Photomatix Pro 4
Download Photomatix Pro 4
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I am a HDR newbie, I never thought I would be diving into HDR so
quickly (didn't even know what it was a month ago). This program makes
it so easy to transform your photos. I have a nikon D200, D5000 and
Olympus e-pl1, and I have achieved astonishing photos, adding this
technique, photos are jaw-dropping. I have had some many compliments to
my photos, and even friends asking me to help them achieve the same
wonderful photos. This is a very insteresting technique. Once you have
your shot taken with at least 3 different exposures then you will merge
the 3 photos into HDR image, and then next step of the program is tone
mapping to reveal highlights & shadows details in HDR image. The
results will AMAZE you.
One note, you can download this software's trail version for free to see if you like it, that is what I did. You can use it indefinetely (not 30 days like most), but it will leave a watermark on your finished project, but at least you can play with it before spending $100.
**If you don't have a camera that can take 3 different exposures or you having a moving target that you can't, you can take one photo and then manipulate 2 new exposures with a software program, or even Windows photo gallery. It is not "true" hdr, but it gives similar results. I took some photos of my niece walking down the aisle at an outside wedding on a beautiful day. I couldnt do the 3 diffenet exposures with my camera because of the movement (even a second in time makes a difference of the photo you take), so I manipulated 2 new exposures afterwards and then used this program. The results were amazing, the sky alone with the clouds and sun shinning thru looked 3D.
One note, you can download this software's trail version for free to see if you like it, that is what I did. You can use it indefinetely (not 30 days like most), but it will leave a watermark on your finished project, but at least you can play with it before spending $100.
**If you don't have a camera that can take 3 different exposures or you having a moving target that you can't, you can take one photo and then manipulate 2 new exposures with a software program, or even Windows photo gallery. It is not "true" hdr, but it gives similar results. I took some photos of my niece walking down the aisle at an outside wedding on a beautiful day. I couldnt do the 3 diffenet exposures with my camera because of the movement (even a second in time makes a difference of the photo you take), so I manipulated 2 new exposures afterwards and then used this program. The results were amazing, the sky alone with the clouds and sun shinning thru looked 3D.
Photomatix offers a relatively strong and low-cost way to get into HDR photography, and I find it a great creative tool.
The program's support for RAW format images seems to be good - it handles RAW from my Nikon D300 and D3x without problems, although the large files that come from my D3x seem to take a long time to process. A fast computer and lots of memory help.
Assuming good basic technique, the images come out amazingly well. Although the basic idea is to stitch together images taken with different exposures, sometimes it's handy to use the program's tone mapping capabilities, even on a single image.
I tend to start my workflow with Photomatix, outputting HDR TIF images that I usually bring back into an editing program (PhotoShop) for further tweaking. Photomatix is good at HDR - you still need something else for many of the other changes you might want to make to your images.
Overall, I find the software a great creative tool and it's helped me think in new ways about contrast and dynamic range in my images. Definitely worth the price.
The program's support for RAW format images seems to be good - it handles RAW from my Nikon D300 and D3x without problems, although the large files that come from my D3x seem to take a long time to process. A fast computer and lots of memory help.
Assuming good basic technique, the images come out amazingly well. Although the basic idea is to stitch together images taken with different exposures, sometimes it's handy to use the program's tone mapping capabilities, even on a single image.
I tend to start my workflow with Photomatix, outputting HDR TIF images that I usually bring back into an editing program (PhotoShop) for further tweaking. Photomatix is good at HDR - you still need something else for many of the other changes you might want to make to your images.
Overall, I find the software a great creative tool and it's helped me think in new ways about contrast and dynamic range in my images. Definitely worth the price.
Photomatix Pro has enabled me to get DSLR quality images on my Canon
Power Shot S5 IS camera. I'm having so much fun with Photomatix Pro, my
hungering for the Canon EOS 7D is not as strong as before discovering
Photomatix.
Using this "magical" software I have been able to "reverse engineer" some of my older photos taken as single exposure shots and turn them into the eye poppers.
In Photoshop I increased the exposure on an otherwise well composed shot, but a little flat exposure wise. I increased exposure by 1.0 stops, and reduced the exposure by .5 stops. I saved each "tweaked" image and then sent them over to Photomatix, and WOW! Another eye popper emerged. There is one drawback, although the exposure and contrast were great, the color suffered. I saved the recreated photo as a black and white, and corrected the image a little bit back in Photoshop. The resulting black and white image is as great as if it had been a bracketed image in the first place.
ADDED: I was able to "reverse engineer" a color photo and merge the exposures and the color rendering came out fine. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. But you'll get great B/W images even if you cannot get good color results.
Many of my photos done with the bracketing and Photomatix merging take on oil painting qualities or some have even looked like pen and ink drawings.
Others take on a surreal look without any Photoshop SFX.
If you own a higher end Point and Shoot with exposure bracketing, this is THE software to purchase. You don't even need Photoshop. Photomatix saves the merged images as a TIFF file which means you can edit the merged image in just about any photo editing program.
If you're like me, wanting to upgrade to a DSLR but still can't quite afford one, then the $100 investment in Photomatix will make the wait a bit more tolerable.
ADDED REVIEW CONTENT
Well, I now own the camera of my dreams, the Canon 7D. Using exposure bracketing on the 7D and Photomatix have given me some really eye-popping images.
Using this "magical" software I have been able to "reverse engineer" some of my older photos taken as single exposure shots and turn them into the eye poppers.
In Photoshop I increased the exposure on an otherwise well composed shot, but a little flat exposure wise. I increased exposure by 1.0 stops, and reduced the exposure by .5 stops. I saved each "tweaked" image and then sent them over to Photomatix, and WOW! Another eye popper emerged. There is one drawback, although the exposure and contrast were great, the color suffered. I saved the recreated photo as a black and white, and corrected the image a little bit back in Photoshop. The resulting black and white image is as great as if it had been a bracketed image in the first place.
ADDED: I was able to "reverse engineer" a color photo and merge the exposures and the color rendering came out fine. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. But you'll get great B/W images even if you cannot get good color results.
Many of my photos done with the bracketing and Photomatix merging take on oil painting qualities or some have even looked like pen and ink drawings.
Others take on a surreal look without any Photoshop SFX.
If you own a higher end Point and Shoot with exposure bracketing, this is THE software to purchase. You don't even need Photoshop. Photomatix saves the merged images as a TIFF file which means you can edit the merged image in just about any photo editing program.
If you're like me, wanting to upgrade to a DSLR but still can't quite afford one, then the $100 investment in Photomatix will make the wait a bit more tolerable.
ADDED REVIEW CONTENT
Well, I now own the camera of my dreams, the Canon 7D. Using exposure bracketing on the 7D and Photomatix have given me some really eye-popping images.
This is a five star product!
