Digital Blending - Sunset Maldives

[TheBigE]

I am really trying to work more on PP this year and some blending of exposure.

So I took an attempt at Digital Blending with Raya Pro with an image I took on the beach in the Maldives. Below are three images each processed a different way - HDR Efex Pro frp, Nik, HDR merge with LR and finally "manual" Digital Blending in PS.

I took the images over 3 stops of light - -1EV 0EV and +1 EV.

I am not sure this is a true HDR range - possibly in the sky there are some highlights and in the framework there are some shadows that make this close to High Dynamic Range, but likely recoverable in LR alone. Regardless I found this a good exercise. I would appreciate any feedback on the results.

First the three images (you can look and then read below which one is from each specific method). Links are included to each image as well.

#1 Image


#2 Image


#3 Image


For reference here is the middle exposure. (No edits...)


For those that may want to try there hand at blending these images (it would be interesting to see the results of others) Here is a link to the RAW Files as well as my PSD file

Finally the results....

<Drum Roll>


#1 Image - LR HDR Merge
#2 Image - Manual Blending in PS
#3 Image - HDR Efex Pro from NIk

Overall - I like the Manual Blending and think it could be improved by restoring a bit more detail in the shadows. I also put the TIFF file in the link above showing what I did for this image. I find that in manual blending there is more of an analysis of the image - asking myself over and over, what do I want to bring out in the image. For me, I want to give some life and color to the sunset and restore some details in the framework. I would say that I was able to accomplish about 75% of this...I still do not have enough detail in the framework, however, any more and I think this would little "artificial"

Regardless of the method it is not going to make a great photo out of a boring subject....I think here this is a bit borderline...it needed more color in the sky and perhaps some additional lighting on the framework.

I appreciate any thoughts or feedback as I try to learn this PP technique.

Erik

[Rent]

To me the middle one is best ( no editing )
Roy

[Manfred M]

Eric - I also prefer image #2 - manual blending in PS.

Your comments are very much in line with my experience, although I used LR Enfuse rather than Raya Pro, but suspect that the two pieces of software offer a similar approach. Manual blending allows you far more control and finesse than any of the automated software. Yes, it does take longer, but the results are worth it.

I also find that ±1 stop is usually not enough and will usually have exposures of at least ±2 stops in this type of work.

[Geoff F]

I have tried a variety of auto HDR software in the past and have always rejected the results in favour of a manual merge.

What instantly sticks out to me with these variations is the amount of excessive sharpening, particularly when looking at the waves of #1. Not quite so bad with the last image but #2 is certainly the most natural looking of the set.

[Mike Buckley]

The image is a really nice composition and the exercise is very informative.

However, I have to ask why you bothered merging several exposures when tonalities of the middle exposure (the last image you posted) were all captured by the sensor; it seems to me that you could have achieved the same end result post-processing just that one capture.

[Tronhard]

I find the image subject interesting in its own right, and must admit to being torn between #2 and #3...

[dje]

Hi Erik

I'm going to buck the trend a bit here and go for number 3. I think it has just the right amount of "pop" with pleasant tones. I have a feeling that your range of exposure settings was just right for this shot.

I'm not sue whether you could bring the sky back to a nice blue by editing the mid exposure shot alone or not. I'd have to have a play with your raw files.

Nice shot by the way.

Dave

[Cogito]

Two near-identical images. Lost all detail of the walkway in the second of each image. My choice is none of the above...

[proseak]

I also had a play, just using the "normal" exposure.

[TheBigE]

Thanks everyone for the comments. As many of you have already noted - really the base exposure here would be sufficient and likely recoverable (as Peter has shown) in LR/PS. My dynamic range was not the "high" in this photo. I believe I noted that above in my original post.

The exercise was more about comparing the methods of PP and see the advantages. Of note, the Manual Blend took me about 1+hour to do...mainly because I was learning the software, watching the videos, etc. It did force me to analyze the photo as I stated above and really decide what I wanted to emphasize. The other HDR blends took about 5 minutes each...for NIK HDR Efex pro maybe just a touch longer as I cycled through each of the "options" it provides. With the automatic modes of HDR Blend it is easy to just pick one and not really "look" at what it is doing. I think the excessive sharpening in the above photos is a good example. I may have missed this had I not had a manual blend.

I really feel here i needed and wanted a bit more details in the shadow areas - mainly around the framework. I feel that I need an extra stop of light to capture this - -1EV, 0, +2EV. So for simplicity sake, maybe best to open up my brackets another stop. I am not sure I want to get into 5 exposure blending.

Thanks again everyone!!

[Manfred M]

I am not sure I want to get into 5 exposure blending.

You don't have to. With Nikon you can't do anything more than a maximum of a 1-stop auto bracket, so I will do a 5-stop and delete the +1 and -1 exposures and manually blend the +2 0 -2 exposures.

[dje]

Hi Erik

I had a play with your images and post my results below, for what it's worth. The treatment you want for this image is very much a matter of personal taste.

In my previous post, I indicated a preference for your no 3 but on closer inspection, I find that this has some strange things happening in the sky with the blending. There are transitions between blue and grey sky areas that seem quite abrupt.

My treatment of your normal exposure (including some Detail Enhancement in ColorEfex)



My treatment of your three exposures using 32bit HDR merge in PS followed by some processing in ACR and PS, including some Detail Enhancement in ColorEfex.


One thing to note with the HDR version is that the blending seems to have smoothed out the water.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

I am not sure I want to get into 5 exposure blending.

To make this photo, I captured five images 1/2 stop apart just to be sure I had enough exposures to bring out the detail I had in mind. I ended up using only the lowest three exposures. I probably could have produced essentially the same image using only the lowest two exposures by tweaking the tone curve more instead of blending one section from each of the three image files.