This before and after of one of my HDR images.

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On September 19, 2011 Christine Hauber and I taught a live online webinar on how to use Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro. The two hour recording is now available for purchase and download.

Two hours of instruction on how to take and process HDR photographs.

Click here to order your digital download
of this webinar recording for just $39.95

In this two hour video we take you through the entire HDR process from start to finish. Highlights of the video include:

• How to set up your camera to shoot multiple exposures
• How to know how many exposures to take for your particular scene – from 3 exposures to 5 and sometimes as many as 10 exposures
• Learn how to process your RAW files in Lightroom and Camera RAW to start the HDR process
• A near-complete look at Nik’s HDR Efex Pro software
• Learn how to process natural looking and “artistic” HDR photos
• Learn how to start with presets, then adjust the preset values to get exactly the look you are after
• Understand how presets are created and changed
• Know how to create your own presets and even share them with others
• Learn how to make global adjustments to adjust the look of your photo
• Learn how to use Control Points to adjust selective parts of your photo
• Learn how to apply HDR effects to individual, single frame photos
• Finish off your photo in Photoshop, Nik’s Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro
• and more…

After watching this video you will learn enough about HDR and Nik’s HDR Efex Pro to begin creating beautiful and striking HDR images yourself.

 “I’ve never done HDR photography before but have the software and so I decided to attend this session to learn the program’s capabilities. Matt certainly knew the program and conveyed this to the class members and I came away with a desire to try a HDR photograph and also knowing that a photo could look natural or unnatural/funky depending on how you choose to process it.” – Sue.

Learn how to process RAW files for HDR in Lightroom and Camera Raw.

What is HDR Photography? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, or as I like to call it: Highly Dramatic Results. By taking multiple exposures – ideally with the camera on a tripod – and using special software designed to combine the multiple exposures, you can take your photos to new levels of detail, tonal range, and creative expression.

Understand how to use the interface of Nik's HDR Efex Pro.

Purchase this 2 hour video for the same price as what the live webinar event was: just $39.95

To purchase online click on the Add to Cart button here:

To view your cart and finish your purchase click on the View Cart button here:

Shortly after your online payment, you will receive an email with download instructions, so you can begin watching right away!!

The video file is 640MB and once downloaded you can watch it on your computer or transfer it to your iPad or iPhone.

Learn about using Control Points for selective adjustments.

About Matt Suess:

I began my professional photography career in 1990 and for the next 17 years worked as an award-winning photojournalist, having my work published worldwide. I am a digital pioneer, working with digital imaging since the early 1990′s and helped implement and teach digital image processing to fellow newspaper staff photographers in the late 90′s and early 2000′s. For the last 4 years I have been a full-time artist selling my artwork at fine art festivals throughout the Southwest, with collectors investing in my artwork Worldwide.

Learn how to add finishing touches in Color Efex Pro and SIlver Efex Pro

About Christine Hauber:

Christine began her professional photography career in 1993. A graduate of the Art Institute of Colorado and the University of Colorado, her photographs have been shown in galleries nationally and showcased in B&W and Photo Technique Magazine. The author of the book Working in the USA, Christine has been the subject of several television programs, including the Fine Living Channel’s Radical Sabbatical and CNN’s NewsNight with Aaron Brown and interviewed for such internet and podcast programs as the Candid Frame and Photo Talk Radio. She has been selling her artwork as a full-time artist for the last 5 years. Her website is ChristineHauber.com

The other month ago I published in my photo galleries a new photo from this year called “Empty Bottles”. It was photographed in Northern New Mexico in a old fountain drink type of trailer.

"Empty Bottles" - New Mexico

The glass bottles feature Dr Pepper, Sunkist, and Coca Cola with a rusty old Pepsi sign in the background. Subjects like this make great HDR photos as the HDR technique brings out so much detail and character.

These bottles have been left in place for quite some time. I photographed it just the way I saw it. I didn’t move or rotate any of the bottles. Sometimes the way you see a scene is much better than if you change of move items for a “better” visual.

This was photographed with my Canon 5DmkII and 17-40mm lens. It is a 3 photo HDR that was processed with the following software: Lightroom, Photoshop, HDR Efex Pro.

Click on above photo for a larger view.

The three photos on the left show how each image looked straight out of Lightroom. The photo on the lower right shows how it looked after HDR Efex Pro. And the photo in the upper right is the final result.

Interested in learning how to create your own HDR images? Join me in one of my workshops or live online webinars.

Save 15% on Nik Software including HDR Efex Pro by entering the coupon code mattsuess at checkout.

I have just updated my website with a brand new photo that I photographed in Southern Utah the other month.

"Cow Canyon Trading Post" - Utah

The photo is titled, “Cow Canyon Trading Post”. I have driven past this location over a dozen times in the last few years with never stopping for a photo. Finally after all that time inspiration struck and this is the result.

It was photographed with my Canon 5DmkII and 17-40mm lens. It is a 3 photo HDR that was processed with the following software: Lightroom, Photoshop, HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, and Color Efex Pro.

Click on above photo for a larger version.

The three photos on the left show how each image looked straight out of Lightroom. The photo on the lower right shows how it looked after HDR Efex Pro. And the photo in the upper right is the final result.

Interested in learning how to create your own HDR images? Join me in one of my workshops or live online webinars.

Save 15% on Nik Software including HDR Efex Pro by entering the coupon code mattsuess at checkout.

Last month in July I was interviewed in a studio setting for Art Space – a tv show in Show Low, Arizona. The show started airing this month and I finally got a copy to share with you.

In the 12 minute interview I discuss a few of my photographs including “Fire & Ice”, “Old Betsy at Sunset“.

