HDR: From start to finish…

First off, for those of you who were expecting this – sorry for the delay, had a wedding and family photo shoot on the weekend.

I’m not going to go into what HDR is or isn’t, last year I posted an article called HDR: Battle Royale which describes what HDR is as well as a comparing the use of multiple or single images to generate tone-mapped HDR images. A few things before we get started – this is a step by step of my process in which I use a single RAW file to create a tone-mapped HDR image. This is not a tutorial on using Lightroom, Photomatix or Photoshop – but it should provide clear enough instructions to follow the steps that I took. Shortcuts will be PC format shortcuts (sorry Mac users!). Finally, the larger images can be clicked on to view a larger version. Keep in mind as well, I’m no expert but this process works for me – if you are an “expert” and have suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments section at the end of this post!

Without further ado, my step by step process on creating a tone-mapped HDR image from a single RAW file.

First, I open the RAW file in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Depending on the image, I may or may not make some minor adjustments like correcting the white balance or auto toning.

Open RAW (.CR2 .NEF .DNG) file in Lightroom

The second step will be to create our base exposure photo. To do this, export your image from Lightroom using the Export (CTRL+SHIFT+E) function. It is important to export your image at 100 Quality. At this point, you can export as JPEG, 8-bit TIFF or 16-bit TIFF. I use JPEG using the sRGB colorspace because most of what I do ends up only being on the Internet and at the end of the day, we’re going to end up with an 8-bit JPEG file anyways.

Lightroom export image options

The next step is to create the bracketed “exposures” that we require. To do this, adjust the Exposure slider until the number on the right reads 1. You can also type 1 in the box and hit enter which will adjust it as well.

User exposure slider to adjust image exposure

You will notice the image will appear lighter. Repeat the export steps as we used for the base exposure. Lightroom will ask if you want to overwrite the existing photo, select the option that says to Use Unique Names. After the image has been exported, adjust the exposure slider for the values of 2, 3, -1, -2, and -3. After you have adjusted the exposure and exported the seven (7) images we will be using, you can close Lightroom.

Next, we will open up Photomatix to create the HDR image and apply the tone-mapping. On the main window, click the Generate HDR image button.

Main Photomatix menu

A new window will open which will allow you to select the images you want to use. Select the 7 images we created from Lightroom, and click on the Open button.

Open images into Photomatix

Exposure values settings

Next you will see a dialog box with some HDR generation options. Because I use a single raw, I don’t need to worry about any of these. If you have bracketed images, I suggest you check Align source images for sure and Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts if you have trees, water or people in the scene. Click OK again.

Generate HDR options

Now we wait!

HDR Generation

And wait… until we get a beautiful looking image like you see below. This is the HDR exposure blended image, but unfortunately our monitors can’t display true HDR at the present. Click the Tone Mapping button on the left hand side.

HDR image

Voilà ! We have a much better looking tone-mapped image.

Initial tone-mapped image

Photomatix keeps the last used settings so usually I start with those and adjust as needed for the current photo. Most of my images use very similar settings, but I’ll still play around with the sliders to see if I can improve it at all. The great thing about this is if you go on a trip and have a number of similar images, you can run them through Photomatix very quickly. Buildings should have similar settings, vehicles should have another similar set of settings and so forth. You can even save the settings if you want – something I haven’t done but should I suppose.

There are two ways to tone map an image in Photomatix – Details Enhancer or Tone Compressor. I personally use Details Enhancer, I tried using Tone Compressor a couple times but never got the hang of it. Here are the four tabs of the Details Enhancer (click the image for more detail):

Details Enhancer tabs

If you are new to Photomatix I suggest you play with the sliders one at a time to get a feel for what they do. The best way is to start at the top and make a note of the default setting then slide the slider all the way to the left, note the results, then slide it all the way to the right and note the new results. Then you can slide it until you get the desired effect. Here’s a brief overview of what each slider does:

Main tab

Strength: this sets how strong the tone-mapped effect is – 100 is max, 0 is none
Color Saturation: adjusts color saturation – 100 is strong, 0 is black and white
Light Smoothing: higher value brightens shadows and increases local contrast
Luminosity: controls smoothing of contrast variations across the image – very high is more realistic (imo), very low is grittier

