Is tone mapping becoming less popular

New Journal 43 – Is tone mapping dead?


I received an email yesterday that was just one of many communications I’ve seen this week that has been about the same thing: the idea that surreal tone mapping is becoming less popular.

I won’t use the term ‘tone mapping’ as liberally as others since each software tone maps extremely differently. However, the typically surreal tone mapped image is one we all know and recognise. Sometimes it can produce incredible images. Other times it’s less than impressive.

I, too, have found myself digitally blending images ahead of Photomatix tone mapping recently. For me, while I love the tone mapped effect, if done correctly, I’ve also come to loathe the artifacts that come with tone mapping, such as softened pixels.

On the other hand, I rarely like to think in terms of black & white. I prefer to take each image as it comes and see what I can do with the tools at hand. I know some photogs who have completely abandoned any form of tone mapping. While it’s great that they are specialising to some degree in one technique, I’m happy to keep my options open.

I still love the surreal, dreamy affect you can achieve through tone mapping interior shots, especially in churches. Photomatix is incredible for these scenes. But I almost never use it for landscape images now, and use it maybe a quarter of the time in cityscapes, and even then rarely on its own.

As for proof that interest in digital blending seems to be stronger than tone mapping, I haven’t got any. I can say that I’ve sold more digital blending tutorials than I have tone mapping tutorials. I’m not sure what that is a reflection of, other than the taste of my audience.

All I can say is that I still rely on both methods, but I’m leaning more towards digital blending as time goes by. Who knows the world of HDR photography will move in in the future.

Today’s Photo – Cannon beach at blue hour

I hope you spotted the two birds sitting on the rock to the left! They are real. The birds flying around the rock were added in there. However, there really was a lot of birds flying around there, but at long shutter speeds I didn’t capture them. I added these in later to better reflect how amazing the scene was.

To add birds like this, it is the exact opposite way of adding brighter elements such as stars or light trails.  Instead of choosing a Blend Mode of Lighten, you choose Darken and as long as the background on the bird layer is lighter than the same area on the bottom layer, it will disappear, leaving only the birds.

Before the Joys of Post-Processing