I also talk a little bit about my background, HDR photography, some of the processes I take while taking photos and printing, and traveling and living full-time in my rv.

Click here to view the embedded video.

updated Dec. 3, 2011

As some of you may already know, for over a year and a half now I have been using my iPhone camera to take fine art photographs, some of which I have already been offering for sale at fine art festivals.

I started with iPhoneography (iPhoneography is the word that has been created to describe photos taken with an iPhone camera) to show people that one does not need a fancy camera to take beautiful photographs. Everyone it seems these days are always so caught up with camera equipment. The thinking is that the next best camera to be released will help them take better photos. That thinking is far from the truth.

So I removed the fancy camera from the equation and started taking a number of photographs with my iPhone. One does not need a fancy camera with all the bells and whistles – all one needs is an eye for composition, good light, and something which to record it with.

Click on the above photo to see the gallery.

As of the time of this writing the photos seen on this page were photographed with either the iPhone 3Gs or the iPhone 4. I have a number of photo apps that run on my iPhone which I use to adjust color, contrast, saturation, and which also allows me the opportunity to add textures and other special effects.

Many of the photos were processed completely on the iPhone from start to finish. Others were photographed with the iPhone and then further enhanced on my home computer. All of these photographs and more are available for purchase in different sizes and styles in my online store here.

Next time you are out photographing great light, don’t forget that cell phone camera you have – you just may be surprised at the results.

April 9, 2011

My favorite online source of textures to add to photos has just released a new collection of 40 full-sized textures. Called the Spring Painterly Pack from Flypaper Textures, these textures are a must-have for both fans of Flypaper Textures or those who are new to their textures.

Saguaro and sunset with textures.

Blending textures to certain photos can give one a much more dramatic and interesting photo than the non-textured version. In the above photo I used 2 textures from the new Spring Painterly Pack to achieve the results I was looking for.

For comparison purposes you can see the below version prior to adding the textures. A completely different, and more dynamic image resulted from using them.

Saguaro with sunset and no textures.

February 4, 2011

A couple days ago I was interviewed by Scott Sheppard – the host, executive producer and anchor of Nik Radio, sponsored by Nik Software. In the 20 minute interview I talk about my history with photography and being a photojournalist, my current work as a full-time artist selling at art festivals, and the gear and software I use to create my work.

You can listen to a streaming online version of the interview here. You can also listen to it via itunes by subscribing to the podcast here.

As many of you may know, I have been a big fan and user of Nik Software for years and I highly recommend their products. They have provided me with a coupon code for me to share with you to save money on all of their software products. Simply use the coupon code mattsuess during the checkout process to receive your discount.

In my photo workshops I spend a big part of them teaching and sharing with you the way I use Nik Software to enhance my work. You can see my latest workshop schedule here.

The Making of my latest fine art HDR Photo “Jim’s Garage”

While exploring on my bicycle near where my RV was parked in central Arizona last month, I came upon this wonderful old garage along the side of the road. It was getting late in the afternoon and I realized I was going to have nice warm light on the front of the garage soon, so I raced back to get my camera and tripod.

I got back just at the right moment, as warm sunlight was bathing the front of the garage, and the clouds above gave interest to the sky. With the camera on my tripod, I took 3 exposures, each 2 stops apart. This allowed me to expose for the highlights, the midtones, and the shadows in three separate image files. As always, the photos were shot in RAW for maximum quality.

Three different exposures - one for highlights, one for midtones, one for shadows

To process the RAW files, I used Adobe Lightroom. I did no editing inside Lightroom other than to make sure each of the three photos had the exact same color temperature. I also added a touch of sharpening, and exported them as 16bit Tifs.

The next step was to create the HDR image from these three files. Since it came out, I have been using Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro software (see below for a coupon code for discounts on all of their plugins) to process my HDR photos. The quality and amount of control over the HDR image is incredible, and with their U Point technology it works just like all of their other excellent Photoshop plugins.

HDR Efex Pro processing Jim's Garage

The above photo shows the final stages of completion in HDR Efex Pro. A total of 23 Control Points were used. Control points in the software allow me to target specific areas of the photo to concentrate on and make adjustments to, such as exposure, contrast, saturation, and more.

Control Points

In the photo above you can see some of the control points I used. The point on the door was used to add saturation to the red. The point below the roof was used to brighten up that area, and the two control points in the sky were used to lower the brightness of those two areas.

After completion of the HDR I then used Photoshop to remove any dust spots from the camera sensor, and I made a couple minor color adjustments using Nik Software Color Efex Pro. I also enhanced the sign “Jim’s Garage” by some selective dodging and burning.

One of two textures I used to complete the photo.

The final treatment for this photo was to add some texture for dramatic effect. Above is a photo of one of two different textures I blended into the photo using Photoshop. The texture was originally in color, but I desaturated it as I did not want any of the color altering the image. The texture came from Flypaper Textures – they make a bunch of great textures and I highly recommend them. You can visit Flypaper Textures by clicking here. Adding the textures really completed the look I was after for “Jim’s Garage”.

"Jim's Garage"

Above is the completed version of “Jim’s Garage”. You can also find it in my online galleries here.

HDR will be one of the workshops I will be soon teaching in the Phoenix area, in addition to teaching how to enhance your photography with other Nik software plugins. Be sure to sign up for my workshop newsletter (on upper right of this page) to know when and where these workshops will take place. The official announcement is coming real soon!

The best Photoshop plugins, in my opinion, come from Nik Software. I own all of them, highly recommend them, and use 1 plugin or another in every photo I process. You can now save money when you purchase any of their plugins by using the coupon code: mattsuess