[HDR-photo] glow around objects

[Royce Howland]

Sam Kittner wrote:
> I will try producing both details enhancer and tone compressor versions.
> Can you give me a hint how you set/use layer blending and opacity to 
> blend the 2 images?
> Do you use masks and paint in areas from one over the other...that seems 
> tricky though getting the edges of the buildings to work with the sky?  

First, I try to roughly match the tonality in the majority of the image, 
between the Details Enhancer settings and the Tone Compressor settings. 
Unless I'm doing something less photorealistic, I want them to 
essentially be 2 similar renditions of the same image, differing mainly 
in how local contrast enhancements are applied; rather than 2 quite 
different renditions of the same image in terms of over-all color & 
tonality.

Then I typically load these 2 into Photoshop with the DE image on the 
bottom and the TC image above it in the layer stack. I choose one of 
several most useful blending modes (usually checking the look of 
Multiply, Color Burn, Linear Burn, Overlay or Soft Light), depending on 
the over-all look I want. (The modes that tend to darken things are most 
appropriate, because a big part of what I'm doing with this technique is 
filling in the lighter halo'ed areas in the DE layer with the image area 
from the TC layer.) I then adjust opacity accordingly, anywhere from 
20-80% again depending on what looks best for the contrast & color of 
the image. I.e. do I want only a little filling in from the TC layer, or 
do I want only a little bleeding through from the DE layer?

If some of the differences are two extreme to reconcile only by altering 
blending mode & opacity, then I will go to masking one layer or the 
other. Selecting, masking & compositing can be a big deal for highest 
quality final results once you get into this sort of post-processing. 
Techniques for achieving seamless blends are beyond what I can easily 
get into here, but it all relates to effective use of selection tools, 
feathering, quick mask mode with harder or softer edged painting tools, 
and painting directly on mask layers with various tools at various 
hardnesses & opacities. There are more tricks as well involved in 
getting good transitions between selected & unselected regions.

IMO a great reference on this compositing topic is Katrin Eismann's book 
"Photoshop Masking & Compositing", published by New Riders Press. It has 
been a valuable source for me in the Photoshop work because nearly any 
kind of selective adjustment you want to make relies on first making 
good selections & masks. Once a few basics are mastered, it isn't tricky 
or even particularly hard work any more... it's just work. :)

Royce