Photomatix 32 Bit

Not only Photoshop offers a 32 bit solution - Photomatix has it too. At the bottom of the page you will find how to do it, but first two examples of images I have taken through Photomatix' 32 bit option. Why 32 bit? There are two major advantages: Far less noise and much more information to play with.

5 exposures - Rokinon 14mm lense - f22 - Iso 100

The image is edited in Lightroom and 4 filters are added in Color Efex Pro: Tonal Contrast, Pro Contrast, Glamour Glow and Contrast Color Range. The only lens flare is spot removed with a combination of the radial and the brush tool. Not a stunning comp exactly and the colors could perhaps have been better, but it serves as an example of the 32 bit way of doing things and what a Rokinon 14mm can do. The image has a slight hdr look, but don't think it is exaggerated.

This sunset had some almost insane red tones both in the clouds and in the sky on the far left. It was pretty dark when I shoot the five exposures, hence I have processed the image dark. Canon 17-40 lens, iso 100, 19mm - f16. Again all the editing is done in Lightroom and the same four filters as above are added in Efex Color Pro. The Contrast Color Range filter really brought out the reds in the horizon as I remember them. The comp could perhaps been stronger, but I was in a hurry and the colors and the light were rapidly dwindling. I really like how the colors came out, though.

NOTE: The 32 file looks totally weird. Hence I always do this first:

1. Highlights -100
2. Shadows +100
3. Adjust whites - hold down the ALT key to find the clipping point
4. Adjust blacks - same as over
5. Adjust the exposure and the image will begin to look "normal"
6. Play around with the other adjustments - I usually add a couple of gradients in the sky to bring it out.

TIP: Did you know that you can add a mask to your sharpening in Lightroom so that you don't sharpen the sky and for instance the sea? Hold down the ALT key while moving the "mask" slider in the sharpening section and you will see how it works.

One more example of an image taken through the Photomatix 32 bit (Rokinon 14mm):

How to do make the 32 bit file:

Merging to 32-bit HDR without the Plug-in

Photomatix Pro can already merge to HDR to create a 32-bit HDR file accepted by Lightroom as described below. The Merge to 32-bit HDR Plug-in for Lightroom adds convenience, but is not necessary if you have Photomatix Pro.
1. Open Photomatix Pro and click on the Load Bracketed Photos button.
2. On the dialog to load the photos, check the Show intermediary 32-bit HDR image box.
3. Select the desired option on the Pre-Processing Options dialog, and click OK
4. Once the merge is completed, choose File > Save As....
5. Select the Floating Point TIFF (.tif) item on the File Format combo-box and click OK.
6. Import the saved TIFF file into Lightroom.