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Merging in Lightroom

14 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by Kathleen Scanlan in Lightroom Tips

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creativity, images, information, Lightroom, Lightroom CC, Lightroom information, Lightroom merge, Merge, Merging images, Natural Light, Photography, Photography information, Photography postwork, post-work

When Lightroom was initially introduced to the market, it did not have the means to merge photos together. You had to use Photoshop to create a multi-layered image. Today, you can do that work right inside Lightroom with ease.

When shooting without a flash and with a bright background, the image in the front of the light will come out very dark. Now, no one wants the main image “in the dark”.  In the photos I am using for an example of bright backgrounds, I didn’t want to use a flash and didn’t want to lose the background either by opening up the stops to accommodate the image in the forefront.  So, I headed to Lightroom for a solution!

Orignal-7158.jpg

Lightroom now allows you to merge two or more images by compressing all the image data into one HDR image using very simple steps. Don’t be put off by “HDR”. In this instance of over-bright background, it is just a beginning point.  You can still adjust the final HDR product to your vision.

If you are steady-handed, shoot three or more photos with different speed stops without moving your focus.   For this article, I used my Canon 6D on a tripod and set my camera to shoot +/- one stop which means it will shoot the scene at a base stop that I set, then shoot ¾ higher (+3/4) and ¾ down (-3/4). I rarely do a full stop either way.  I set my ISO to 200 although I could have gone higher but didn’t want graininess in the images. Last but not least, my f-stop was set at 6.3.

Another way to shoot is to start at the high end of the speed you want to use and shut down a -1/2 stop for several more images.  The outcome will be the same.  This can also be done in reverse by adding +1/2 stop.

 The most important thing to remember when merging photos in Lightroom is that they are to be unprocessed. Another words do not do any post work on the images you plan on using.

Here are the two (yep, only two) steps for merging photos in Lightroom:

  1. Select the photos you wish to merge together. They have to be in consecutive order and have + or minus (-) speed settings for this to work (as mentioned above).  On a Mac, click on the first image and Cmd/Shift-click on the last image in Lightroom Classic CC to select the group of images you wish to use. I chose to use the three below.

Screen Shot 2018-03-07 at 1.29.11 PM.jpg

The histograms of each shot shows that I used shutter speeds of 1/80, 1/30, and 1/15 (the reason 1/60 is missing is because I deleted it before deciding to merge the images.  (Accidentally tripped over the tripod and the image was blurry!  Not a good idea…)

image 1.jpg Image 2.jpg Screen Shot 2018-03-07 at 1.32.16 PM.jpg

  1. Select Photo > Photo Merge > HDR. or press Ctrl+H.  Photo Merge is just below “Edit In”.

Step 2a.jpg

  1. Another box (HDR preview box) will pop open. This is where your final image will be created. You can select or deselect the following:

Auto Tone: Provides a good starting point for an evenly-toned merged image.  You can turn this off and see what happens.  Don’t panic if you see a dark image.  All the data is still there.  Lightroom just didn’t make adjusts; you can do this once  you accept the preview.
Auto Align: Useful if the images being merged have slight movement from shot to shot. Enable this option if the images were shot using a handheld camera. Enabling this option may not be necessary if the images were shot using a tripod.  The way to tell if you really need it is to zoom in on the image to see if everything aligns.

While you are making your choices, Lightroom is busy combining your chosen photos into one preview.

Screen Shot 2018-03-07 at 11.34.59 AM.jpg

After deciding on those two options, you can choose how much “deghosting” you may need.  This occurs when some transparency from the one image to the next occurs while merging.  For example: a bird or plane flying across the sky. Each frame will have the bird or plane in a different position. You might see the ghost of the bird or plane in each position in the final image.  Deghost will take care of this.

You can preview the effects of these settings right within the dialog box once the image downloads.   Play with it a bit so you understand how the options affect your final image.  Then, accept the image.

My final HDR image turned out to be a far cry from what I envisioned.  As you can see, it came out rather bright while the plant detail is nice and sharp.  A little too bright for me!  (Remember, earlier I stated that you can adjust your final HDR image.)

HDR 1-2.jpg

 

When you merge images in Lightroom, the program creates a new file/image. It combines all the data from the images you used to create the HDR image and compresses that date into one file. This means you can adjust the final image as if it was the original shot but with a whole lot more data to work with.  In my example, it probably had three times the image data since I used three images.

 

Because my final HDR image was not quite what I wanted (again, I could have turned Auto Tone off and made adjustments from that image), I decided to do some further adjustments in Lightroom on the new file/image.  Now the image looks much more natural and the details of the plant are still nice and sharp.  This, I like!

