Digital Light & Color

While exploring the internet for suggestions/ideas to create virtual exposure images for use in SNS-HDR Lite's [now v1.3.10] blending/tone-mapping, I came across '_GUI_'s (Guillermo Luijk) Feb 2010 posting here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread3674.htm and thought of "cliff"'s product images and style...

(1) ...this led to Guillermo Luijk's 'Zero Noise Photography':
(a) Tutorial: http://www.guillermoluijk.com/tutorial/ ... /index.htm (use Bing or Google to translate from Spanish to English);
(b) "Zero Noise" program description (apparantly freeware) and download link page: http://www.guillermoluijk.com/software/ ... /index.htm; and
(c) a LuminoisLandscape Dec 2007 discussion started by Guillermo that describes a manual PhotoShop method: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum ... opic=21822.

I have downloaded the program but have not yet tried or explored it... but will as time permits. It is not a high priority... the following manual method intriques me more because I can see what is happening as it happens!...

(2) ...I did find this more detailed manual PhotoShop approach suggested by Juan Trujillo in the Luminous-Landscape thread in his Dec 2007 tutorial here: http://jtrujillo.net/qpix/ which can be done with PWP...

While the program and manual technique have been around awhile... is anyone using them on a routine basis?... observations?... is there any interest for a PWP translation of the PS worklfow?

The image examples provided look very promising and the manual method is rather 'elegant' once it is understood...

The drawback is that two images of differing timed exposures (as well as: tripod use, common focus, common aperature, common non-Auto WB preset) are required where in-frame visual object and/or camera movement may occur... ...while differening virtual exposure versions of a single image have the drawback of potentially accessive lower mid-tone and shadow noise...

...everywhere there is compromise!!!...

Den,
I've followed the links you supplied - interesting stuff. As you pointed out some of it is a few years old, so I'm not clear how it sits with the current implementation of SNS+HDR.
The workflow looked interesting and I'll keep an eye out to see it you go further with the suggestion of adapting it to PWP.

Mike.

Using the suggested PS 'reduce noise with two exposures' tutorial/workflow as a guide [http://jtrujillo.net/qpix/], the following was done using PWP to a 'bracketed exposure' image set [Canon 350D - CR2 RAW files] of the -1 and +1 EV images having common aperature, common focus, ISO100, Auto-WB, and tripod mounted camera:
(1) The -1 and +1 EV images were RAW converted to 16-bit [48-bit color] tiffs at their recorded exposures;
(2) The +1 EV image was additionally RAW converted to a 16-bit [48-bit color] tiff at a -2 EV exposure; and then
(3) The -1 EV tiff (Input) was Composite-Blended with the +1-2 EV tiff (Overlay) using the 0->40% tone range of the -1 EV tiff overlayed with an inverted HSV-V tone-map of the +1 EV tiff as an Input Mask where mask white was 100% and mask black was 0%.

The following is a 1:1 crop, 100% quality JPEG of the -1 EV tiff:The following is a 1:1 crop, 100% quality JPEG of the resulting step(3) image:As can be seen, there is significantly less noise in the resulting step(3) image... so the suggested PS 'reduce noise with two exposures' tutorial/workflow has merit not just for adjusting images prior to using SNS-HDR Lite but perhaps also as a normal worklfow process step where lower mid-tone and shadow noise need to be reduced...

The step(3) Input Mask workflow in case you are wondering:
(A) click on the -1 EV image and open the Mask Tool - Brightness Curve; lower-left Apply Add Invert a StairStep curve = [0,0], [40,0], [40,100], [100,100]; lower-left Apply a Blur = 10; click OK.
(B) click on the +1 EV image and open the Mask Tool - Combine Masks; lower-left Apply Add the step(A) mask; lower-left Apply Overlap a BrightnessCurve [100,100], [100,0]; click OK, creating the Input Mask.