Lightroom and Photomatix Plug-in

Pseudo HDR

Normal Export

This is a rainbow I caught a few months back on the Cumberland River in Kentucky. The fish was a nice specimen of how the day went, even if a little on the lean side; but this entry is a tutorial of sorts and not a fish story.

Sometimes its nice to have the time and forethought to shoot multiple exposures of an image even its only meant to be a memento shot like this one, but when you don't you still have options to get a little more dynamic range into the final.

Using Lightroom 2.0 I exported three different images using an 2-stop over / normal / 2-stop under technique then import those images back into Lightroom. Using the new Photomatix Plug-In for Lightroom from HDRSoft I created a pseudo HDR image from one exposure and I was able to get more range therefore getting more detail in the shadow areas like the black net and detail in the rock's texture; and in this case I believe a much more pleasing version of this capture.

I don't care too much for HDR images that take Tone Mapping to an extreme, unless that is what you are shooting for. I believe HDR can be utilized to bring out detail that the eye sees with it's mega dynamic range and put some of it back into the photo with it's limited range.

Let me know what you think.