Why Master Files are important
As a professional fine art photographer I work very hard at optimizing my photographs so that the resulting prints are as close to my original vision as possible.

This optimization can take hours, or days and even sometimes weeks. Because of the work involved it is important to preserve all the changes I make to the original file, be it the raw conversion or the film scan.

I save these changes in adjustment layers in Photoshop. Each layer represent a single change to the image. Each image, after the adjustments are completed, contains 10 layers or more, depending on the exact changes made to that image.

No matter how carefully the photograph was composed and captured, and regardless of what equipment was used, including the finest cameras, lenses, filters, films, etc., all photographs require adjustments. This was true in the darkroom (neither the transparency nor the negative was the final image. The prints made from these were always adjusted) and it is still true today in the digital darkroom. In fact, we can do much more today to improve the final appearance of a photograph, making adjustments that much more important.

However, seeing which adjustments a specific photographer made is not easy. Photographers do not share their Master files any more than they listed each modification they made in the Darkroom. To help you learn and visualize which adjustments I made to my images, I am making my Master files available on this CD. What you see on the various layers included with each Master File is the exact process I followed to go from the Raw file, or the film scan, to the final print file. Nothing is hidden. You see exactly what I did to each image, and you learn how you can do the same with your images.

The contents of the Master Files CD-2:

A - Twelve Master Files, as follows:

1 - White Sands Moonrise		7 - Canyon de Chelly vertical
2 - Luminous Canyon		8 - Canyon de Chelly horizontal
3 - Wutpaki Clouds		9 - Tsegi Panorama
4 - Lomaki Walls		10 - Grand Canyon Sunset
5 - Monument Valley Panorama		11 - Patriarch Tree
6 - Totem Pole		12 - Snow Hogan

Each master file contains, on average, about 10 layers or more. If you are not familiar with the concept of Master File make sure to read my free essay titled "The Master File".

B - A tutorial Movie showing the HDR processing I used for two different photographs
Two photographs on this new tutorial CD, in addition to the 12 photographs listed above, were processed with HDR, High Dynamic Range. This process allows you to greatly increased the dynamic range of an image, making it possible to show details in both shadows and highlights in images that have a very high contrast range. This is accomplished by combining several photographs each exposed differently, some over-exposed and some under-exposed.

HDR processing is a process that is gaining widespread interest and acceptance. It is an exciting process because it allows you to create images of subjects whose contrast range would is too large to show details in shadows and highlights in a normally-processed photograph. There are different ways to create an HDR photograph, and there are several software packages available. There are also "tips and tricks" that you have to know in order to create fine HDR images. In this tutorial I explain which software I like the best. I also go over each of the different ways you can create an HDR photograph and over which methodology gives you the best results.

This HDR tutorial consists of 2 tutorial movies, each about 30' long. The photographs I used to create the final HDR image are included so that you can follow the tutorial and re-create the image yourself.

The Master Files for each of the two HDR images are also included. This means that you get a total of 14 master files on this CD, the 12 listed above plus the two HDR Master Files. This tutorial should really be called The 14 Master Files CD!

Click on the image above to watch a sample from the HDR Tutorial Movies.
This sample is a few minutes long. The actual movies are over 1 hour.

13 - Garden HDR

14- Sandstone Arch HDR

I have found with the 'Printing Mastery Workshop on DVD', and my two prints from you, Zabriske Point and Sabino Trees, that the included Master Files with all your adjustment layers have been the single most valuable learning tool I have used. So, when you announced the 12 Master Files CD I was very excited. Thanks for sharing as much as you do about the art of photography. Leo Dejan,  Santa Fe, New Mexico

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