Combining exposures

Okay, your cruise ship got into port and, in order to beat the crowds, you
hired a private guide to take you to Macchu Picchu. Hah! You will probably
get there before they have even finished loading the buses. Sure enough, you
get there and no one is in sight. You already have studied guide books and
layouts of the site thoroughly, so you already know where you want those
precious overall shots. You have, maybe, fifteen minutes before the first
tour bus arrives.

The trouble is, it is already high noon and the sky is marked by only a few
scattered cirrus clouds. Worse, the glaring high altitude sun has
intensified the shadows. Not what you want at all. It will be great for
those close-up details which you will shoot after the crowds arrive, but not
now!

You quickly mount your DSLR onto a sturdy tripod and shoot three exposures
of each view: one for highlights, one for midtones, and one for shadows. You
finish just as the first tour bus pulls into the parking lot.

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


If you go around beating the Bush, don't complain if you rile the animals.

In article ,
says...

Okay, your cruise ship got into port and, in order to beat the crowds, you
hired a private guide to take you to Macchu Picchu. Hah! You will probably
get there before they have even finished loading the buses. Sure enough, you
get there and no one is in sight. You already have studied guide books and
layouts of the site thoroughly, so you already know where you want those
precious overall shots. You have, maybe, fifteen minutes before the first
tour bus arrives.

The trouble is, it is already high noon and the sky is marked by only a few
scattered cirrus clouds. Worse, the glaring high altitude sun has
intensified the shadows. Not what you want at all. It will be great for
those close-up details which you will shoot after the crowds arrive, but not
now!

You quickly mount your DSLR onto a sturdy tripod and shoot three exposures
of each view: one for highlights, one for midtones, and one for shadows. You
finish just as the first tour bus pulls into the parking lot.

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


If you go around beating the Bush, don't complain if you rile the animals.

Christopher,

Just the basics: bring each exposure (image) into PS as a Layer. Provided that
you have used a sturdy tripod and not jiggled the camera between exposures,
they should line up nicely. If not, the Move Tool and the cursor keys can
help. If not exact, then you need to use TransformScale/Free Transform to
make them exact to whichever one you choose as your control image. I'd next
begin playing with the Opacity sliders on each Layer, until you get close to
what you want. Finally, I'd add an Adjustment Layer(s) to each Layer to modify
exposure/saturation/color balance. You might end up with several Adjustment
Layers per Layer, but that's OK, so long as you have HDD real estate to spare.
The Blending Modes of the Layers Palette can also yield some good results -
try them.

If you have PS CS, my first step would be to take the best overall image, and
play with Highlight/Shadow Adjustment first, then use that image as you "
control." Heck, you might even like the result so much, that you will forget
the other two exposurs.

Hunt

In article ,
says...

Okay, your cruise ship got into port and, in order to beat the crowds, you
hired a private guide to take you to Macchu Picchu. Hah! You will probably
get there before they have even finished loading the buses. Sure enough, you
get there and no one is in sight. You already have studied guide books and
layouts of the site thoroughly, so you already know where you want those
precious overall shots. You have, maybe, fifteen minutes before the first
tour bus arrives.

The trouble is, it is already high noon and the sky is marked by only a few
scattered cirrus clouds. Worse, the glaring high altitude sun has
intensified the shadows. Not what you want at all. It will be great for
those close-up details which you will shoot after the crowds arrive, but not
now!

You quickly mount your DSLR onto a sturdy tripod and shoot three exposures
of each view: one for highlights, one for midtones, and one for shadows. You
finish just as the first tour bus pulls into the parking lot.

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


If you go around beating the Bush, don't complain if you rile the animals.

Christopher,

Just the basics: bring each exposure (image) into PS as a Layer. Provided that
you have used a sturdy tripod and not jiggled the camera between exposures,
they should line up nicely. If not, the Move Tool and the cursor keys can
help. If not exact, then you need to use TransformScale/Free Transform to
make them exact to whichever one you choose as your control image. I'd next
begin playing with the Opacity sliders on each Layer, until you get close to
what you want. Finally, I'd add an Adjustment Layer(s) to each Layer to modify
exposure/saturation/color balance. You might end up with several Adjustment
Layers per Layer, but that's OK, so long as you have HDD real estate to spare.
The Blending Modes of the Layers Palette can also yield some good results -
try them.

If you have PS CS, my first step would be to take the best overall image, and
play with Highlight/Shadow Adjustment first, then use that image as you "
control." Heck, you might even like the result so much, that you will forget
the other two exposurs.

Hunt

http://perswww.kuleuven.ac.be/~u0039...pano_small.jpg

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
Okay, your cruise ship got into port and, in order to beat the crowds, you
hired a private guide to take you to Macchu Picchu. Hah! You will probably
get there before they have even finished loading the buses. Sure enough,
you
get there and no one is in sight. You already have studied guide books and
layouts of the site thoroughly, so you already know where you want those
precious overall shots. You have, maybe, fifteen minutes before the first
tour bus arrives.

The trouble is, it is already high noon and the sky is marked by only a
few
scattered cirrus clouds. Worse, the glaring high altitude sun has
intensified the shadows. Not what you want at all. It will be great for
those close-up details which you will shoot after the crowds arrive, but
not
now!

You quickly mount your DSLR onto a sturdy tripod and shoot three exposures
of each view: one for highlights, one for midtones, and one for shadows.
You
finish just as the first tour bus pulls into the parking lot.

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


If you go around beating the Bush, don't complain if you rile the animals.

http://perswww.kuleuven.ac.be/~u0039...pano_small.jpg

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
Okay, your cruise ship got into port and, in order to beat the crowds, you
hired a private guide to take you to Macchu Picchu. Hah! You will probably
get there before they have even finished loading the buses. Sure enough,
you
get there and no one is in sight. You already have studied guide books and
layouts of the site thoroughly, so you already know where you want those
precious overall shots. You have, maybe, fifteen minutes before the first
tour bus arrives.

The trouble is, it is already high noon and the sky is marked by only a
few
scattered cirrus clouds. Worse, the glaring high altitude sun has
intensified the shadows. Not what you want at all. It will be great for
those close-up details which you will shoot after the crowds arrive, but
not
now!

You quickly mount your DSLR onto a sturdy tripod and shoot three exposures
of each view: one for highlights, one for midtones, and one for shadows.
You
finish just as the first tour bus pulls into the parking lot.

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


If you go around beating the Bush, don't complain if you rile the animals.

From: "C J Campbell"

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

Send them to me. I can do it faster than I can explain it.

From: "C J Campbell"

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one
perfectly exposed picture?

Send them to me. I can do it faster than I can explain it.

"C J Campbell" wrote in
:

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one

Make a blank document. Place each of the three images on a new layer. In
the layers palette click on the "add layer mask" button. Now use black ink
on a brush to paint away whatever layer is on top to reveal the one below.

If you paint away too much, switch to white, and paint it back in.

Use a brush with soft edges, or hard edges as required. Use the magic wand
to make large, easy selections, like your clear sky.

Bob

"C J Campbell" wrote in
:

Now, how do you combine these three exposures in Photoshop to get one

Make a blank document. Place each of the three images on a new layer. In
the layers palette click on the "add layer mask" button. Now use black ink
on a brush to paint away whatever layer is on top to reveal the one below.

If you paint away too much, switch to white, and paint it back in.

Use a brush with soft edges, or hard edges as required. Use the magic wand
to make large, easy selections, like your clear sky.

Bob