For average high contrast scenes such as exterior property shots or interior shots without windows, follow the steps listed below. For very high contrast scenes (e.g., an interior room with bright sunlight coming through a window), refer to the next section.
An interior with bright views out of the windows is a scene with very high contrast.
Taking several photos (underexposed photos for the windows, overexposed for the interior) will allow you to capture both the interior of the room and what is outside the window, without using lighting equipment [read more...]
The Tone Mapping method "Details Enhancer" enhances local details a lot, and this means that unfortunately noise will be enhanced as well, if your source images are noisy.
To avoid too much noise showing on the tonemapped image, make sure to check the "Reduce noise" box when merging the images.
However, it is always a good idea to ensure you are taking the photos in the best conditions to keep noise as low as possible. Here are two rules to follow for this:
When you process your images in Photomatix, you can reduce the effect of noise by using an Exposure Fusion method, such as Fusion/Natural (which you can also access by clicking on the 'Natural' preset), and Fusion/Interior (accessible using the Interior presets). Processing your photos with Exposure Fusion can be an effective way of reducing noise, as the fused image will have less noise than the original source photos.
If you are using Photomatix with a single RAW image instead of multiple exposures, the chance of getting noisy results is higher. We therefore recommend to expose for the shadows by slightly overexposing your shot when you aren't taking bracketed exposures.
When you are taking photos of a room that has both natural light and man-made light sources, you need to take special care to make sure there are no unintended color casts in the photo that will make the results look unnatural.
Having the proper white balance is key, and this can be controlled either by [read more...]