5. Execute Tone Mapping (Or Just Play)

For all the science behind tone mapping, it’s really an art. And for as much as we feel an obligation to discuss color temperature, luminance, and saturation, the best instruction we can offer is this: Play. Just play with the array of buttons and sliders under the Details Enhancer tab and watch what happens. As you modify the settings, the preview will update. Depending on your Mac, that might take up to a few seconds. When you have an image you like, click Process to apply your settings, then save your masterpiece.

6. Admire Your Work

Three unremarkable photos become one amazing scene.

When processing is finished, save your image. Photomatix can save it as a TIFF or JPEG. At this stage you must choose: sit back and admire your handiwork, or go back to the HDR file you saved in Step 4 and make another one!

Then Again . . .

The simplicity of HDR photography makes it broadly accessible, but the dilettante in you may find $99 too dear. FDRTools Basic (www.fdrtools.com) is a free HDR processor that offers most of Photomatix’s feature set. It merges and aligns original images and offers strong tone-mapping tools. However, it’s written in Java and feels like a PC program, replete with menus inside windows and a gawky user interface. We also found the finished images inferior to Photomatix’s. But, hey, it’s free.