Photomatix Pro is by far my favorite program for creating and tone mapping HDR photos. It’s easy to use and gives you simple controls for getting the awesome color effects you see in all those great HDR’s, without having to open up Photoshop and knowing how to tone map by hand.

I recently got the people at HDRsoft to create a Photomatix coupon code for our readers (anyone can use it) for 15% off any of the HDR software programs:

HOTSHOTPHOTO

This coupon code will work for any of these products:

• Photomatix Pro (standalone + Lightroom plug-in)
• Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle (standalone + plug-ins)
• Photomatix Essentials / Light
• Photomatix Plug-In for Apple Aperture
• Photomatix Tone Mapping Plugin for Photoshop CS2/3/4/5

To get this discount applied to your order, follow these steps:

• Go to the Photomatix order page
• Click the buy button for the software version you need
• In the box where it says “Coupon Code” put in: HOTSHOTPHOTO
• Click the recalculate button
• It will show you the special discount applied with your new price
• Complete the rest of the order form

That should do it. To give you an example: the regular price of Photomatix Pro is $99 so with this coupon code you should be able to get it for $84.15.

Once you have Photomatix installed you can go through their short tutorial (which you can see once you launch the program). It’s pretty clear and easy to follow. Once you have a chance to experiment with your own HDR photos, you might want to join the Flickr HDR group. Hope to see you there.