Photography Tips – HDR for Black and White: A Step By Step Guide

By Joseph Eckert

A few months ago, DPS published an write-up I wrote entitled “How to See in Black and White.” That post had a small bonus section at the finish, in which I talked about how valuable HDR can be to the monochrome photographer – a reality that is initially considerably counterintuitive, given that HDR is stereotypically held to be all about garish, above-performed colours and extreme haloing.

In truth, as I talked about in that previous article, HDR can be incredibly valuable in bringing out microtexture, enhancing the effect of light and shadow, and in creatively influencing the general tone of the image. All of these things lend themselves immediately and powerfully to black and white pictures, creating HDR yet another viable tool in the monochrome photographer’s arsenal.

That section of the article received several feedback and concerns. In distinct, a lot of photographers have been wondering about the “right” way to make a black and white HDR, given that there are, in truth, many possible paths you can take through the editing process to accomplish the end end result. With this post I will display you how I do it – my ‘recommended’ way – and also handle a few option techniques. I inspire you to experiment and discover which strategy works finest for you, artistically, creatively, and economically.

My ‘Recommended’ Way to Generate a Black and White HDR Image

I want to emphasize yet again, prior to we commence, that this is the workflow I at present use and recommend to others, but it is not necessarily the correct way, or even the way some authorities (like those who create the HDR merchandise I’ll speak about) advocate.

For this write-up I’ll be making use of Oloneo’s new and outstanding PhotoEngine v1. for all of my HDR rendering. Each and every example photo in this write-up was tonemapped utilizing Oloneo PhotoEngine v1.. Even so, the same basic workflow steps apply irrespective of which HDR software program package deal you are using, be it HDRSoft’s Photomatix, Nik’s HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop’s very own Merge to HDR Pro, or any of the numerous other people.

1st of all, I constantly shoot RAW. This enables me better latitude and control of adjustments in post, and, when shooting bracketed shots for HDR, if there was also much motion in the frame I can use a single RAW shot to generate a pseudo-HDR (by saving three diverse JPEGs from the exact same RAW, each with distinct exposure values – see the addendum at the finish of this report for a lot more).

When I have my three RAW files, taken by way of bracketed exposure (typically +/- 2 or 3 EV), I run each RAW through Photoshop’s Camera RAW, utilizing a preset so every exposure receives identical remedy. I enhance the clarity, contrast, sharpness (masked), and minimize noise, but I do not alter the colour, white balance, or exposure at this point. I then save off JPEGs from each and every RAW, typically just calling them 1, two, and 3.

I then pull these three JPEGs into Oloneo PhotoEngine, and commence the tonemapping process. With Oloneo, as with Photomatix and the other folks, I can develop presets that are roughly setup according to my general preference (I like a far more purely natural search to my HDR images, rather than overdone or excessively haloed). Oloneo enables for speedy tweaking with fast feedback at a quite thorough level, and I will frequently tweak whichever preset I chose to get the correct appear and experience.

At this point, if I know for positive I want to ultimately end up with a black and white shot, I will tweak the tonemapping to boost the textures, lighting, and depth of shadow. Primarily, I’m aiming for a colour edition that will function properly in black and white. This will take practice and experimentation to get utilised to, but you can refer to my preceding article on “How to See in Black and White” for a lot more on this notion.

As soon as the image is tonemapped, I save it as a new JPEG. Some individuals prefer TIFF, for lossless top quality, but right after many back-to-back trials I personally can’t see any distinction amongst a one hundred% high quality JPEG and a TIFF file, and the JPEGs are significantly smaller files to perform with. I then pull that JPEG into Photoshop.

In Photoshop I reduce the noise more, as required – most tonemapping introduces noise, simply because you are combining 3 photos and noise is additive. I personally use Topaz’s noise reduction plugin for this, but any method you like should operate. I normally then require to increase the contrast a tiny, and could need to use Subject material Aware to remove any dust specks that may not have shown up on one particular shot, but do now right after the picture has been tonemapped.

At this point I save the colour JPEG. Then I create a duplicate layer and fire up Nik’s Silver Efex Pro two. This plugin is my favored strategy of converting a color picture into black and white – it just provides an huge array of possibilities and precise levels of management, and actually lets you attain, artistically, what you have set out to obtain. That getting stated, you can use the Black and White adjustment layer in Photoshop, or Topaz’s black and white plugin, or just about any other colour to black and white conversion method you prefer.

After playing with the picture in Silver Efex Pro two (I usually decide on the “high structure, smooth” preset and then tweak it to my liking), I have my black and white image. I suggest at this point you try one particular much more factor: given that you have the black and white image on a duplicate layer, try lowering the opacity of that layer to 70% or so portion of the colour background layer shows through. This provides you a “desaturated” appear that can be extremely powerful for some shots, so much so that you might in fact favor it to the black and white you were going right after.

If you like the black and white, set the layer opacity to 100%, merge down, and save and voila! you now have your black and white HDR picture. This workflow needed many various software packages and a fair amount of patience. The steps, broken down, are:

1. Import each and every RAW into Digital camera RAW and use a preset on each and every, then save as separate JPEGs
2. Pull each JPEG into your HDR rendering software program, tonemap, then conserve as a new JPEG
3. Pull the new JPEG into Photoshop, denoise and clean up, conserve the colour JPEG
4. Generate an adjustment layer
5. Run your favorite colour to black and white conversion technique
6. Conserve off the black and white JPEG

These actions require the use of Photoshop (or GIMP, or their equivalent), an HDR tonemapping package, and, if you adhere to what I do, software program for denoising the image and a lot more computer software for changing the picture to black and white. Fundamentally:

1. Photoshop (for Camera RAW and RAW processing, and cleanup of the HDR image)
2. Oloneo PhotoEngine (for tonemapping and making the HDR image)
3. Topaz DeNoise (for noise removal)
4. Nik Silver Efex Pro two (for black and white conversion)

There are easier (and significantly less pricey) approaches.

