Photoshop Question

[DarrenSV650S]

Can anyone tell me how to merge these two pics so that the beach and the rocks are both bright?

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/DSCF0013-6.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/DSCF0014-4.jpg



I tried using the magic wand tool but there's gaps at the edges

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/DSCF0015-3.jpg

[Woz]

You could try HDR ing them.

[ophic]

Good attempt already. But I agree, HDR is the way to go. If you don't know what it is, have a google around - it's a really interesting technique.

[DarrenSV650S]

Ok tried HDR but this is the only way I can see both bits. Any other way and the rocks are too dark or the beach is just bright white. Unless I'm doing something wrong :confused:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/e1aa8d1b.jpg

[barwel1992]

^ thats trippy

your first atempt was quite good

[rigor]

Copy both images to separate layers in Photoshop, drop the opacity of one and line them up.

Create a layer mask on one of the layers and paint in black wht you want to show through, et voila:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4657680334_6e318fbee0_o.jpg

I did some rough burning around the rocks to darken them up, because they were too light in the original photo.

[DarrenSV650S]

Copy both images to separate layers in Photoshop, drop the opacity of one and line them up.

Create a layer mask on one of the layers and paint in black wht you want to show through, et voila:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4657680334_6e318fbee0_o.jpg

I did some rough burning around the rocks to darken them up, because they were too light in the original photo.

Hmm my attempt didn't work so well. I think I'll need to go back with a tripod because the pics aren't very well lined up. And if I take my good camera it has a HDR option built in so that should be better

[Richie]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4329/dscf00144photoshopped.jpg

this is only a quickie :0)
I'm going to have another go later.

[lukemillar]

If it was me, I would dulplicate the layer exposed for the outside, desaturate it to B+W and then grade it to blow out the outstide so you'll end up with a perfect mask. You'll need to experiment with the grading because you don't want to destroy the edge information.

Then copy that image to a layer mask for the outside and use some warping tools to massage it into place if the 2 images don't line up.

I would also grade the exposure up slightly on the outside photograph. End of the day, a camera can't expose for both, so it'll always look faked but you can get around this by slightly over exposing the outside, but not by enough to blow out the detail.

[lukemillar]

Also, if you are planning on doing a lot of post-work to your images, always shoot in raw format as you'll get much bigger scope than compressed .jpgs

[Geodude]

Quick try, i enlarged the background a little to get rid of gaps and lightend both a bit :)
http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab227/geodude_album/darrensvsrocks.jpg

[ophic]

I'm surprised someone hasn't pasted something amusing into the big white hole already ;)

[DarrenSV650S]

Quick try, i enlarged the background a little to get rid of gaps and lightend both a bit :)
http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab227/geodude_album/darrensvsrocks.jpg
That looks good :thumbsup:

[DarrenSV650S]

Went back today and got 40 shots of different brightness. But I think there were too many dark ones, so ended up only using 13 merged together.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/0ae3b716.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k164/DarrenStewartTait/29e10a93.jpg

[stuartyboy]

Try this. Set your meter to expose for the beach. Use fill in flash for the same shot.

Next shot, meter for the inside of the cave on an average setting and let the highlights in the beach take care of themselves.

This should give you two fairly close images which will make your compositing much simpler.

[stuartyboy]

Just had a thought - can you put a dark sheet up across the hole to blank off incoming light? This will define and give you sharper edges with which to composite.

[DarrenSV650S]

Try this. Set your meter to expose for the beach. Use fill in flash for the same shot.

Next shot, meter for the inside of the cave on an average setting and let the highlights in the beach take care of themselves.

This should give you two fairly close images which will make your compositing much simpler.
I sort of tried that. I zoomed in to just the beach, half pressed the shutter to save the exposure, then zoomed out and took the pic. But the beach part still came out too bright, loosing all the detail in the sand.

What is fill in flash?
Just had a thought - can you put a dark sheet up across the hole to blank off incoming light? This will define and give you sharper edges with which to composite.
Not really. It's a pretty big hole.

[lukemillar]

I sort of tried that. I zoomed in to just the beach, half pressed the shutter to save the exposure, then zoomed out and took the pic. But the beach part still came out too bright, loosing all the detail in the sand.

What is fill in flash?

Not really. It's a pretty big hole.

Fill in flash is where you use a combination of ambient light and a camera flash to expose an image.

Few issues though- generally you need a flash that is separate from the camera, rather than built it and also one that you can control the power and direction as a built-in-flash is generally designed as the primary light source in low-light conditions.

Also, when you use a flash to expose a foreground element and the background is too far away to be affected by the flash, it tends to look like the BG is a poster of the thing rather than looking real! The lighting just doesn't tie them together.

[DarrenSV650S]

Hmm getting a bit complicated. I already feel like a weirdo standing in my leathers with a camera tridpod, taking photo after photo of a wall. I'm not getting black sheets and separate flashes as well :lol:

Why can't you just get a camera that captures what you see :p

[stuartyboy]

Hmm getting a bit complicated. I already feel like a weirdo standing in my leathers with a camera tridpod, taking photo after photo of a wall. I'm not getting black sheets and separate flashes as well :lol:

Why can't you just get a camera that captures what you see :p

Your question was originally about photoshop but it looks like you need to know a wee bit more about photography

Expensive SLRs have multi spot metering that will do more or less what you want but most camera's can't cope with harsh lighting variations so you need to compensate for certain things in a scene.

Not sure what type of camera you are using but you don't need a seperate flash at all. You can achieve what you want with a decent compact. If it has a "backlight" setting - ie like a person with the sun behind them then this setting will do it for you. The area through the hole is lighter than the walls - hence why it's struggling to get the right exposure.

Try a photo using the backlight setting above. Then try a photo using the same setting but smear something greasy or oily on the flash. This will diffuse the light and soften the harshness of the shadows. You can also try it with say a piece of nylon tights over the flash. It will diffuse the light too.

Take the photo into photoshop and do a little manipulation - soften the highlights for example.

You can try it without using flash using this trick below...

Cameras "average" everything you see into 18% grey on the exposure sensors. Grass is approximately 18% grey. An old phototographers trick is point your camera at grass near you in the same lighting and keep the button pressed in but without clicking.This will lock the exposure for the ambient light and average out the hard light compared to the darker areas.

Watch professional photographers at football matches - they are always pointing at the grass to take exposure readings.

If you have an autobracket setting on your camera you can set it to take photos that will over and under expose the same scene. One of the photos might be spot on.

Persevere - you can get some astonishing results using a compact and a little knowledge of how a camera juggles exposure.

[shifter]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4329/dscf00144photoshopped.jpg

this is only a quickie :0)
I'm going to have another go later.

I say that to women all the time!

[Sally]

Not really. It's a pretty big hole.

Thats what she said :rabbit: