A Few Black & Whites

[mbgphoto79]

Recently I have been experimenting with Photomatix Pro, a tonemapping software for digital photos.  It allows you to compress the information in a RAW file to achieve different effects.  Sometimes the look is great, other times it is over the top.  It does allow for a new lease on life for those backlit, cloudy or otherwise technically imperfect shots.  I especially like the black and white effects, takes me back to the days of dodging and burning in the photo school lab..  Here are a few Pomona shots from the vault...

NS 351 southbound, 1/18/11.

NS SD40-2 3370 detail, 8/24/08.

NS GP38-2 5126 as yard power, 8/19/08.

NS 8380 on the point of a northbound, 7/24/08.

[E.M. Bell]

I really like the looks of those, they have more of a "filmy" look to me than most greyscale raw conversions.

Tell us more about this software, and where to get it.. How much? I can see some uses for it!

[mbgphoto79]

I really like the looks of those, they have more of a "filmy" look to me than most greyscale raw conversions.

Tell us more about this software, and where to get it.. How much? I can see some uses for it!

Thanks, that's what I like about it as well.  The color conversions are usually pretty extreme, although the interface does have many sliders and options to play with.  There are two modes, the HDR mode which uses a set of bracketed RAW files to create one image and then the tonemapping (single shot) mode which I have been using more often.  Basically, you use the tonemapping mode unless you have bracketed shots of the same subject using a tripod.  Then you would use the HDR mode.  You can use up to 20 shots; in theory this would be about 30 STOPS of total range!  I have found that kind of range is just too much to look real with about 10-12 stops being about right.  The software will also attempt to realign photos that are a bit off from one another.

Most of the shots I have are of the train moving or I didn't bracket, hence the tonemapping mode being used.  If the tonemapping is too much I have tried with varying success a layering of the tonemapped image over a copy of the standard image in Photoshop. Try different opacities, blending modes and layer masking for the best results. 

I acquired a copy for Mac from a friend in the business but you can download a trial version here http://www.hdrsoft.com/  Have fun! 

Here is a reworked version of the tonemapped Loram shot I submitted in the December Contest. 

[Ed Fury]

Using photoshop CS5 - Image > Adjustments >HDR Toning it brings up a set of adjustments you can use to edit your image. I have a terrible time using this feature with Norfolk Southern engines. I did a creme and green BNSF paint scheme and the results were jaw dropping. I also did one of my red farm tractor parked under some dogwoods in bloom and it was equally impressive.

Awesome site to read up on HDR. There is also a 15% discount code for Photomatix Pro.

http://www.stuckincustoms.com/hdr-tutorial

Thanks for posting these b&w examples.