Substitute Techniques for Producing a Black and White HDR Picture

Most HDR software program packages, like Onoleo’s PhotoEngine, accept RAW files for processing bracketed shots and most have presets built in that will generate black and white photos for you correct off the bat – no importing into Photoshop or yet another external black and white conversion plugin required.

The measures are, certainly, much easier:

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2. Import every single RAW into your HDR software package
3. Use a black and white preset
4. Tweak as required

Onoleo in certain tends to make this quite easy, with a couple preset black and white possibilities to choose from and then tweak. And the outcomes are not bad at all. I personally favor the sharper, clearer search and greater flexibility I get utilizing my ‘recommended’ workflow, and the central disadvantage of this less complicated workflow is you do not get a separate colour edition to play with (with out processing once again with a various preset, of course), nor can you simply create that interesting desaturated appear I described above.

Nonetheless, this approach is considerably more quickly, which can be really essential when you are processing a large number of shots on a tight schedule. It is also less costly, given that you could get away with only a single piece of bought software program (your HDR rendering package). And if you wanted to do simple clean up or global edits, you could forego Photoshop or Lightroom in favor of open-supply (and totally free) GIMP.

An additional substitute workflow is a tweak on my ‘recommended’ workflow. In this edition, you skip processing the RAW files in Camera RAW the remaining methods are the identical. So:

1. Import each RAW into your HDR software package
2. Tonemap (in color) as you prefer and conserve as JPEG
3. Pull the new JPEG into Photoshop, denoise and clean up, conserve the colour JPEG
4. Generate an adjustment layer
5. Run your favorite color to black and white conversion strategy
6. Save off a black and white JPEG

This technique saves time by not creating you run by means of Camera RAW, and still lets you conserve off a separate colour and/or desaturated version of the shot. It is also the strategy some of the developers of HDR software advise utilizing, because the RAW files contain the most info for the HDR rendering software package to use. I have discovered, nonetheless, that Digital camera RAW (and other RAW processing computer software packages) have some of the best sharpening and denoising algorithms accessible, and as this kind of I like employing them from the start off to get individuals clear, sharp results.

There is nevertheless another workflow doable. In this a single, you convert to black and white before you bring the images into your HDR software package. This is doable but I really don’t advise it, simply because you are throwing away also considerably valuable information too early in the workflow approach. It’s my contention that you are better off operating in color, finding the most out of that color, and only converting to black and white at the finish. But your mileage could vary.

The steps right here would be:

1. Import every RAW into Camera RAW and use a preset on every, then conserve as JPEG
2. Convert each JPEG into a black and white making use of your favored technique of conversion – just make sure to use a preset and apply the very same settings to every single exposure
3. Pull each and every JPEG into your HDR rendering software, tonemap, then save as a new JPEG
4. Pull the new JPEG into Photoshop, denoise and clean up, save the black and white JPEG

Obviously, the massive drawback here as nicely is you have no solution to save a color tonemapped version of the picture. For me that is a deal breaker, but it is really worth making an attempt this workflow to at least see if you end up preferring the finish result.

Whatever technique you end up picking, the most crucial single issue is your happiness, creatively and artistically, with the fruits of all your labor. Experiment, try each way with the identical set of bracketed shots, and figure out what you are most comfortable with. There are even now other workflows achievable, so try out issues out and have entertaining, and make it your personal.

Addendum: Producing a Black and White HDR from a Single RAW File

An advantage of shooting in RAW is that you can, in post, manually alter the exposure value of the shot. This implies you can conserve off 3 diverse JPEGs from the identical shot that have diverse exposures, and then mix individuals in an HDR rendering package deal to tonemap and turn into an HDR shot.

Some men and women do not consider this “real” HDR, since you aren’t using genuinely distinct exposures nevertheless, even if it’s just “fake” HDR, it can be extremely valuable when you have a shot with a lot of motion in the frame and but the lighting/shadows/and so on would advantage from HDR. An instance may be a substantially lit crowd scene, exactly where men and women are chanting and moving and for that reason bracketed shots would be extremely hard to align. And, even when there isn’t movement to worry about, the end outcomes of this “fake” HDR strategy are frequently indistinguishable from a “real” HDR shot – I’ve tested this myself a couple occasions.

The methods would be as follows:

1. Import the RAW file into Digital camera RAW and use your preset conserve as JPEG 1
2. Import the RAW file once again, set the exposure to -two.00 save as JPEG two
3. Import the RAW file a 3rd time, set the exposure to +2.00 save as JPEG three
4. Pull every JPEG into your HDR rendering software package manually set the correct exposure values if the software program asks for them (due to the fact the JPEG information for each picture will show the exact same exposure)
5. Tonemap, then conserve as a new JPEG
6. Pull the new JPEG into Photoshop, denoise and clean up, save the colour JPEG
7. Produce an adjustment layer
8. Run your preferred color to black and white conversion approach
9. Save off a black and white JPEG

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