I'm with you on the lack of taste shown by some lovers of the technique who push the local contrast to its more garish, vomit-inducing settings. Having said th

I'm with you on the lack of taste shown by some lovers of the technique who push the local contrast to its more garish, vomit-inducing settings. Having said that, tone mapping is an essential photographic technique that has been used in one form or another since the beginnings of photography. It's purpose it to compensate for the poor dynamic range of the equipment or the picture's output media (paper, screen) and allow details in all brightness levels to be represented. As with most photographic techniques, tone mapping is best used when the effect doesn't overwhelms the final product.