Digital BW, The Print

A reference was given earlier in the thread to an article on the use
of HDR techniques for B&W images. It was full of remarks like "Subtle
changes from dark to light tones can act as metaphors for the passage
of time." Not sure what the author was smoking, but each to their own...

I haven't used the Photomatix product discussed in that article, but
it sounds interesting. Photoshop has the "Merge to HDR" utility (under
File>Automate menu), but I haven't managed to get that to work.

I have used Photoshop's "Load Files Into Stack" utility to merge
multiple, exposure-bracketed images to process HDR scenes, with some
success. If you're interested, the workflow follows. I certainly
didn't invent this -- it is lifted from some article I found somewhere
on the web and edited somewhat over time as I`ve used it…


Step 1

Load the three images into Photoshop (applies to CS3), using 
File>Scripts>Load Files Into Stack menu item. 
In the Load Layers window, browse for and select the three images.
Check the "Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images" checkbox. 

Step 2

You will end up with a document with three layers, one with the
over-exposed image, one with the normal-exposed image and one with the
under-exposed image. Use the mouse to drag the layers so that the
normal-exposure is the bottom layer, the under-exposure is in the
middle and the over-exposure is at the top.

Step 3

Select the over-exposure layer and add a layer mask by selecting the
Layer> Add Layer Mask menu and selecting Reveal All.

Step 4

Select the Image >Apply Image menu item. In the Apply Image window,
check Invert and click OK.

Step 5

Select the under-exposure layer and add a layer mask by selecting the
Layer> Add Layer Mask menu and selecting Reveal All.

Step 6

Select the Image>Apply Image menu. In the Apply Image window,
*uncheck* Invert, then click OK.

Step 7

Adjust the opacity setting on the over-exposure and under-exposure
layers to taste. You typically adjust the over-exposure layer opacity
to dial in shadow detail, and adjust the under-exposure layer opacity
to dial in highlight detail.

If the captures are in color, converting to B&W is the same as for any
other color image. I use the Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Black&White
menu item.


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "the_des_bois"
<thedesbois@...> wrote:
>
> I've found this point of vue interesting:
> 
> http://www.apogeephoto.com/june2007/jaustin62007.shtml
> 
> Denis
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "ilford100"
> <robertrowe2@> wrote:
> >
> > So far I have managed to ignore HDR imaging, but curiosity has got
> the best of me.  I was 
> > wonder1ing if anyone has used HDR compositing techniques, then tone
> mapped back to grey 
> > scale.  More importantly, how did the image(s) look?  If you have
> such an animal, can you 
> > post a link to it?
> > 
> > Thanks
> >
>