Yes you have made an easy explanation of how to blend two photos together. I usually have observed it being done with using the paintbrush, this way is new to me. Thanks for your tutorial Henry.
Glad I searched for this on your channel. I use Affinity Photo and the instruction videos on various channels relating to Affinity, for exposure blending have been ridiculously complex. This technique will make it all the more easier. Thanks Henry.
I’ve watched so many camera/editing tutorials and I haven’t come across anybody who explains things this clearly. I’m not a photographer, I just have a camera and I’m learning to do these things and most people use words and terms that I have no idea what they main. You explain the meaning of those terms, making it easy to understand. Subscribed!
The benifit of exposure blending is having the power to combine the two images a bit more seamlessly than using a grad filter in the field. May I suggest you open up the shadows on you sky file and darken your foreground file slightly, having the ability to match the tones in the transition area is the real key here, something that simply cannot be done in field with filters. You can do that in camera raw and then open the files as smart objects in Photoshop so that you can still work on the raws is beneficial as well. Also to avoid having a destructive workflow maybe avoid flattening the image.
Amazing. That's the greatness of Photoshop: you have hundreds of ways to do the same thing. Never thought of using gradient tool, I've always used luminosity masks but I think that in some situations gradient tool is far more handy. Thanks
Great video, I am normally a Wildlife Photographer, but I am trying to do some more Landscape/Woodland photography, lately I have been thinking about these "exsposure problems" and here you are, showing the selution! Thank You! - Very Good Video!
This is always something I wanted to learn how to do and, after watching your video, I finally did. Besides the Gradient tool, I also used the brush in “subtract” mode. Worked like a champ! Thank you!
Henry you're a star! Followed your instructions which I used for combining 2 photos for sharpness from foreground to background. Yes you can do this in other ways and with more bells and whistles, but when you are starting out learning PS this is the sort of video you need. Simple to understand what's going on. Thanks.
Thanks for all your hard work and great content. May I just mention a couple of things as a retired old codger on a budget. I will buy software outright but cannot afford monthly subscriptions so I did buy Aurora HDR to help with merging bracketed shots. Of course it will produce nasty overcooked images but also subtle results that some might like. There are lots of sliders! I retired to live near the coast in Finistère, Britanny and the opportunities for landscape photography are endless. The light can be amazing. I am so happy I found your channel Henry.
I've always had a hard time learning this UA-cam photographers over do this you made this do easy thank you. I have subscribed hoping to learn as much as I can.
I would seriously recommend opening the photos through lightroom using 'edit as layers in Photoshop' this way when you have done the exposure blend you can ctrl or cmd s, to save a blended tiff. The reason I say that is that lightroom then knows exactly where that photo came from and all the layers will be intact for future changes. In general, you should only save,move,open etc raw and tiff files through lightroom so lightroom can keep track of the images.
So excited to come across this tutorial Henry, I took some sunset shots in Derbyshire last night and can try this technique, so thank you for making this clip. Wish me luck! 🤣
Never thought of using the gradient tool before. Seems to be a great deal of options for blending exposures. I use Affinity Photo, which has a feature called blend ranges. It's basically a graph that looks like a curves adjustment, only the graph starts as a flat line across the top. You can then blend tonal ranges in or out of the image (i.e. luminosity masking), either with adjustment layers, filters, or image layers. It's a very powerful tool but it's difficult to fine-tune luminosity masks such as you would with panel plugins like Raya Pro, TK Actions or Lumenzia. The problem is visualizing the mask. There is a couple of workarounds for this but it's still not quite "there". I will definitely try this gradient option out. It may be very useful in Affinity in combination with blend ranges. Anything's got to be better than paying for a faffing with grads. PS can you not move the nodes of the gradient once you have initially placed it, instead of having to begin again? And can you not visualize its effect on real time?
