Chapter 11. Special Purpose Processing

This chapter is about three highly useful techniques: image stitching, extended dynamic range images, and photopainting. All of these techniques can extend your marketing and creative capabilities significantly. They have also helped quite a few photographers establish a unique look and style. Best of all, none of these techniques absolutely require any special equipmentunless you consider a tripod to be special.

Use Duplicates for Complex Projects

All of the processes in this chapter should be performed on a duplicate of one or more images that you've brought to this stage. Two of the three processes discussed here actually require multiple images (or multiple interpretations of the same image). For that reason, you may want to go back and re-interpret the contributing images so that they'll match or blend to maximize the desired effect for one of these processes. You'll learn how to easily do that without compromising what you've already done to the contributing images. Having said all that, there are some exceptions to the duplicate image requirement. Panoramas and Photoshop HDR images that are taken directly from RAW files don't really need that backup, since the RAW files themselves are indestructible.