Alaska Photography

Photomatix version (I did not like the flowers)

One of the original unprocessed images

I pulled the Photomatix image and a well exposed image into Photoshop. I did this by selecting both images in Lightroom 3 and right clicking. Selecting “open as layers in Photoshop” will bring both images in.

Both images as layers in Photoshop CS5

With the Photomatix image on top, I apply adjustment layers to the bottom image by turning off the top image. I am trying to get the flowers in the foreground as vibrant as the mountains in the background.

Turning on the top image and adding a layer mask to it I paint the mask with my black brush revealing the image below it.

Applying adjustment layers and mask

Click on any photo for larger view!

Images combined in Photoshop CS5

This only requires very basic knowledge of masks and adjustment layers in Photoshop. The whole process took about 5 minutes and that is only because I played around with the new masks menu in Photoshop CS5. I encourage everyone to learn this powerful software. It will change your photography.

Share on Facebook

I have been taking 3 exposures for years in anticipation of doing something with them someday. These 3 exposures were taken years ago on a trip to Valdez. To identify possible HDR candidates in Lightroom I rate the first photo of a series with 2 stars. Nothing else gets 2 stars in my catalog. If I want to look for photos to import into Photomatix for HDR work I search my database for 2 stars. Doing that today, I came across these 3 photos and exported them to Photomatix from Lightroom.





Normal exposure











1 stop under











1 stop over








You may ask why I only used 1 stop instead of 2 stop exposures. Simple answer, I had no idea what I was doing. Now when I take a landscape shot I take 3 exposures, 2 stops over and 2 stops under. I can then export to Photomatix to try some tonemapping. Not all images are for HDR, but I am finding more and more.

Click on photo for larger view.

This one I tonemapped in Photomatix using my high settings which are here.

I then tonemapped in Photomatix with my medium settings here.

This one is tonemapped using my light settings found here.

I liked the medium settings for this image so I pulled it into Photoshop, cloned the signs out, used a neutral density filter and ran noise reduction on it. Click on the image for a larger view. I wish more people would publish their Photomatix settings.

Here is another HDR tutorial with settings for that realistic look. http://www.akphotograph.com/Alaska%20Blog/?p=808

Share on Facebook