Exposure Blending - Any Wabbers Doing It?

[Lancashire Lad]

Just stumbled upon a photography forum discussing exposure blending, a technique for stacking identical but differently exposed images, to provide wide dynamic range of tones in a final combined image. The discussion made reference to software called TuFuse & TuFuse Pro (by a company named tawbaware).

The technique is intended as a means of enabling best detail resolution from the lightest to darkest areas of a photo. (i.e by combining several frames, each exposed differently for the highlights, mid-tones, and shadow areas).

Apparently works in a similar manner to focus stacking, but this software combines the best exposed pixels, rather than the best focussed pixels.

Any Wabbers out there using this (or similar) software? - If so, I'd welcome any comments on your impressions/experiences/results, ease of use, etc.

Regards,
Mike.

[galanthus]

I wld have thought this wld be the same as taking several exposures of same frame or tweak exposures in raw mode and using cs3 or similar to build them up ?

[Richard G.]

Sounds pretty much like High Dynamic Range (HDR), apps such as photomatix can automate it for you with various sliders and options to tweak.

I use it quite a bit when shooting scenes with high contrast, often just taking two frames, one exposed normally for the majority of the scene and a second underexposing to make sure I have the highlights captured too.

Of course you can go much further and combine many pictures with a range of exposures (I started a recent HDR Landscapes dicsussion on this when reading about the D300's ability to do a 9-shot bracket at 1 stop intervals). These can start to look quite sureal and sometimes downright ugly, other times, quite beautiful. Quick google on HDR photography will reavel oodles of info and examples.

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi Richard,
Yes, I think the use is basically to enable the creation of photos that would otherwise be impossible as a single frame, for example a sunset shot where you wanted to keep the saturated sunset colours in the sky, but also wanted to show good detail in the landscape etc.

Some years back I dabbled with graduated neutral density filters for this sort of thing, where the filter would hold back part of the image, allowing full exposure of landscape, but preventing over exposure of the sky.

It was always something of a hit & miss affair, but from what's being said about this software, it looks like digital manipulation of several frames can achieve similar results with much more control over things.

I know that similar results can be had by blending a number of layers in photoshop etc., but am assuming that even doing that would not provide the seemless and totally variable blending that this dedicated software seems to be talking about.

I was hoping that someone actually using such software might enlighten us (& possibly show an image or two so that we can see what can be achieved - by real users, and not by just what the manufacturers say).

Regards,
Mike.

[Geoff F]

A simple version of this can be achieved by creating a duplicate layer with a different Merge (Blend) Mode and adjusting the opacity to suit. Eg. Multiply to enhance contrast, Screen to brighten or Soft Light to enhance saturation.

Shooting RAW makes it easy to adjust exposure during conversion.

And of course using a mask on a duplicate layer then adding or subtracting opacity with a soft brush allows for local adjustment of contrast or sharpness etc.

All of which, I find, gives a better result than taking 2 or more supposedly identical images at different settings; which may work OK for tripod photography of landscapes but I find wind rock causes misalignment of closeups and branches, etc, even on a windless day!

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

A simple version of this can be achieved by creating a duplicate layer with a different Merge (Blend) Mode and adjusting the opacity to suit. Eg. Multiply to enhance contrast, Screen to brighten or Soft Light to enhance saturation.

The nice thing about merge modes is that if you select one, you can use the up and down keys in the dialogue box to see the different effects. Very useful!

[Mick_S]

I've done some pseudo HDR using the open source program Qtpfsgui, dreadful name but a good bit of kit, you can get it here Qtpfsgui - News
I use the linux version and blend the filtered pics with the Gimp.

Mick

[WhiskyBottle]

I've used Photomatic HDR, Found the results a bit hit and miss.

What it's capable of is quite stunning, but wether that make a good photograph is another matter. Like most of the advanced techniques it needs to be used with great care. It can actually reverse the contrast so the shadows are brighter than the sky.

Later versions of photoshop can do the same but I've not experimented.




The first one is probably a bit over cooked, but in the full size version it shows all the detail on the underside of the bridge.
The second one is more natural. The inside of the barn, and the door would be black in a staight shot.

I have sold a couple of HDR's but I've not really put enough time into it yet.

Oops. used the wrong link, sorry mods.

[Maccattack1]

Hi LL

Photomatrix seems quite popular , I even got a copy , saw a talk by a guy called Peter Patterson who does excellent landscapes from Scotland and some HDR work (I'recommend his website ) . So far I haven't printed any HDR images so think a fair amount of skill is needed. Peter Patterson blends up to 5 images . I suppose the process is the usual methodical set up of a very stable tripod , manual focus , cable release and wide bracketing. Getting a natural look is the hard part.
Must be worth a try if you're taking pictures of gorges and the like.

Malcolm

[Cellarman]

I've been using HDR in Photoshop for a while now. I use the technique for images of church interiors, especially stained glass windows. HDR allows me to get correct exposures of both the highlights in the stained glass and the darker interior surrounding the window. The minimum number of exposures I have used is 3, with over/under exposure of 2 stops, but I prefer to start from well under and go via 1 stop difference to well over exposed, which usually means at least 9 exposures. There is much more to HDR than just the automated part in Photoshop. The true control comes in the process of turning the 32 bit image into a 16 bit one. There are plenty of useful sites which give a full explanation. I would recommend anyone to try it for a subject of high contrast.

[acherontia]

Well - today I shall mostly be doing.......(Fastshow voice) HDR in my new PS CS4 extended. Still waiting for the PS lightbox yet..
I have the pre exposed images ready and have read up about the varience in bpc between wot can be viewed on a monitor and wot is needed for printing...etc etc At least I think that's what it meant
I really don't like some examples of HDR I've seen. Some are 'overcooked' as Whiskey bottle described it, although his first image was only just edging there. I've seen some that are positively garish and I'll try to avoid that.
My tutorial also says you need a minimum of 3, with 2 EV stops between the exposures and shutter speed should be used rather than f value - for obvious reasons. Auto bracketing is not recommended (it took a lot longer manually) as the changes are usually too small...

Wish me luck!!!

Acher

[Digifrog]

I use exposure blending on a lot of my images. I used to use Photomatix to generate HDR using Details Enhancer and the Exposure Blending functions.

Now though, I use Ps to manually blend images using the DRI technique, which I think offers a more realistic image than HDR generally.

Rgds