When combining multiple images in Photoshop or
Photoshop Elements for this technique, it helps if
the different images are shot the same way, mean-
ing the camera was locked into a tripod during the
different shots. The images then need to be opened
ABOUT THIS PHOTO I wanted the guitar to be the focus of the
image so I made sure to paint it with a little more light to get it to have
the brighest spot in the image. The viewer’s eye will always be drawn to
the brighest area in the image. Taken at 25 seconds, f/16, and ISO 100.
9-13
For more details about creating star
trail photographs, see Chapter 7.
x-ref
in Photoshop and combined into a single file with
multiple layers. If you are using Photoshop
Lightroom to sort your images, then select all the
images that you want to stack together, right-click
them, and choose Photo ➪ Edit in ➪ Open as
Layers in Photoshop. If you are using Adobe Bridge
to sort your images, then select the images that you
want to combine and click Tools ➪ Photoshop ➪
Load Files into Photoshop Layers. When using
Elements, you have to manually combine the lay-
ers. Just do the following:
- Open Elements.
- Open the files that you want to combine.
- Use the Move tool to grab an image and,
with the left mouse button held down,
hover over the filename on the top bar
where you want to drop the file. - Once the destination is showing on the
screen, press Shift and release the left
mouse button. - This automatically aligns the image with
the edges of the frame, and because all the
images are of the same subject, it aligns
properly. - Repeat for all the files you want to stack.
In Photoshop and Elements, you can now start
to change the layer blend mode to Screen or
Lighten. Then you can adjust the layer’s opacity
and even the order of the layers to get the result
you want. Because these adjustments are a per-
sonal preference, there are no right or wrong
settings. If you find that you like a certain combi-
nation of Screen and Lighten modes, then save
the file and try a different order or a different
opacity. The image will change each time and you
will be better able to judge what you like. Figure
9-14 was not the first combination of layers and
opacities that I tried, but it was my favorite.