Cheers David, thanks for watching mate! I’d say there’s a way of moving the gradient rather than redoing it - there’s something about the ‘rough’ gradient that I really like it though, I feel it’s a lot more natural
Thank you so much for this. I have a much older version of Photoshop that doesn't have this baked in as a script, but it gave me an idea... Using copy and paste functions I figure I can achieve the same effect by opening both files separately and then copying the foreground image from it's own file to be pasted as a new layer on top of the background image file. Then it's just a case of using the gradient mask as per your video. The only potential issue that I can see is in lining up the two layers to be pixel perfect but hey, that's what zoom is for. Once again than you. :)
Thanks for the Vlog Henry. Just getting into this so appreciate the tutorial. Appreciate all your efforts with all the vlogs. Beer/coffee on the way to your Ireland trip. Good luck🤞👍🏻
Hi Henry, really easy to follow and understand, thank you for making the time to put this together. I always use my filters to balance an exposure but may well give bracketing a go now after watching this. Thank you 😊
Hello Henry. Thank you very much. I really enjoy your channel. You present what can seem quite complicated stuff in a straightforward, no frills, relaxed manner, which suits me down to the ground; I'm 74 coming up and love my photography, and like to learn. I came here looking for how to do exposure blending, having heard you mention it previously, along with focus stacking. One question arises from this video if I may, please. Right at the end, almost as a throwaway line you mention "I export the image to my desktop and then I import it into Lightroom AND START MY EDIT". It puzzles me why would you just not stay in Photoshop to edit (or am I missing a very important trick or function of Lightroom that Photoshop doesn't do so well?). I shoot in NEF plus JPG (one to "play with" and one to share straightaway with the family). It's my understanding the main functions of Lightroom are cataloguing, simple editing and so-on, but have never used it, and do my editing in Photoshop. I'd love to hear your reasons for switching your image out into Lightroom please. Keep up the good work! With thanks again, and kind regards. Roy.
Super like and thanks for this nice video. I have one question. Is there any significant difference between exposer blending and exposer bracketing for this kind of high dynamic range shot.
Hi Henry, my computer doesn't have the right graphics card to run photoshop but runs LR perfectly. What do you think of LR's ability to handle bracketing?
Hi Henry, as you said it is truly simple bending images. Very good tutorial. Have you made a tutorial on how to blend multiple exposures of + O - exposure values ?
Cool video, you explained this task in a very clear and simple manner. This is very helpful as I find getting the exposure correct for the whole photo can be tricky at times! Especially the sky. How much does photo shop cost?
Lisa. It's only available on subscription these days. The downside is that you continually have to pay for it but the advantage is you always have the latest updates. I pay approx £10/month Hope that helps.
Hi Having just got into photography (thanks to you) I am looking to buy a copy of Photoshop to try exposure blending having seen your results, is there a version without spending a fortune you'd recommend? Regards Martin.
Excellent tutorial Henry, seems a lot better than merging 3+ photos as hdr in lightroom! Is there a similar method for "focus stacking" an image? Tutorial on that maybe??
Interesting technique, Henry, but my first reaction is to raise the LR HDR approach, as did comments below. In LR individual adjustments (e.g., luminosity masking) can be made to each photo before HDR merge and you can have more than two photos to merge. At any rate, to drive home the differences I suggest a follow up vid to this one, using LR HDR merge for the same images. Then compare results. Does that make sense? Noticed that both images were TIFF format - would native NEF format of your Nikon make a difference (e.g., dynamic range)? Take care. 😷
Hello I already knew how to blend two exposures with your method but it doesn't work if, for example, a tree or a rock stands out in the sky (on the foreground) Do you have a solution to work around this problem? A suggestion for a next video, maybe.... Thank's
Very interesting, thank you! So far I have been using Lightroom's HDR function or have done this with layer masks in Photoshop. Will definitely give this a shot!
Hi Henry. Thank you for your Channel. In case of 3 or more images to blend. Have you tried File>Automate>Photomerge in Photoshop? It does automatically the masking job. Then you can refine it!
Always been thinking about getting LR and PS and after seeing you on last few vlogs, I will have to get it. I've been making do with snapseed(which i must admit, does most things on my phone) but the time has come. Keep these vids coming. Great to see and learn. Cheers
Great page Henry! Just a quick question mate, how do you control where you are exposing for in this situation regarding background/foreground where you’re planning to bracket in post production? Thanks.
