[JAG]

Hi,

Apologies if this has been brough up before but I've had a trawl through archives but can't find what I'm looking for.

I'm after the easiest method of blending two photos that I've taken, one metered for the sky and one for the foreground. Could anyone point me in the right direction please? I use CS3 and Elements 6.

Many thanks,

Ian

[Markulous]

The general method I use in CS is to open both shots, copy and paste lighter into darker and:
Layer, Layer Mask, Hide All
Use white brush to "paint" the areas you want from hidden layer at Opacity/Flow to suit end result. Eraser will remove anywhere

Takes a bit of practice but you've total control over the end result, which is why I still haven't gone for HDR methods

[Dave]

Another one to try, according to how your processing of the 2 shots has worked out.

In Mono I often have one layer of image converted at 100% red in Channel Mixer, to get the dark sky,, but usually the land bleaches out. I then have layer below convereted in Mono for correct land tone (usually darker than land in above layer). I then choose top layer (Red CM) & change blend mode to "Darken" or sometime "Overlay" . If you are lucky you get the dark sky suddenly overlay the darker foreground.

You can also use a mask on top layer as Mark suggested to fine tune.

[Angela]

Ian, have moved this into the Manipulation section for you!

[JAG]

Very much appreciated, thank you.

[GainfulShrimp]

I would also recommend summat like Markulous suggested. Using a proper layer mask will allow you to blend in the transitions using shades of grey or a soft brush etc - it'll look *much* better than using e.g. a lasso selection (without feathering, anyway).

[j sotelo]

maybe you can try this,
Open both images in CS3, drag one on top of the other by pressing Shift when you drag it so it will be centered,
Ok, now I assume sky layer is on top and its selected, now press ALT and click on Add Layer Mask, that reveals all so now just grab a soft WHITE brush and paint over the sky and once your done flatten image (next step optional) and you can apply a curve adjustment layer and your done!!!

[Dave Canon]

An alternative is to add a new sky to the original in a new layer. Set the Blending mode to darken. This works well if the original sky is washed out but the forground is medium or dark. You can remove excess areas of sky with the erase brush but you do not need to be as precise as you would with a selection method.

I recommend that you learn several methods so that you can use the best method for the particular situation.

Dave

[silkstone]

You can also do as Dave C suggests but with a simple blue gradient as the new sky layer. Using the Darken mode will tend to obliterate any detail in the original sky, but Multiply usually preserves it.