After many months of searching the web and seeing some horribly processed HDR images.  I decided to do a more in depth Photomatix tutorial on how to make good HDR images and how to fix those damn electric clouds that happen during the tonemapping process!  I may be a purist when it comes to HDR images, but I prefer them to be the way they appeared when I was there with maybe a little bit of artistic tweaking depending on the photo, but I usually do that in Photoshop.  I see HDR images all over that give HDRtists a bad name due to their poor processing and high saturation.  Just because you can saturate something doesn’t always mean you should!  In this tutorial I have also tackled how to battle those nasty electric HDR clouds with just a few quick slides of the bars.  This tutorial was inspired by the pure nature of Eric Valdez’s work, you know, the guy I interviewed on Wednesday.

***Disclaimer: All of the adjustments made to my image will not necessarily be the same as yours, it depends on the dynamic range in the image.  You may have to play a little more or a little less.  Do not use my numbers as a chisel to stone, use them as a guide to tweak yours.***


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!
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