I then had the idea of using a slide projector to project the image onto my fixed projector screen and then take digital photos of the projected image with my Nikon D80 DSLR camera. Not thinking it through, I took a shot of the projected image while my camera was in auto mode. The results were not acceptable.
You can see in this image that the background color and brightness came out good but the facial features were under exposed. Also, the sky on the project image was much more of a blue than the resulting digital image.
(ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 50mm lens)
So, I decided to switch my camera into full manual mode to figure out the correct exposure settings to use for capturing the facial features. I was able to lock in on some settings that fixed the exposure for capturing the details of the facial features but now the background was over exposed and did not look anywhere close to the original slide. Arg!
You can see the over exposed backgrounds in this image.
(ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/15 sec., 50mm lens)
Thus, I knew I had to take an under exposed shot to capture the background and also take an over exposed shot to capture the details of the face.
That's when I thought of using the high-dynamic-range (HDR) technique for capturing a vivid portrayal of the family slide based photographs. I proceeded to take several shots with the D80 in manual mode but this turned out to be an inefficient method. After each shot, I would move the wheel on the camera to adjust the exposure settings and then take the next shot. Each time I touched the camera, I not only risked messing up the framing but I also struggled to see the settings in low light conditions. Also, the less I touch the camera to adjust, the faster this project will be completed. I mean we are talking about converting hundreds of slides into digital format. So, I knew I needed a better solution.
Then, I discovered that the Nikon D80 has a bracketing mode which can be used to automatically adjust the exposure setting and take three pictures without me needing to readjust the camera settings. That means, when I use the D80 with the IR remote fire controller, I don't have to touch the camera at all while taking the sampling of exposures necessary to use the HDR photo merging technique.
You can see the HDR image has a much better range and proper exposure for the background and facial features as compared to the original projected image.
(HDR merged images from D80 2.0EV exposed bracketing)
This tutorial helped me set the camera up for bracketing.
http://blog.julienviet.com/2009/01/06/nikon-d80-hdr-bracketing-tutorial/
I just love learning new ways to solve a problem with technology.
