CREATIVE PROJECTS
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Merge the exposures
Go to Enhance>Photomerge>Photomerge Exposure.
Select Open All. Note that in Elements 14, the
Photomerge options are now in Guided mode. Once the
images are combined, go through the controls and choose
Automatic. Check Smart Blending and use the Highlights and
Shadows sliders to reveal detail in parts of the tonal range.9
Save a copy
Once the merged image is complete, we can use the
controls in Camera Raw to improve the look. First we
need to save a copy, so go to File>Save As, choose Format: Tiff
and save the file, then go to File>Open in Camera Raw to open
the TIFF into the Camera Raw plugin.11
Convert to monochrome
Use adjustment layers to tone the image any way
you like. Here we’ve gone for a punchy black-and-
white treatment. Click the Create adjustment layer icon and
choose Gradient Map. In the settings, click the drop-down
menu and choose the Black, White preset for a quick black-
and-white conversion.10
Adjust in Camera Raw
Use the controls in the Camera Raw Basic panel to
reveal more detail in the highlights and shadows.
Here we’ve set Exposure -0.20, Contrast -20, Highlights
-53, Shadows +77, Clarity +100, Vibrance +50. When you’re
happy, hit Open Image to open in Elements again.12
Apply the final tweaks
Click the Create adjustment layer icon again and
choose Levels. Use the levels controls to add
contrast by dragging in the black and white points. Finally,
press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E to merge a copy of all the layers,
then use the Dodge and Burn tools to selectively lighten or
darken areas of the image.7
Crop the images
Select all the exposures you want to use, then drag
them into the Photoshop Elements workspace. If
they’re raw files, they’ll open in Camera Raw first. Click
Select All at the top left so that any changes you make will
apply to all the images. We’ve used the Crop tool to crop in
tighter. When you’re happy, click Open Images.