Dark Style HDR Photography - Adding the Effects

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HDR Start Image

You will now need to fire up Photoshop and load your image.

3. Levels

Check levels and make sure you have the full tonal range by adjusting the black and white pointers on the histogram.

4. Curves & Contrast

Now we need to tweak the curves to boost the image's contrast using the "Linear Contrast (RGB)" option from the Preset menu.

5. Add Black & White + Bleach Bypass Filter

Now we need to use the Tiffen Dfx Plug-in, found under the Filter menu in Photoshop. Make sure the plug-in is installed beforehand.

5. (a)

Once Tiffen has loaded, select the [IMAGE] tab at the bottom filter screen, then click on the "Black and White" image in the film strip.

5. (b)

Now add a layer by clicking the add layer icon below the cog icon. This allows you to add the next filter.

5. (c)

Add the Bleach Bypass filter by selecting the [FILM LAB] tab, then clicking on the "Bleach Bypass" image in the film strip. Adjust the strength as desired.

5. (d)

Compare the start image with the new image by clicking the compare button at the top middle of the screen.

5. (e)

Once happy with your image, save it by clicking the cog icon under the word "FILE". The image will be shown in the Photoshop screen.

5. (f)

You may wish to add even more contrast to the image by repeating Step 4 (curves).

5. (g)

When finished, save your image back to an 8-bit format as the HDR image created by Photomatix will be 16-bit (this allows saving as webP, etc.).

5. (h)

Here is your final Dark Style HDR image.