Stacking images to increase Dynamic Range

[popcorn]

Hi,

I want an image for a Photobook for my wife depicting the changes in her garden over the last 15 years.
One of the images I am trying to get, is her view of the garden from her bed in the morning when she is having her coffee.

I have moved the bed and set up my camera approximately where her head would be and framed the garden through the panes of the sash window.
I had hoped to cope with the dramatic light variation varying from the white frame of the window in shadow, through the bright rose garden to the dark trees with deep shadows in the background, by using exposure stacking ( sort of HDR ).

I had hoped to get everything in focus by focus stacking. I will use the Element+ script for this. I have had great results with it even in Macro.

I set my camera to Aperture Priority, set my f = 8  and my ISO at 200 on my tripod and used a radio remote for to take the pictures. 
I am using a zoom lens set at 58mm on my Nikon D500.

I used 3 image bracketing at one stop intervals on my camera and started by focusing on the window frame, then moving through the picture to the background trees.
The central theme I wanted to obtain was the roses in full bloom.

My intention was to;
    Exposure stack the three images at each focus point
    Focus stack the HDR images.

I came unstuck at the first step. There used to be a merge exposure in Elements which seem to have disappeared. I looked for something in Elements plus but drew a blank there as well.
One Element+ article described using the Pseudo HDR script, but I can not find it in my Elements 2018.
I am not sure whether this is a case of averaging which Michel mentioned in a previous thread on focus stacking. My understanding of averaging is rather vague.

I wonder if I would not be better-off taking the best exposure at each focus point and applying focus stacking to them. 

Are then any effective methods in either Elements 2018 or Elements+1 to increase the Dynamic Range?
Am I barking up the wrong tree? How would I best get the all the scene in focus with all the elements correctly exposed?
I really want the final image to pop.
 
 






  

[tonyw]

I don't have PSE 2018 but I think you'll fine Photomerge Exposure under Guided Edit which should do what you want - see PhotoMerge

Sound like an interesting project - let us know how it works out.  BTW I would shoot RAW and you may well be able to handle the dynamic range without bracketing.

Tony

[Sepiana]

Nov 6, 2022 12:54:46 GMT popcorn said:

There used to be a merge exposure in Elements which seem to have disappeared. I looked for something in Elements plus but drew a blank there as well.
One Element+ article described using the Pseudo HDR script, but I can not find it in my Elements 2018.

Hi popcorn,

In Elements 2018 the Photomerge feature is in Guided Edit > Photomerge > Photomerge Exposure. Adobe moved this feature from Expert Edit to Guided Edit starting with Elements 14.

EDIT:

I'm sending a PM to Andrei Doubrovski bringing this thread to his attention. He is best qualified to address the questions you have about Elements+. Hang in there!

[Andrei Doubrovski]

Hi popcorn,
*
I think combining "focus stacking" and "HDR stacking" might work.

But I'd suggest a bit different workflow:

1). Focus-stack the original photos
(so that you get three focus-stacked images: "-1", "0", and "+1")

2). Exposure-stack the "focus-stacked" images.

**
Regarding the Pseudo HDR script.
This approach was meant to "imitate" HDR effect by using a single source photo.
If you have multiple bracketed photos, this script just isn't needed.

[pontiac1940]

Nov 6, 2022 12:54:46 GMT popcorn said:

I had hoped to cope with the dramatic light variation varying from the white frame of the window in shadow, through the bright rose garden to the dark trees with deep shadows in the background, by using exposure stacking ( sort of HDR ).

This is quite the challenge.

Caveat: I can't do what I am going to suggest because I do not have enough gear or the knowledge.

The idea might be use at least 2 remote flashes set at different exposures i.e. burst brightness. One flash would be inside to illuminate the "window in shadow" and one or two flashes to illuminate the "dark trees with deep shadows." I'd suggest M (vs A priority) exposure at (say) f8, 1/200 second and ISO as you wish (i.e. whatever works.) Even if this was not perfect it might reduce the extremes in shadows and make processing easier. 

Another option might be to make a collage of 3 or 4 images depicting what you want to show. 

Good luck.   

[hmca]

Nov 6, 2022 12:54:46 GMT popcorn said:

I had hoped to get everything in focus

I like how you always present us with an issue encouraging everyone's creative problem solving, Popcorn.
Just something you may want to consider.   I think you could still get the final image to pop, but I wonder if having everything in focus will result in a natural looking image?

[popcorn]

Thanks every one,
The flash option is beyond my equipment inventory and my capability.
In answer to some of the above, I always shoot in Raw. I have found from focus stacking macro images that changes in aperture seem to cause alignment problems so I keep the aperture constant.

