FAKING HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE WITH HDR TONING

STEP : 1

Open a photograph in Photoshop that you’d like to give the HDR look to. The image can be of anything you like, such as a landscape, a portrait, or a still life.

STEP : 2

Select Image > Adjustments > HDR Toning to open the HDR Toning dialog box. Choose Custom from the Preset menu and Local Adaptation from the Method menu. Here you can edit the Edge Glow, Tone and Detail, Color, and Toning Curve, and Histogram. There are no “right” answers for how to tone your image, so play around and adjust some of the sliders until the image looks HDR to you.

Typically, you’ll get the best results when you adjust the Gamma, Exposure, and Detail sliders before you lighten or darken shadows and highlights and add vibrance and saturation. When you’re finished, click OK.

Figure 30-1 shows an example of a normal photo before (left) and after (right) applying HDR Toning.

Figure 30-1

Of course, you don’t have to stop there. You can push your image beyond normal into the realm of the surreal with HDR Toning and Adjustment layers. Figure 30-2 shows a comparison of an original image next to a version with HDR, Levels, and Hue/Saturation Adjustments, and another with HDR and Levels Adjustment.

Figure 30-1

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