Introduction / Abstract
As of Jan 1st 2008, FFDD release 6 is out!
BTW, one release six update email to a 2007 subscriber bounced, so if you didn't receive the update and you should have, send me your new email address at .
The Farrar Focus Digital Darkroom (FFDD) is a set of professional scripts and actions for Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 that provides all essential tools for 16-bit digital image development of extended dynamic range photographs using traditional chemical darkroom style methods.
Use the buy button at the top of the page to purchase a one year subscription of FFDD through paypal. Your initial copy of FFDD and each additional release of FFDD is sent out via email in a ZIP attachment, and works the same on both Windows and Mac.
An offline copy of this website can be downloaded for documentation. We make it a point to turn around all FFDD purchases and FFDD related emails within one business day when we are not out of town doing a show or photo trip. Our next photo trip will be sometime in 2008. For questions about the product or for technical support contact the author, Timothy Farrar, directly at 630-430-6656 or at .
The FFDD Method
The key to FFDD is simple, produce a 12-14 stop dynamic range digital negative from multiple exposures and then develop this digital negative using traditional film like darkroom methods.
With a digital exposure there is the trade off between highlight clipping and shadow detail. Expose for the highlights and loose shadow detail in noise. Expose for the shadows and the highlights overexpose.
What if you could have both highlights and shadow detail?
This is exactly what the FFDD batch script does, it builds this ideal digital negative with full highlights and no noise in even the darkest of shadows. See the difference below between the FFDD batch blended digital negative and a single exposure at eight exposure settings.
With a single exposure, even if highlights are compromised using the expose to the right method, it is noise which ultimately limits the quality of the developed photo. With FFDD there is no noise.
With a 12-14 stop dynamic range digital negative, development is limited only by your imagination!
With FFDD, development is done using the FFDD actions from inside Photoshop using three primary steps. Each action creates and works with Adjustment Layers providing infinite adjustability at any time.
- knee for film-like highlight control, eliminates overexposure and highlight clipping.
- dodge or gnd for localized and graduated exposure adjustments.
- contrast to finish development.
The result is dynamic, clean, and noise free photographs filmed in even extreme lighting conditions.
Feel free to browse the galleries of Kathryn and Timothy Farrar to see more examples of work produced using the Farrar Focus Digital Darkroom.
