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STEP TWO:

Let’s go to Photoshop and go to File>Automate>Merge to HDR Pro. In the Merge to HDR Pro dialog, click the Browse button and go to the folder with the original RAW files in it. In the Open dialog, click on the top one and then Shift-click on the bottom one to select all of them, then click Open.

STEP THREE:

When you’re back in the Merge to HDR Pro dialog, click OK to start creating the HDR image. It takes a minute or two, but when it’s done, you’ll see the Merge to HDR Pro settings dialog. The first thing I always do when going for the grungy look is crank the Detail setting way up to get some of that gritty effect. Then, set the Radius to 145 and the Strength to 2.05. Bring the Highlight slider all the way to the left to darken the highlights and bring the Shadow slider all the way to the right to brighten the shadow areas. Set Gamma to 0.21 and leave Exposure alone. Click OK when you’re done.

STEP FOUR:

Photoshop then starts merging all of the detail from all of the various exposures to create an HDR image. When it’s done, you’ll see the photo open in Photoshop. At this point, it’s just like any other image and you can start working on it like usual. So, first, let’s fix the perspective problems we have here by going to Filter>Lens Correction. When the Lens Correction dialog opens, go under the Auto Correction tab on the right and turn on the Geometric Distortion checkbox. Photoshop reads the camera and lens information and automatically fixes some of the distortion problems we have.

STEP FIVE:

Then, click the Custom tab and set the Vertical Perspective setting to +7 and the Angle to 0.10. While you’re at it, drag the Vignette slider to −45 and the Midpoint slider to 20 to darken the edges a little, so we don’t have to do it later. Click OK when you’re done.

STEP SIX:

Get the Crop tool (C) and crop out some of the edges, so the whole background has a more centered and symmetrical feel to it.

STEP SEVEN:

Now, we’ve got a pretty grungy looking background. I do think it’s looking a little flat, though. So, let’s add some interest and mood to the background area with a dusty smoke-like effect. Click on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and then press D to set your Foreground and Background colors to the default black and white. Then, go to Filter>Render> Clouds. There are no settings for this one. You’ll just immediately see a black-and-white cloud-like image appear on the new layer.

STEP EIGHT:

Change the blend mode of the layer to Screen to hide the black and reduce the Opacity to 70%. The effect is still a little harsh looking, though, so go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 78 pixels, and click OK. That does a good job of softening it a bit. Now, click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask to the layer. Press B to get the Brush tool from the Toolbox, press X to set your Foreground color to black, and then paint along the top and bottom of the layer mask with a large, soft-edged brush to hide the smoke effect, so it just appears in the middle.

STEP NINE:

Let’s just darken the entire image before moving on. Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Levels. Drag the top black slider toward the right, until it hits the edge of the histogram where it starts climbing. Finally, go to File>Save and save the image as a PSD file.

Selecting and Preparing the Portrait

Along with a dark and grungy background, you need someone that looks like they fit into this style of composite. So, photographing a little girl with her mom probably won’t cut it. Remember, we need edgy to make this work. You’ll notice our model here, Willie, is not looking happy. I deliberately used a really mean expression for this one, since we were working with a grungy-style composite. Funny thing, though, because Willie is about as nice a guy as they come, so don’t hold the mean look against him. He