HDR Tutorial ( Photomatix )

So you've taken your 3 Bracketed photos but don't know exactly how to EDIT them to make that amazing HDR look.. no fear! This tutorial is SUPER DUPER CRAZY EASY!!! (if you're a noob and don't know what HDR is or how to take HDR photos, look at THIS POST first) 

Photomatix is a $100 program that takes your 3 images and combines them into one BEAUTIFUL HDR image and although this can easily be done in Photoshop or other FREE HDR programs, for the sake of this tutorial I will use Photomatix! 


STEP 1: select

Chose "Load bracketed photos" and pick your 3 pictures you want to use. (easy... TOO EASY!!!) ....


 it will give you some options such as noise removal and what not, feel free to pick what you want... figure out what it does on your own... 


Press ok and let it do its thing... it will take some time depending on your picture size and what not


STEP 2: edit

now you have this awesome screen which has a low quality preview of your final image... 


at the bottom are different presets for different looks, "enhancer - Grunge" is the one I have selected in the image above... 


Play with the settings and style so you can get something that fits what you're looking for. 


when you're happy press the big "PROCESS" button at the bottom... 


STEP 3: save

Now it seems like you're done but don't exit yet! 


click "SAVE AS" and chose whatever, I usually do JPEG for convenience. 


If you exit before you save as, you might lose your incredible 2 steps of hard work!!! 


(and did I mention Photomatic saves your adjustments from previously on to any future projects, so even if you did screw up, all your adjustments would STILL be there anyways... AMAZING!!!!) 


THE FINISHED PRODUCTS: 

I edited this one a little more with curves, brightness and contrast and sharpening effects... click to enlarge

hope you enjoyed this super simple tutorial, the free HDR programs all have a similar work flow, just some of them don't have as nice presets... 


the HDR tool that comes with Photoshop doesn't even have presets, and trust me, doing it manually... good luck! :P all it does is combine your 3 images, but no special looks...