LR/Enfuse For Blending Multiple Exposures

Maybe everyone out there already knows about Timothy Ames' LR/Enfuse, but I sure didn't. For that reason, I thought I would post some information in case anyone else out there is as in the dark as I am. I found out about the Lightroom plug-in when I happen to run across a positive review of it in Photoshop User.

So what does LR/Enfuse do? It is a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom that allows one to blend multiple exposures that were taken of the same image in order to get a final image that preserves both highlight and shadow detail (for when the dynamic range of the scene exceeds that of the camera's sensor). There are various non-HDR techniques to blend images, usually involving one exposure taken for the highlights and another one taken for the shadows. However, LR/Enfuse allows you to blend multiple shots easily.

I downloaded and installed the plug-in yesterday and am very much looking forward to giving it a try. I am not very fond of the "HDR look" myself and so am looking forward to seeing what type of results I might get from the plug-in. As I said, it has gotten great reviews.

Want to give it a try yourself? It can be downloaded here. There is a trial version available for free (limited only in the maximum file export size), but I went for the unrestricted version, which only requires that you make a donation of any size to Mr. Ames to support developing the program.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrades

There has been some interesting discussion on the Adobe forums as well as on several blogs about the upgrade path to Photoshop CS4. This effects me personally, so I thought I would interrupt my posts about the Zion workshop I attended to write (rant) about the upgrade issue.

When Photoshop CS3 was released, consumers were faced with the option of upgrading to CS3 or the CS3 Extended version. The differences to me were initially a little vague, as I suspect they were to a number of people. The new extended version was to have 3D tools as well as some other image stacking options that I thought were not in the Non-Extended version. The 3D tools were, indeed, unique to CS3, though I believe the stacking options were actually available in the Non-Extended version as well. I decided to go with the brand new Extended version as I wondered if I might find some of the tools useful....if I ultimately found that I didn't need them I thought I would just end up going back to the Non-Extended version with the next Photoshiop release. Even though it was another $100-150 or so I figured I would give the Extended version a try and see what it was all about. Or so I thought.

I ended up never using any of the options or tools that were unique to the Extended version of Photoshop. Out comes Photoshop CS4 and CS4 Extended. My plan was to upgrade back to the Non-Extended version of Photoshop CS4. As it turns out, there is no upgrade path being made available by Adobe back to the Non-Extended version. Apparently, they want the consumer to be 'locked in' to the more expensive Extended version. Once 'Extended' always 'Extended'.

Now, this seems particularly unfair to me. Certainly I wouldn't have made the Extended choice had I known that I would be locked in for another $150 cost with each and every subsequent Photoshop release. I am not the only consumer who feels this is unfair. Apparently some Adobe employees do as well. John Nack, in his blog speaks about the lack of on upgrade path back to the Non-Extended version (I call it an upgrade-downgrade). In his post from the end of September he talks about Adobe preparing an upgrade path from Extended to Non-Extended. Unfortunately, either this has not occured or has occured in a somewhat obscure and rather opaque fashion.

What do I mean by obscure and opaque? Well I (and many others in different posts) asked questions about the whole upgrade route on the Adobe Forum. One responder states that if one calls tech support (but not customer service) they will give you an unlock code to make the upgrade that will work only once and only be active for about an hour. Now, I don't know if that is true or not, and, frankly, I won't be able to find out because I can't make that call in front of my home computer during 9-5 business hours. However, even if it is true, is this, as they say, any way to run a business? What if I buy a new computer and want to reinstall the program? What if the program crashes or gets corrupted and I want to reinstall it? What about putting it on my laptop? What about.....well you get the idea. You can read the forum thread here.

It seems to me that Adobe should allow the upgrade from the Extended to Non-Extended versions (which seems only fair), and allow it as a clearly stated option with a distinct and easy mechanism for anyone to do the upgrade without jumping through all sorts of hoops. I am sure that from a programing standpoint this can not be all that difficult. It is equally hard for me to believe that the Adobe marketing division could not or did not anticipate this sort of problem.

OK, I am done with my rant now!

Seeing

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently returned from a Photography With Heart workshop in Zion National Park. Scanning through some of my favorite images from the park, I noticed something interesting. Though the presence or 'feel' of the park was in them all, when I broke the images down to their basic components they consisted , for the most part, of things that I could find right here in Western Pennsylvania where I live.

Consider this image entitled "Backlit Cottonwoods". At its most basic, it is 'simply' an image of colorfall backlit trees with fall foliage. I was drawn to the scene not only because of the intense color of the backlit trees, but also because I enjoyed composing it with the diagonal lines of the mountains on either side of the trees along with the hazy, distant canyon wall in the background. I felt that the diagonals added something special to the image and that the canyon wall in the background, together with the classic cottonwoods, gives the photograph a decidedly 'Zion' feel.

Backlit Cottonwoods
Copyright Howard Grill

When I go on a workshop I go with a mind that is hopefully open and 'ready' to try to be creative. I think it is quite natural to have that feeling when going away on a trip. But when I think about it, the basic components of the "Backlit Cottonwoods" image are all around me, even now that I am back home. There are plenty of trees with fall foliage here, and one only has to go at the proper time to find them backlit. True, I may not have a canyon wall available to put in the background, but is that really the essence of the image? Wouldn't the image also work well with the terrain that I have available here at home used to frame the trees or provide leading lines? I think it would!

One of the things that I hope I have accomplished at the workshop is to learn to discard the state of mind that says you have to go 'someplace special' to make special images. Sure it is fun to go away, and a change of scene always spurs creativity, but that should only serve as a stimulus to return home and harness that creativity to make images where you spend most of your time living. One of the things that I hope that I have brought home with me from the workshop is an enhanced ability to be open to 'seeing' what surrounds me the 99% of the time that I am home. If one can do that, I think the odds of making meaningful images increases quite dramatically!

Where I've Been

I just returned from another superb workshop week with Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier, and Don McGowan (Photography With Heart Workshops). The workshop was in Zion National Park, a place of indescribable beauty. One of the key aspects of the Photography With Heart Workshops is that though the technical is taught, the journey goes beyond this aspect of photographing and well into the much more difficult process of learning how to see.

While I am spending time sorting through the images I took, I thought I would show another recently taken "landscape in stone" from my rock photography project.

Mountain Sunrise
Copyright Howard Grill

Another Rock Abstract

I have been spending a bit more time photographing some of my rocks that I have written about before. I call this image "Mount Sinai", as it evokes in me the idea of 'something' coming down from the heavens to the top of a mountain!

"Mount Sinai"
Copyright Howard Grill