Goulette, Tunisia (HDR)“. In the top row, you see the original source images straight out of the camera. This image is based on a standard 3-shot autobracketing series with +2, 0 and -2 ev. On the left side on the bottom row, you see the result of merging those shots into a 32-bit HDR and subsequent tone-mapping using the detail enhancer option of Photomatix Pro 4.0. And finally, the right side of the bottom row shows the final image after a number of post-processing steps executed in Photoshop CS4.
The final image and a more detailed description of the post-processing steps can be viewed here. Click on the image below to view a bigger version.
Hello Klaus
I wanted to say thanks for providing such detailed information about the techniques that you use. You’ve provided me with a brilliant roadmap and I am hoping that I’ll be able to arrive at some stunning photographs of my own. I still need to work on my basic techniques such as composition. I wondered if you have any thought on CS5 and its ability to replace Photomatix as a tone-mapping tool?
Many thanks once again.
Mark
Hi Mark,
thanks for your feedback! I hope my little recipes will help you create these stunning photographs.
As for CS5: I am still using CS4. So I cannot comment on this. However, I have the impression that Photomatix is still number one and will remain there for quite a while simply because so many people are using it. I guess if Adobe has a better technology, the Photomatix guy will be able to catch up soon.
Cheers
Hello Klaus
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I notice that photomatix is available for full trial (with watermark) so I’ll put it up to some testing against CS5.
Many thanks, keep up the good work.
Mark
Hello,
i don’t understand why the people are “clean”. Their position is like the 0ev picture; but normaly they should be blurred, no?