HDR Final-2.jpg

HDR 2a.jpgHDR 2.jpg

 

 

So the next time you want to play with your camera, try this neat trick out. Take several shots of one object, using several different speeds. Combined them in Lightroom and see what you can create. Have fun!

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Negative space…good or bad?

30 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Kathleen Scanlan in Photography

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Tags

creativity, Dehaze, Lightroom CC, negative space, Photography

The art world (which includes photography, by the way!) has a language of its own that those who are not part of this community might misinterpret. My favorite one is “negative space”. I have heard this phrase many times and wondered what it really was. Was it good to have in an image? After all, the word negative has, well, negative connotations! So it must not be a good thing, right?

Well, not exactly.  This term actually can be a very good thing.  To explain it simply, the phrase is interchangeable with “uncluttered” or “open space”.  The image below is one that has negative space.  It was shot early on a foggy morning when the other side of the lake was so bogged down with fog, it looked like the lonely boat was floating on air.  I used the bushes along the shoreline to anchor the bottom corners (and I like that “window” look as if the viewer is peering into the frame).  The emptiness from around midpoint to the top of the frame is considered negative space.

Early morning fog on Lake Como in the summer

Early morning fog on Lake Como in the summer

Why have empty or negative space in a shot?  There are several reasons that I can think of to have it in the frame.  The first one is obvious.  It focuses the eye on the main object, which in this case is the boat.  Another one could be that I may want to add text to the image.  Or maybe, even change the background in post work.

My settings on my Canon 6D were:  ISO 200, 50mm primary lens (meaning it was not a zoom), f/7.1 (Aperture), and Shutter speed of 1/100 sec.  I did not use a lens filter although one would have cleared up the haze in the image.  You can see that the fog/haze tends to soften the boat and makes it slightly indistinct.  But, since I knew I had a program that allowed me control over how much of the fog/haze I wanted to remove, I decided to go filter-free.

I use Lightroom 5CC by Adobe when I download and backup my images.  It affords me the opportunity to slightly change things and still have all the data filed together without creating a large file when I save those changes.  The image below is the same image as above, only with some slight post work.

Added some post work

Added some post work

In Lightroom, I used the “dehaze” tool located under the tab “Effects” to clear up a little bit of the fog so the boat would stand out a bit more.  It deepened the color and shadows of the bushes along the shore.  After completing that, I used a brush to clarify (another way to bring out detail and add a bit more definition) and increase color saturation to the boat.  The background and foreground were not affected.

The two last images show what you can do with negative space.  Again, all my initial work was completed in Lightroom.  I tend to add vignetting to my images to tighten the viewing area a bit.  For me, it looks better having the fog “contained” inside the image.  But you might not.  It really is up to you.  The second image has added text that I completed in Photoshop.

A little vignetting and the fog is contained!

A little vignetting and the fog is contained!

The final product!

The final product!

This is just one example of negative space and what you can do with it.  A shot of a leaf on a sidewalk, an object on an empty table, or a person walking down a wide, lonely road.   Negative space can be created in many different ways with just as many different results.

What would you do with it?  Take a picture of a child blowing out a candle with the background completely darkened and only her face, cake and candle visible?  a couple of children (or even just one all alone) playing in the sand on a beach with no one else around?  An apple on a wooden table at eye level in an orchard, with the orchard itself deep in the background and out of focus?  Get your creative juices flowing and give it a try.

So, the next time you take out your camera, consider adding negative space in your images.  Keep your composition clean and clear.  You might find that you like the uncluttered look!

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I’ve Finally Done It…!

12 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Kathleen Scanlan in Photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Adobe, information, Lightroom, Lightroom CC, Photo information, photo work, Photography, Photography information, photos, Photoshop, Photoshop CC, post-work

Hi Everyone! I have finally entered the world of Blogging that everyone else has been in for years! Sometimes it takes time for those of us who were not born into the computer age to finally figure out how to use the “techy” stuff.

After I retired from my second love (where I had to make money to help raise a family), I jumped back into photography only to find myself completely perplexed and confused with all the new technology in this arena. Although I love photography and all that it entails, I was lost amid all the new digital cameras, post work programs, and information available on the internet. Half the time, I would read an article and still be lost as I don’t have a computer or techy mindset. All I wanted was an answer to a simple question in PLAIN english. And so, a blog is born…

In future blogs, which I plan on keeping it short and to the point (at least that’s the plan. Who wants to read long, run-on articles all the time?), I will share what I learn as I move on with my photography. Currently, I use both Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC for my filing and post-work (boy, were they a struggle to learn for me!).

I invite you to join me on my journey into the world of digital photography as I find my way around . Future blogs will contain helpful hints on composition, framing, and post -work, all written in a plain, down to earth language.

Well, here goes nothing…click!

41.878114 -87.629798

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