I had to go back and retouch something in a photo I did a few weeks ago for PM Contracting, which prompted me to realize that there can be more to exposure blending than I had mentioned in my previous post. Specifically how to deal with multiple colour temperatures of light in the scene, in this case tungsten halogen & daylight.

Above the first 3 frames are the frames I used for my exposure blend. FYI, these are “warped” frames, from the overall stitch. When I “processed” these files, I used a White Balance setting based on the interior lighting, which was tungsten-halogen. But note that the exterior in the windows, is very BLUE,,, not a good thing.
So, to deal with this, I processed the entire set of frames for the stitch with a second alternate White Balance, near Daylight. The fourth frame thumbnail above shows the results of this. Note however, that although the colour in the windows (Exterior) is now pleasing, the interior is very orange.

So for an overall pleasing photograph, you have to now take the frames processed for the exterior  Daylight white balance, copy & paste the good parts, and feather them into the frames that was white balanced for the interior light. In this photo, it’s primarily what can been through the windows.

One last issue, in the frames that were processed for Tungsten White Balance, look to see if any of the very blue daylight is encroaching into the photo, and making parts of the photo look too blue. In this instance, there was quite a bit, running along & near the windows. All of the window frames, much of the furniture & bits of the floor. One way or another, this should be dealt with as well,,,, i.e. locally in those areas, reducing the blue tone. Takes a bit of time & patience, but with a bit of practice, blending multiple colour temperatures can be done well.

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Thought I would show the process, of what’s involved in making most of the current photographs I do.

First, more often than not, when I shoot the landscape, I shoot normal exposures (usually about average or what the light meter may indicate for the overall scene), but I also shoot OVER exposures (that are very beneficial for shadow detail) and UNDER exposures (that are very beneficial for the highlight detail). More often than not, I bracket my overs & unders by 2 EV values (stops) automatically, however sometimes, if the scene is VERY high contrast I might need to go higher, perhaps up to 5 or 6 EV values (stops). For example, if I am shooting a wide scene, and the SUN is actually part of the photo, -5EV (or more) would be required the keep detail in the sky near the sun, and the sun itself.

To photograph a scene, I start, usually on the left, and work my way to the right, rotating the camera on a tripod (don’t always use a tripod, but I try to, unless time prohibits).  One must be careful to make certain that each frame of the scene overlaps with the previous frame, otherwise there would be a gap or missing piece in the final photo (and I personally HATE that). A typical landscape will require 10-20 portrait (vertical)  frames.
So what I end up with from the shoot, are a whole BUNCH of frames, a whole set from left to right of the “normal” exposures, and a matching set of “over” exposures, and “under” exposures

So now I have a whole bunch of frames (3 groups of 27 in this case), that need to be assembled, or “stitched”. This is not just a simple process of putting the frames together, overlapping each other. In fact there is WAY more to it technically than there might seem. For one, the frames need to be “warped” undoing in many ways, what the lens was designed to do. Additionally, the shooting process is usually far from perfect circumstances and/or the shooting process may well involve things that make the overlapping of the frames very complicated, for example, if the camera is tilted up or down, causing perspective issues (keystone).
The stitching process can be done automatically (frequently yielding poor to very poor results), but ideally it’s best to do some sort of manual process, where 2 frames are displayed side by side and the images are aligned using stitching points, or anchors. A point is determined in frame 1, and the corresponding point is identified in frame 2. With enough points, the software can then determine the focal length, camera tilt, overlap of the rames, etc. In the sample following, you can see the 5  stitching points. There is NO way that these 2 frames would simply overlap (lens stuff reasons). But because I identified the 5 matching points, the software will warp/morph/bend the 2 frames so that in the end, they align perfectly. The sample below also indicates that the camera was slightly out of level on the tripod (happens),, but the software (Panorama Factory btw) will correct for that

So, I go through all the frames, marking the stitching points, and then “stitch”. THIS can take a LONG LONG LONG LONG TIME, depending on the file sizes. I do it once (usually with the normal exposures), and then the software will automatically create identical stitches for the OVER & UNDER exposures,,, mind you, it’s very computer intensive stuff, so it takes quite awhile.

