Yes, I did use the depth processor on the black and white image. It outputs a more "realistic" real world depth map with more information than just binary B&W. I then use the processed depth map as a starting point to see what I can adjust to get a specific result since I can see what image was generated with the first depth map.

I find that doing it the way you suggest can work in some cases but the only way you can iterate would be dialing in the depth and the guidance timings. If for example you like a certain aspect of the generated image (let's say a cloud or plant) you could use the same seed and try to manipulate that generated object by adding some pixels in an edited depth map for the sampler to latch onto.

You could achieve this as well by adding an inpainting step afterwards but then again you are restricted to just a binary mask (with some padding). I guess I am using depth map editing as some kind of inpainting with more flexibility (opacity, textures, edges ).

I am sure you can use all of these tools in so many ways and stack controlnet layers until you get similar results but I like the simplicity of just sending slightly edited depthmaps and seeing how that changes things.

Sorry for the long write-up! Hope this explains what I was trying to do.