Photomatix Pro merges differently exposed photos into one image with details in both highlights and shadows:

• Exposure blending
• Creation of 32-bit HDR images
• Powerful Tone Mapping tool [Examples]
• Automation with easy-to-use Batch Processing [Tutorial] [Features list]

The trial is fully functional and never expires, but applies a watermark to images produced with one of the two Tone Mapping methods and four of the six exposure blending modes.

Download page: Photomatix Pro for Windows

Download page: Photomatix Pro for Mac OS X (Universal Binary)

The examples are very professional looking but I thought I’d give it a go myself as well. The only problem is that I’m not really a very good photographer. Also my camera is way to old and simple and doesn’t include the possibilities to take photos with different exposures.

So in my first experiment I simply took one of my photos (Andalucia, Spain - overlooking the Mediterranean and the city of Fuengirola) and made 2 more versions using Photoshop. One copy where I darkened the photo and one where I brightened it. Then I simply followed the tutorial and made my first HDR image. The original and the end result are displayed below.

Photomatix Pro also comes as a Photoshop plugin, and I must admit I’m very impressed with the possibilities this application seams to offer. As you can see (I hope) the end result is almost like a painting, and could be hanging above the fireplace anywhere.