So hopefully, after MANY hours, I now have 3 “stitched” photos, one for the normal exposures, 1 for the over exposures and finally, 1 for the unders. The only problem now, in & and of themselves, NONE of the photos are usually useful. They need to be combined to make 1 “pleasing to the eye” overall exposure, and importantly to me anyway, pleasing to MY eye. I say this, because there is a very popular technique that has really grabbed the amateur market, for combining exposures called HDR (High Dynamic Range), and even worse, “tone mapping”. It’s software the claims to take a number of exposures (as many as you like or have) and after appropriate fiddling, automatically blends the exposures. Great concept, and I REALLY REALLY wish it worked, but it doesn’t. If it DID work, it would save me MANY MANY hours of tedious work. The way I do it is not really all that complicated, it’s just TEDIOUS. All I employ are Photoshop features/tools: “layers”, careful “selection” with feathering, and erasing (frequently a LOT of erasing, and very very CAREFUL erasing). I also find the “History Brush” to be immensely valuable.
My dislike of HDR aside for the moment, I DO USE it actually. I use a program called PhotoMatix to create an automatic blend, but NOT as a FINAL photograph. In and of itself, the results out of PhotoMatix are total rubbish. However, it DOES create a “useful” image, useful as a “base” layer. The “usefulness” of the PhotoMatix blend, is that it makes the edges of MY blends easier, because there is “tone” behind/under MY edges that are at least in the “ballpark”. On TOP of this layer, I put the normal exposure, the over & the under.  Then using the selections tools, layer properties, the eraser tool (and my loved history brush) I CAREFULLY create a blend that actually looks good & real. The only problem with my technique, it CAN take a VERY long time. Mind you, sometimes it’s pretty easy & quick. But sometimes it can take DAYS,,and thens sometimes,even MORE days. It all depends on the scene, contrast, detail, etc. BUT, at the end of the day (or week sometimes), it’s worth it.

The photo above shows the 4 files that I would work with, the PhotoMatix result (as my BASE layer) and the 3 unPhotoMatixed files, the normals, overs & unders. To start with I’ll have 4 layers, but this frequently can grow, as I take bits & pieces from the normals, unders & overs, and carefully make my blend.

Final (ROUGH final anyway):

Oh, final thought, in this photograph I also shot a whole BUNCH of “wave” photos. Unfortunately, a shortcoming of my shooting technique, is that if stuff is moving, PROBLEM(S). Obviously waves move. So I shot the waves separate from the overall scene, and “strip” them in, again in layers, and blend the bits together. Not all that difficult, just a bit tedious & time confusing. Note, I find it useful, that when I shoot things like this, i.e. frames I know I will be stripping in, I make sure I shoot them at the same focal length & focus AND exposure. Makes life much easier, and probably the photograph, much better.

So, there’s the anatomy of a photo,,,dissected

Hard work, but also fun stuff, in a way. At LEAST, when it’s all done, rewarding to look at a job well done

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Shot this yesterday. This is EXTREMELY rough, as I always do, I work on it, to see if I like it enough to work on for real. LOVE IT, so work I will,,,,soon

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This photo is going to need at least 100 hours of post work, but it will be GORGEOUS. Light was PERFECT

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Went out Tuesday afternoon/evening to shoot, driven  totally by guilt Let me explain.

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This morning, in the village of Union Hall, Co. Cork, I allege that this dog STOLE my jambon:

Here are the details. I had gone into the shop in Union Hall & purchased a cup of coffee, 3 sausages, a Jambon and a pack of cigs. I ate the sausages, drank the coffee and put the cigs into my pocket. The Jambon (which was FRESH from the oven and WAY too hot to eat) I left in approximately the location shown in the photo below.

After I finished the coffee and had a smoke, I went back into the shop to purchase a package of napkins and another cup of coffee. As I was paying for my purchase, I looked right, outside the shop and saw THIS dog, EATING something, which I quickly realized, was my Jambon.
My initial though & reaction was Son o B_tch,,,and I ran outside. As I crossed the street, the dog simply looked up at me, licking his chops, with a look in his eyes, saying “What?”. Then I laughed.
Now I am CERTAIN I left the Jambon on top of the topbox. How the dog got it? dunno.
And by the way, I am just poking fun here. This is a delightful dog. We spent a nice time together walking around town, as I waited for the streets to warm up & de-ice, and for the shop to open. I am actually delighted that this cute little doggie enjoyed the Jambon,,and ENJOY he did. Price for the jambon, $3.00. Value of the memory & story, priceless.
PS: For those that don’t know what a Jambon is, it’s a delicious (usually) puff pastry filled with cheese & ham.

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