Can i create 2 exposure from 1 raw image in lightroom and then blend them together ? Will i get a better picture or will it be the same if i just deeply edited the single raw image ?
Ugh this worked on the first attempt but I wanted to adjust as shown and did Command-Z to give it a re-try. Every subsequent attempt covers my whole image with white or black (depending where I clicked and dragged) and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!
Excellent tutorial Henry, thank you. Unfortunately, as a beginner, I didn't get my two exposures level - I obviously moved my camera more than I thought 😪🤣
Thanks Henry, that was so easy to follow 👍...why can’t adobe help be that easy to follow ! ...probably because it’s written by a programmer ! ha...I’m a bit of a novice with LR...can you tell me how I can export a raw file into LR from my hard drive. Every time I try ...it exports to LR as a JPEG !...appreciate any help you can give me 📸
Henry Turner ..trying to get a raw image from my back up hard drive on my iMac into LR. I can get it to go over into LR, but it changes from a raw file into a jpeg automatically. I was wondering if I had a setting wrong somewhere.
Cheers for watching David - yeah exactly as David says below, it’s just not quite the same effect. The LR hdr feature can be decent at times, but it’s very automated and leaves you with little control 👍🏼
Hi Henry great video is your PC windows 10 and what version of photoshop are you using as well as lightroom look forward to your recommendation in this as I'm a total novice in editing thanks and more of this is welcome stay safe...
I still come back and watch this video every time I process my photos. Makes it incredibly easy. Great tutorial!
Thank you for not adding loud and abnoxious music in the background of your video. Has a big effect on concentration!
Great tutorial Henry- made it simple I loved that- something I've done for years - using layer and Luminosity masks
Yes you have made an easy explanation of how to blend two photos together. I usually have observed it being done with using the paintbrush, this way is new to me. Thanks for your tutorial Henry.
Glad I searched for this on your channel. I use Affinity Photo and the instruction videos on various channels relating to Affinity, for exposure blending have been ridiculously complex. This technique will make it all the more easier. Thanks Henry.
I’ve watched so many camera/editing tutorials and I haven’t come across anybody who explains things this clearly. I’m not a photographer, I just have a camera and I’m learning to do these things and most people use words and terms that I have no idea what they main. You explain the meaning of those terms, making it easy to understand. Subscribed!
I like your easy simple explanation for Exposure Blending.
I watched many other tutorials and couldn't figure this out. But with your tutorial I did it the first time ! Thank you !
The benifit of exposure blending is having the power to combine the two images a bit more seamlessly than using a grad filter in the field. May I suggest you open up the shadows on you sky file and darken your foreground file slightly, having the ability to match the tones in the transition area is the real key here, something that simply cannot be done in field with filters. You can do that in camera raw and then open the files as smart objects in Photoshop so that you can still work on the raws is beneficial as well. Also to avoid having a destructive workflow maybe avoid flattening the image.
Made it easy, will try soon, thank you from an old film photographer, learning so much from a young chap like you!
Perfect lesson I’ve been trying to do this for years.
I have practiced it, it's easy to follow, thank you very much👍
You're welcome 😊
Amazing. That's the greatness of Photoshop: you have hundreds of ways to do the same thing. Never thought of using gradient tool, I've always used luminosity masks but I think that in some situations gradient tool is far more handy. Thanks
Yes exactly Maurizio - so many different techniques! I like to use the gradient tool because I think it makes the transition more natural 👍🏼
Superb. You have made blending pretty easy to understand.
Thanks for easiest explanation in UA-cam
Wow, I've been watching heaps of exposure blending videos and this is soooo much easier, thanks Henry.
Ah yes, straight to the point and you making it so easy. thanks mate, cheers
An approach to blending that I had not seen. Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks Ralph, glad you got some value from it!
How else do people blend?
