its day six of our twelve days of christmas gifts for photographers

Have you ever photographed a high contrast scene? If so, you know that even the best exposure gives you blown out highlights, or flat shadows, or both. The solution is High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing:

› Take multiple photographs at varying exposure levels (brackets) › Merge the photos into an HDR image › Adjust the settings to get the look you want: from natural-looking with Exposure Fusion to painterly or surreal with Tone Mapping

See examples of HDR photos

Learn HDR techniques with video tutorials

Try HDR processing with a free trial of Photomatix

Photomatix Pro and Photomatix Essentials are stand-alone programs running on Windows and Mac OS X.

One license for Photomatix Essentials is US$39. One license for Photomatix Pro is US$99.

Photomatix Essentials focuses on simplicity and ease of use. Photomatix Pro offers more options and includes advanced features such as batch processing and selective deghosting, as well as a Lightroom Plug-in.

Some of the features of Photomatix are also available as an Edit Plug-in for Aperture and a Filter Plug-in for Photoshop CS2 or higher. A free Lightroom Plug-in makes it possible to access Photomatix Pro directly from Lightroom, if desired. Tell your family and friends that if they want to purchase the software they can receive 15% off of the Photomatix plug-in if they go to http://www.hdrsoft.com/ and enter KPepPhoto on checkout to receive the discount.

Twelve days of Christmas Gifts for the photographer - Day One

Gift #1 - The Lightning Trigger

The way the Trigger works is simple. Attach the device to the camera hot shoe (for stability, the Trigger is powered by battery, not from the camera itself) and connect it to your camera’s electronic cable release terminal. When switched on, a forward-pointing sensor will keep an electronic eye out for quick flashes of light, when it detects one, it’ll trigger the camera.

Here is a shot taken with a lightning trigger

 

 

Where Someone can buy a Lightening Trigger For You

 

Amazon.com

 

B&H Photo