Maxence Levaillant Photos

New feature: Step-by-step HDR. Episode 1

So I promised a completely new feature this week on my blog. And here it is! In a series of videos I'll show you how I usually process my HDR photos step-by-step (think of it as of a case study or something like this). Today something very simple, only 3 exposures, hand-held and some simple edits in Photoshop (no masking) using Topaz plugin. It isn't meant for advanced users, rather beginners in HDR photography. I want to show that making HDR photos is really easy and doesn't require spending hours on it. For more details on my workflow, read my comprehensive HDR tutorial.

My plan is to release new episode every 2 - 3 weeks but if you will find it useful, I can do it more frequently (also if no one likes it, I will abandon the idea ;) ).

What you will need to follow my steps:

Photomatix Pro 4.2,
Topaz Denoise, Detail and Adjust
Lightroom 4

However, if you don't have some of this you can still learn a few things from my video. Good news is that all these applications have fully functional trial versions. So if you haven't tried them, maybe it's a good idea to download them.

BTW sorry for my accent but as you probably know I'm not native English speaker :) and I'm not really used to recording this type of videos so hopefully they will get better over time.

Also I would really (and I mean REALLY) appreciate your feedback and especially shares (given you like the idea) because it could help me in reaching larger audience and maybe it will help some beginners out there.

Final note: quality of this video might be a bit poor but I work on realising full HD version too (with lower compression). However, even with Youtube version make sure to watch it in HD resolution.

Here is output photo:

If you wish you can also play with my source files. Just download them here. Note, however, that these are TIFF files which are slightly smaller than RAW files I used in the video. Given that so many people steal photos nowadays, I'm not eager to share RAW files. Sorry for that.

Step-by-step HDR. Episode 2. Blue hour HDR

So it's time for another part of my video series about processing HDR photos. This time I will show how to merge, tone-map and process 5 exposures taken at 1.5 EV spacing taken during blue hour.

My plan is to release new episode every 2 - 3 weeks but if you will find it useful, I can do it more frequently.

What you will need to follow my steps:

Photomatix Pro 4.2,
Topaz Denoise, Detail and Adjust
Lightroom 4

However, if you don't have some of this you can still learn a few things from my video. Good news is that all these applications have fully functional trial versions. So if you haven't tried them, maybe it's a good idea to download them.

Also I would really (and I mean REALLY) appreciate your feedback and especially shares (given you like the idea) because it could help me in reaching larger audience and maybe it will help some beginners out there.

Here is output photo:

Step-by-step HDR. Episode 3. Golden hour HDR

Click on the photo to view it in large size on black background.

So today I have one for you. This time I will show you how to process golden hour HDR photo using Adobe Lightroom, Photomatix Pro and Topaz Clarity and Topaz Adjust. Please note it's not my regular workflow but first I need to introduce all filters and techniques I use before showing "real" workflow I use on a daily basis. Next time I hope to start talking about luminosity masks that I use mainly to fine-tune tone-mapped image.

So without further ado here is the video: