Landscape question

hiya,

There seem to be many ways to blend images (yes, I'm saving for some decent grads!)

Just wondered if there was a common method that seems to get better results and saves me time looking at them all

Thanks for any advice

Hi Graeme,

I used to lug a complete Cokin kit around all the time and it took up space and added extra weight to my pack. I still take out a polariser, 2x nd grad and holder but that's all.

I normally shoot bracketed shots nowadays bracketing anywhere up to 3 stops either side of metered. Then I acquired Photomatix Pro software for blending them together. When you first start to use the software everything looks way artifical and plastic/oversaturated. The advantage is that there are quite a few controls and, after much perseverance, it pays off to play around with it to get it right. This form of blneding produces images that are as close to what we see as technologically possible today.

Rob

Hi Rob,

I have used photomatix and as you say it can look really false. Are your panoramics on your website done using photomatix? If so, it rightly shows a bit of perseverance good results can be achieved. I'll have another look at this. Many thanks

Shoot one shot for well exposed highlights, one for well exposed shadows. Raw convert both into PS. Select the shadows image and CTRL A (select all). select the highlights image and CTRL V. This now shows up as a new layer. Layers > Layer Mask > Hide All. Select the brush tool and set yourself a large brush (900px for example), set the brush opacity to 30%. start brushing the areas where the shadows are on your image and you will begin to reveal the detail. Work carefully and methodically changing the brush opacity for various areas so you can subtly reveal the layer underneath. If you press X you can change the brush to black and reverse the process by hiding the shadow layer.

This method is completely non destructive of course until you flatten the images together.

Your Budleigh Salterton image is a classic example of where a exposure blend will work better than using any grads. A grad over the top of the pool / sky will cause the trees in the distance to go very dark. If you performed an exposure blend you could blend all the areas around the trees, try that with a grad.

Graeme, I'm a lazy lob, especially when it comes to time spend in front of computer. So brushing in as Dave suggested is not for me. Here is a link to something different that works fine for me:
http://www.keiko-ni.com/keikosite/equiptech/digital/dynamicrange/dynamrng1.html

Cheers,
Marko

Thanks very much. I will have a go at these