Farm field at night

[Mad Aussie]

I do have both images, but I'm kind of lost as to how to blend them together into one. Any suggestions or places to look for help?

Do you have Photoshop?

[padrepaul77]

Yes, I do have Photoshop Elements 7, and will probably get CS5. I also have a program called "LightZone" that allows me to "zone" sections of the picture, so I can reduce light in parts of it. I can do this obviously too by highlighting the sky and lowering brightness, but there's probably a better way. Any suggestions?

[padrepaul77]

What I ended up doing was using "Exposure Fusion" in Photomatix with two exposures, darker and lighter, then running it through LightZone to darken the sky. I'm not sure if this is a little better, but overall it seems to be. It's so confusing, but hopefully I'm on the right track. I think at night I'll shoot a few different exposures and then merge them and see how they come out. The Layers thing is what really confuses me and throws me for a loop though; I finally figured out how to get two images together, but now need to learn how to blend them. But maybe this work-around will be OK for future night shots? Any further help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Mad Aussie]

Ok ... working with layers isn't as difficult as you may think.
Simply open the 2 photos (just start with 2) and then copy and paste one on top of the other. That will produce two layers on your photo ... one is a 'background layer, one is a normal layer.
Now select the top layer and create layer mask ... which is just a click of a button in ther layers palette.
Select that layer mask now, it looks like a white box next to the thumbnail of the photo layer.
By using a brush and black on that layer mask ... you selectively erase the top layer. By changing the size, flow and opacity of the brush you can be quite specific.
Make a mistake ... easy ... change to white and simply brush that portion back in. This is much better than using thr eraser tool because you can undo your mistakes easily at any time.
WHen finished ... merge layers and save.

[padrepaul77]

Thanks for the advice...unfortunately I can't do a layer mask in Elements, apparently just in Photoshop. I'll have to keep tinkering and see what I can get.

[Mad Aussie]

That's VERY slack of Elements!!!!

Found this simulation for layer masking in elements that might help How to Simulate Photoshop's Layer Mask Function in Photoshop Elements

[padrepaul77]

OK, getting fairly obsessed with getting this down. I still found I liked LightZone's options; I can isolate a color, and just fix it. However, in this image notice the harsh line between the farmhouse and the sky? (Not to mention the farmhouse being lit wrong). Is this just a matter of the exposure going too far in one direction beyond what software can do? Or is there a way to make it nice and smooth?

[Mad Aussie]

Not sure I can advise much further as I don't know the software you are using.

If you wanted to send me the originals I could see what I could do in Photoshop to see if the images are even worth spending so much time on. You may be better to go re-take it or similar scene. Photography needs light. If there wasn't enough in the scene in the first place things get tricky.

[padrepaul77]

Yes, I think it just needs to be re-shot; I'd like to do some more landscape stuff at night though. Was out tonight and the subject unfortunately was all out of focus (a crucifix in a cemetery) so I'll try again in a couple of days.

Thanks!
Paul