Its only easy when you know how!! Thanks for that. Stay safe
Cheers Barry, you too mate
Great video, I am normally a Wildlife Photographer, but I am trying to do some more Landscape/Woodland photography, lately I have been thinking about these "exsposure problems" and here you are, showing the selution! Thank You! - Very Good Video!
Simple! Loved it. Cheers Henry!
More of these tutorials please. Awesome explanation of a technique I have never tried
This is always something I wanted to learn how to do and, after watching your video, I finally did. Besides the Gradient tool, I also used the brush in “subtract” mode. Worked like a champ! Thank you!
It's so easy for that shot, but you had a super easy blend.
Thank you so much! This was so simple and easy.
You're welcome!
You got me as a subscriber with this simply explained video. Thank you Henry.
Glad it helped
Henry you're a star! Followed your instructions which I used for combining 2 photos for sharpness from foreground to background. Yes you can do this in other ways and with more bells and whistles, but when you are starting out learning PS this is the sort of video you need. Simple to understand what's going on. Thanks.
Awesome and easy tutorial! All the others make it look so much more complicated
excellent Henry. Very straightforward
Thanks Henry for a straight forward no nonsense tutorial, love it 🥊🥊🥊
Thanks for all your hard work and great content. May I just mention a couple of things as a retired old codger on a budget. I will buy software outright but cannot afford monthly subscriptions so I did buy Aurora HDR to help with merging bracketed shots. Of course it will produce nasty overcooked images but also subtle results that some might like. There are lots of sliders! I retired to live near the coast in Finistère, Britanny and the opportunities for landscape photography are endless. The light can be amazing. I am so happy I found your channel Henry.
Another tip in the bag ! Gonna get some old images looked up and start experimenting . Thanks again Henry .
Thanks for watching James, glad you like it mate
Straight forward vlog. Excellent.
I've always had a hard time learning this UA-cam photographers over do this you made this do easy thank you. I have subscribed hoping to learn as much as I can.
Thanks for the sub Kyle!
I would seriously recommend opening the photos through lightroom using 'edit as layers in Photoshop' this way when you have done the exposure blend you can ctrl or cmd s, to save a blended tiff. The reason I say that is that lightroom then knows exactly where that photo came from and all the layers will be intact for future changes. In general, you should only save,move,open etc raw and tiff files through lightroom so lightroom can keep track of the images.
Great easy video, well done
Thanks 👍
Brilliant and beautifully explained, as always. Thanks Henry :)
Great video and really easy. Thank you.
Just found this ! Great, simple explanation Henry👍
you made this so easy. thank you!!
So excited to come across this tutorial Henry, I took some sunset shots in Derbyshire last night and can try this technique, so thank you for making this clip. Wish me luck! 🤣
very simple easy to follow. Thank you
Thanks, great video!
Nice Tutorial, what do you think about the modes Median Mean and the others? Thanks
Amazing! How could it turn out like that.
Never thought of using the gradient tool before.
Seems to be a great deal of options for blending exposures. I use Affinity Photo, which has a feature called blend ranges. It's basically a graph that looks like a curves adjustment, only the graph starts as a flat line across the top. You can then blend tonal ranges in or out of the image (i.e. luminosity masking), either with adjustment layers, filters, or image layers. It's a very powerful tool but it's difficult to fine-tune luminosity masks such as you would with panel plugins like Raya Pro, TK Actions or Lumenzia. The problem is visualizing the mask. There is a couple of workarounds for this but it's still not quite "there".
I will definitely try this gradient option out. It may be very useful in Affinity in combination with blend ranges. Anything's got to be better than paying for a faffing with grads.
PS can you not move the nodes of the gradient once you have initially placed it, instead of having to begin again? And can you not visualize its effect on real time?
Cheers David, thanks for watching mate! I’d say there’s a way of moving the gradient rather than redoing it - there’s something about the ‘rough’ gradient that I really like it though, I feel it’s a lot more natural
Excellent video thank you
Thank you so much for this. I have a much older version of Photoshop that doesn't have this baked in as a script, but it gave me an idea... Using copy and paste functions I figure I can achieve the same effect by opening both files separately and then copying the foreground image from it's own file to be pasted as a new layer on top of the background image file. Then it's just a case of using the gradient mask as per your video. The only potential issue that I can see is in lining up the two layers to be pixel perfect but hey, that's what zoom is for. Once again than you. :)
I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY THAT! THANKS FOR DOING THIS VIDEO!
