If you want to get into HDR photography, I recommend trying out Photomatix. It’s easy to use and fun to play with if you’re looking for some new photography techniques.

You’ve probably noticed I do a lot of HDR photography, but I think only about half or maybe 60% of my photos are HDR. I often get that HDR look out of a single raw image since you don’t always need to take three shots to get the Dynamic Range you need. And I often do it in either Photoshop or Lightroom. Photoshop has a nice Shadow/Highlights function that helps compress an image’s dynamic range to give that HDR look. I often use that when doing a single raw, like a long exposure on the beach where I cannot shoot bracketed shots. But Photomatix works great, too, even on single raw images.

Sample Image from the Photomatix

To achieve this look, I used Photomatix Pro for the HDR look and then one of my Lightroom Presets.

This photo is from the Ricefields of Bali, Indonesia.

Bali Rice Fields Palm Tree Retro Color Edit

Alik Griffin

A professional video editor, and photographer with a Bachelors in Film studies from UCSD. Based in Los Angeles, I have created commercials, trailers, and other video content for various clients and platforms since 2005. I also love to write about my passions and share my insights on my blog.