Merging images to burn in detail

[porziuncola]

Hey there!

I just recently switched to digital and have been processing my photographs with UFRaw and trying to do extra editing with GIMP, although I'm having a hard time with GIMP.

One thing that I'm trying to figure out is how to merge two versions of the same photograph to burn in detail. I know I've seen a tutorial about how this is done, but I can't find it for the life of me, so I was hoping someone here might be able to point me in the right direction.

To give you an idea of what I mean, these are the two images:





I want to use the darker one to bring in the detail of the window, but I'm not sure how to do this. Any advice about where I might find a tutorial on that, or what to search for exactly? Thank you!

[porziuncola]

The images don't seem to be embedding for me, so here are the links:

DSC_0019 regtest | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSC_0019 burn | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thanks again!

[wulf]

Have you deleted the images again? I can't see them even with those links. See our FAQ for an illustrated guide to including images from Flickr in your posts.

Wulf

[Krusty79]

BlendingExposures GIMP Guru

[Johninbigd]

This seems like a really excellent way to blend a couple of images, especially when trying to go for a subtle HDR effect. I have Photomatix Pro and I don't seem to be able to get truly subtle HDR from it, but I'm pretty new to using it. Sometimes I want that obvious HDR vibe, but there have been times when I wanted it to be so subtle that it was hardly noticed. That seemed to be more difficult.

I like this method using GIMP, but I wonder if I'd have the patience for it if I had 3 or more bracketed files to deal with.

[highlydope]

Originally Posted by Johninbigd

This seems like a really excellent way to blend a couple of images, especially when trying to go for a subtle HDR effect. I have Photomatix Pro and I don't seem to be able to get truly subtle HDR from it, but I'm pretty new to using it. Sometimes I want that obvious HDR vibe, but there have been times when I wanted it to be so subtle that it was hardly noticed. That seemed to be more difficult.

I like this method using GIMP, but I wonder if I'd have the patience for it if I had 3 or more bracketed files to deal with.

I've used Photomatix extensively and have given up on it. Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro to me at least, seems much easier to use and produces far better results. If you use it with Photoshop, it'll produce a new layer for the HDR effected image which you can then apply blending modes over the original image (use the 0 EV one typically) or scale back the transparency to tone down the effect making it look very realistic.