Glad you liked it Jerry, cheers for watching mate
Thanks for the Vlog Henry. Just getting into this so appreciate the tutorial. Appreciate all your efforts with all the vlogs. Beer/coffee on the way to your Ireland trip. Good luck🤞👍🏻
Great! Nice and easy.
Hi Henry, really easy to follow and understand, thank you for making the time to put this together. I always use my filters to balance an exposure but may well give bracketing a go now after watching this. Thank you 😊
Hello Henry. Thank you very much. I really enjoy your channel. You present what can seem quite complicated stuff in a straightforward, no frills, relaxed manner, which suits me down to the ground; I'm 74 coming up and love my photography, and like to learn.
I came here looking for how to do exposure blending, having heard you mention it previously, along with focus stacking.
One question arises from this video if I may, please. Right at the end, almost as a throwaway line you mention "I export the image to my desktop and then I import it into Lightroom AND START MY EDIT". It puzzles me why would you just not stay in Photoshop to edit (or am I missing a very important trick or function of Lightroom that Photoshop doesn't do so well?).
I shoot in NEF plus JPG (one to "play with" and one to share straightaway with the family). It's my understanding the main functions of Lightroom are cataloguing, simple editing and so-on, but have never used it, and do my editing in Photoshop. I'd love to hear your reasons for switching your image out into Lightroom please.
Keep up the good work!
With thanks again, and kind regards.
Roy.
Great tutorial .. cheers !!
That's great Henry, thanks.
Thank you. Straight to the point. If you could include the steps taken in note form it will help even more. Thanking you in advance.
This is so nice, thank you so much :)
Super like and thanks for this nice video. I have one question. Is there any significant difference between exposer blending and exposer bracketing for this kind of high dynamic range shot.
Exposure bracket in the field, then exposure blend at the computer.
Cheers for watching - and yes, as James said below 👍🏼
At last I can do it now because of your video.
Henry, will this work if your are photographing the waves beach front and want waves to look silky smooth ? Basically, long exposure photography ?
thank you so much. Your video is very helpful for me.
Nice one, is it similar to focus stacking?
Wow. Quick and easy tip. Thank you.
Thanks for watching Giovanni 👍🏼
Very useful tips, thanks 😊
Hi Henry, my computer doesn't have the right graphics card to run photoshop but runs LR perfectly. What do you think of LR's ability to handle bracketing?
Hi Henry,
as you said it is truly simple bending images. Very good tutorial. Have you made a tutorial on how to blend multiple exposures of + O - exposure values ?
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for the tutorial man!! but i wants to know how i can make this process with more then 2 photos?
Sooo helpful thank you so much
Thanks, this was very helpful.
Cool video, you explained this task in a very clear and simple manner. This is very helpful as I find getting the exposure correct for the whole photo can be tricky at times! Especially the sky. How much does photo shop cost?
Lisa.
It's only available on subscription these days. The downside is that you continually have to pay for it but the advantage is you always have the latest updates.
I pay approx £10/month
Hope that helps.
Cheers Lisa!
Hi, can i use this method to combine 3 images? The images are, normally exposed, under exposed and over exposed...
Brilliant thanks
thank you for making it simple!!!
Hi
Having just got into photography (thanks to you) I am looking to buy a copy of Photoshop to try exposure blending having seen your results, is there a version without spending a fortune you'd recommend?
Regards
Martin.
Excellent tutorial Henry, seems a lot better than merging 3+ photos as hdr in lightroom! Is there a similar method for "focus stacking" an image? Tutorial on that maybe??
