Tone mapping at East Coast

Not sure if this “technique” is indeed called Tone Mapping but Im guessing the idea is the same. Using multiple exposures of the same scene to create a composite image that has the different exposures painted in/out ( or mapped) according to the scene.

More details and the raw images used to create this image after the jump !

Set the camera on a tripod and shot 3 exposures ( you can shoot as many as you want). First was to expose for the clump of trees in the background on the right. Second was to expose for the middle ground/sand/water. Last one was expose for the sky. Kept the aperture constant and adjusted the shutter speed accordingly.

Opened up the the images in PS and layered them one on top of the other. Opened up a mask for each layer. ( Its the button with a circle in a rectangle at the bottom of the layers palette), selected the paintbrush tool and painted in/away each part of the composite. A touch of Curves and alil Unsharp Mask and Voila !

* In each layer mask, a black paintbrush hides whatever you paint over. A white brush reveals or paints it back ! Masking is better than erasing because you can back track.

Another sample using the same technique