Tone tab

White Point: increases the global contrast for lighter areas of the image – 5% is highest, 0% is none
Black Point: increases the global contrast for darker areas of the image – 5% is highest, 0% is none
Gamma: adjusts the mid-tones of the image, lightening or darkening the image globally – 0.35 is lightest, 2.00 is darkest

Color tab

Temperature: adjusts the overall color temperature – 10 is warmer (reddish), -10 is cooler (bluer)
Saturation Highlights:Â adjusts color temperature of highlights – 10 is warmer (reddish), -10 is cooler (bluer)
Saturation Shadows: adjusts color temperature of shadows – 10 is warmer (reddish), -10 is cooler (bluer)

Micro tab

Micro-contrast: sets the level of emphasis on details – 10 is stronger detail, -10 is minimal if any detail
Micro-smoothing: smooths out some of the details for example reducing low level noise in the sky – 30 is very smooth, 0 is no smoothing

S/H tab

Highlights Smoothing: weakens or strengthens the highlights – 100 is stronger, 0 is weaker. Note: this slider only seems to make a difference in the higher range past 60 (or more).
Shadows Smoothing: weakens or strengthens the shadows – 100 is stronger, 0 is weaker. Note: this slider only seems to make a difference in the higher range past 60 (or more).
Shadows Clipping: adjusts shadow clipping – 100 is the most clipping (less detail in shadows, will look almost black), 0 is none (more detail in shadows)

(NOTE: the latest version of Photomatix has combined the 4 tabs as I have shown them into one long menu now but the same setting adjustment sliders are there).

After you have adjusted the sliders, click the Process button… now we wait again. And wait… while Photomatix tone maps our image using the Details Enhancer.

Processing tone mapping

After Photomatix has processed the image using Tone Mapping, you’ll see a relatively ready image:

Tone-mapped image in Photomatix

Select File… and Save… the image – it will save in the same format you were using, JPEG or TIFF. Close Photomatix and then open the image in Photoshop.

Tone-mapped image in Photoshop

I run a few minor adjustments in Photoshop. One action that I run on almost EVERY image I process, HDR or not, is the wonderful Boost action available from Pioneer Woman. You can get it (and a few others) from the Pioneer Woman website. The boost action adds a “pop” in contrast and color, without overpowering the image.

Tone mapped image after Boost action

I then usually adjust the opacity of the Boost group to around 50% – but depending on the image this can range anywhere from 25-100%.

Adjust Boost to 50%

Next, I run a neat little trick I learned from Gareth over at The Celtic Camera Photography – sharpening using the High Pass filter in Photoshop. I used to use the unsharpen mask but no more – you’ll see why in a minute! Make sure your Background layer is selected, then (on the PC) hit CTRL+J to make a new layer.

Create a new layer

Next select Filter from the Photoshop menu, then Other… and High Pass. You’ll get a screen like you see below. You’ll notice that it appears to outline the image. Adjust the Radius between 3 and 6 pixels until you get the desired outlining and click OK.

High Pass Filter in effect

After applying the High Pass Filter we need to change the Layer mode to Hard Light. This will basically keep the outlined portions of the High Pass Filtered layer intact and allow the original image to show through.

Set High Pass layer to Hard Light

We’re done! Well, almost. This is how the image looks after setting the High Pass layer mode to Hard Light.

Tone-mapped image with Boost and High Pass Filter applied

Finally! All that remains is to export the image as an 8-bit JPEG and upload it to your favorite photo sharing site! If you used 16-bit TIFFs, you’ll have to convert the RGB colorspace to 8-bit before you can export, but if you use TIFFs I’m sure you already knew that!

Canada Place Final HDR/tone-mapped Image

I know there’s a ton of HDR tutorials out there, I’m certain this one is almost identical to a lot of them. But because I had a few inquiries as to how I processed the Canada Place image I took I thought I’d whip one up. I hope you enjoyed, and feel somewhat enlightened!

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