Cheers Jim! Yes very similar for focus stacking
oh is really fantastic congratulations
Cheers for watching Ariel
Interesting technique, Henry, but my first reaction is to raise the LR HDR approach, as did comments below. In LR individual adjustments (e.g., luminosity masking) can be made to each photo before HDR merge and you can have more than two photos to merge. At any rate, to drive home the differences I suggest a follow up vid to this one, using LR HDR merge for the same images. Then compare results. Does that make sense? Noticed that both images were TIFF format - would native NEF format of your Nikon make a difference (e.g., dynamic range)? Take care. 😷
Cheers Paul! No right or wrongs here was just sharing my technique 🙏🏼
Hello
I already knew how to blend two exposures with your method but it doesn't work if, for example, a tree or a rock stands out in the sky (on the foreground)
Do you have a solution to work around this problem?
A suggestion for a next video, maybe....
Thank's
Very interesting, thank you! So far I have been using Lightroom's HDR function or have done this with layer masks in Photoshop. Will definitely give this a shot!
Cheers Elly! This is definitely my most used exposure blending technique
Thank you!!❤
Hi Henry. Thank you for your Channel. In case of 3 or more images to blend. Have you tried File>Automate>Photomerge in Photoshop? It does automatically the masking job. Then you can refine it!
Always been thinking about getting LR and PS and after seeing you on last few vlogs, I will have to get it. I've been making do with snapseed(which i must admit, does most things on my phone) but the time has come. Keep these vids coming. Great to see and learn.
Cheers
Ah cheers George!
Thanks dude, always wondered how this was done. completely forgot the process. keep up the great content
Cheers for watching 🙏🏼
Great page Henry! Just a quick question mate, how do you control where you are exposing for in this situation regarding background/foreground where you’re planning to bracket in post production? Thanks.
Blend* in post production
Can i create 2 exposure from 1 raw image in lightroom and then blend them together ?
Will i get a better picture or will it be the same if i just deeply edited the single raw image ?
Super
Fantastic that mate
Thanks a lot Alun
ive just sub'd mate that's the simplest way iv heard it explained after looking at loads of vids ta.
with this trick, are you still use GND filters?
Would this be the same process if you had 3 photos?
1 overexposed
1 correct exposure
1 underexposed
Ugh this worked on the first attempt but I wanted to adjust as shown and did Command-Z to give it a re-try. Every subsequent attempt covers my whole image with white or black (depending where I clicked and dragged) and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!
what is the difference of load files into stack and statistics? when it comes to scripts?
Excellent tutorial Henry, thank you. Unfortunately, as a beginner, I didn't get my two exposures level - I obviously moved my camera more than I thought 😪🤣
Also does this mean you won’t have the originals anymore?
Awesome, thank you!
YOU LOOK SO MUCH LIKE ARSENAL'S MARTIN ODEGAARD
Thanks Henry, that was so easy to follow 👍...why can’t adobe help be that easy to follow ! ...probably because it’s written by a programmer ! ha...I’m a bit of a novice with LR...can you tell me how I can export a raw file into LR from my hard drive. Every time I try ...it exports to LR as a JPEG !...appreciate any help you can give me 📸
Cheers Gary, glad you enjoyed! Not sure what you mean exactly, are you trying to get an image into LR or trying to export and image out of LR?
Henry Turner ..trying to get a raw image from my back up hard drive on my iMac into LR. I can get it to go over into LR, but it changes from a raw file into a jpeg automatically. I was wondering if I had a setting wrong somewhere.
I've never tried that in photoshop Henry but, its that not the same as merge hdr in lightroom?
No. With HDR you're stacking the images. With exposure merging you're being selective about the areas of each image included in the composite
Cheers for watching David - yeah exactly as David says below, it’s just not quite the same effect. The LR hdr feature can be decent at times, but it’s very automated and leaves you with little control 👍🏼
Hi Henry great video is your PC windows 10 and what version of photoshop are you using as well as lightroom look forward to your recommendation in this as I'm a total novice in editing thanks and more of this is welcome stay safe...
Hi David cheers for watching mate. Not windows I’m using a MacBook. And it’s Photoshop CS6 👍🏼
Henry Thanks a lot for reply appreciated