A newcomer to the blog, Larry, asked me to do a tutorial on HDR Toning in Photoshop.  I have never shown this on EverydayHDR before because I don’t really care for it as a Tone Mapping engine.  I do, however, use it in another interesting way.

There are two ways to use the HDR toning engine in Photoshop.  The first being File>Automate>Merge to HDR Pro.  This method will allow you to pull in multiple exposures and tone map similarly to Photmatix or HDR Efex Pro.   There are 2 big problems with HDR Pro in PS, the time it takes to merge them is significantly longer than Photomatix and the outcome is not to my liking.  Some may like it, I do not however.

The other method is to go to Image>Adjustments>HDR Toning.  This method is great for doing a quick job on a single exposure or incorporating it into your workflow to bring out the detail in certain areas on the fly.  I like to use this as a High Pass Sharpen type layer.  Look at the before and after pictures below, checkout the quick video, and look at the screenshot to take a mental note of the settings I used for it.

 

 

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
Blake Rudis on EmailBlake Rudis on FacebookBlake Rudis on InstagramBlake Rudis on PinterestBlake Rudis on TwitterBlake Rudis on Youtube