My first attempts at the view from my wife's aspect of the garden from her bed are quite acceptable, but certainly don't do justice to the wonderful garden.

I eventually selected the strongest histogram from the three exposures at each focus point and processed these in ACR.
I was surprised to see that the under-exposed images gave me the best histograms.

I applied a crop to include only the bright garden areas and edited the image ignoring the dark shadows of the interior which dominated the whole image histogram.
I then removed the crop to get the whole image back so that they all were identical in size for alignment in the stack.

I could not get enough dynamic range to handle the darkest shadows in the background, despite taking the shadow slider to it's limit, I still blown blacks ( I am not sure if blacks can be blown but I am sure you know what I mean) and pushing shadows to the limit seemed to put a haze on the image. I am sure that exposure stacking would have solved my problem. I will give the merge functions in the Guided Edit a try.
I was amazed by the divergent readings I got from the same white point in the different images, eventually I used a biased average.

To get uniformity for the focus stack, I tried to get each processed image to have the same tonal range.

I exported the images to the Editor, I again made a selection of the bright garden areas inside the window panes.
I inverted the selection and used a levels layer with mask to process the dark interior, I managed to get the effect I was looking for.
I made some other minor enhancements to the images.

I had set up my tripod behind the bed and about 4m from the window.The image taken at f=8 at 1/180th, ISO 200 and with the focal point approximately at the hyperfocal distance, were almost all in focus except the window frame.

By then it was midnight and, my wife was insisting that it was past my bed-time, so reluctantly I had to leave the stacking for another time.

Helen, I will report back later today. Maybe the out of focus foreground will be included in the photo book after all!

PS! Can someone please tell me how to use spell check in these posts. I keep a blank word document open on my other screen to test the words I am uncertain of.
There must be an easier way!

[hmca]

Popcorn....I don't know if looking at these links might help or not.

Woman looking out a window art....

Woman looking out a window painting.....


My thought had been that the garden might be slightly out of focus to create a feeling of depth.
The idea of a slightly out of focus foreground as you suggest might give the image a "dream-like" feel to it as......perhaps she is quite mesmerized by the look of her garden.

[popcorn]

Hi
I have now completed processing.
There was quite a bit of noise so I applied the Denoise filter from Franzis, which helped.
The picture has no zip, maybe over processed, I am not very happy.

Helen, the image has no wife in it, it is her view of the garden when she is semi sitting in bed drinking her early morning coffee.

The garden is the focus, is almost just a record of her garden. Sorry to say it has no story to tell, just a precious memory.
The roses are in full bloom.

[popcorn]

Hi Andrei,

I will also try your suggestion to reverse my process and do the focus stack separately for each exposure first and then do the exposure stack. Any comment whether the order of stacking has any influence on the result. Do I have to load the images in the same sequence as they were taken?

[hmca]

Nov 7, 2022 21:00:16 GMT popcorn said:

Helen, the image has no wife in it, it is her view of the garden

Sorry, I misunderstood. I have a feeling that with your attention to detail you will end up with something that you are quite pleased with in the end.

[Chris]

Popcorn, thank you for posting this. Various good suggestions have been made. Here is another possibility.

1- Take three RAW images at different focus points. The RAW images might be able to handle the dynamic range as long as the histogram does not, "hit the wall" and show overexposure.
2- Process them to brighten the shadows and darken the highlights using the same settings for all 3 images in ACR or whatever raw processor you use.
3- Convert RAW to psd 8 bit
4- Then do your focus stacking in PS Elements.

Kind Regards
Chris

PS with the full PS you could focus stack 16 bit images and then darken the highlights and brighten the shadows. But I believe with PS Elements you can only focus stack in 8 bit mode. 16 bit images are more forgiving than 8 bit images.

[popcorn]

Hi Chris
Thanks, I had not read your response and have just logged in to ask; "if you shoot in Raw, you will destroy the vary reason you bracketed exposure in the first place".

You have answered my question!!

Obviously I have to leave any cropping to the Editor, this is destructive so I always do my crop in Raw.
Not this time!

Just for interest, I am taking bracketed images of a tiny mushroom, with my camera on the ground,
At about 10:00am the mushroom is starting to wilt and starts to bend. For about 30 minutes it bends just enough to get an oblique view of the dome shape and the interior.
Take the image too soon, and you get only the dome. Take it to late and you don't see the dome mushroom shape at all.

This when I wish I could afford a CamRanger 2 to take stacked focus from a fixed camera position.
Any one got one they want to sell cheaply? Our South African Rand has just taken a beating against the US$.

Thanks for again for the help.