I have been fooling around with composites. I have tried cutting and pasting different object. Matching color and contrast can be a challenge. With a layered file with masks, I want to curve a layer to match the overall image. It would be nice to use CM hue clocks and visual checking to make the best curve. I have uploaded a partial and poor panorama that shows the problem. Image there are two layers with two exposures and color balance.
I tried several approaches, but ran out of time and eyeballed it in PS. Any suggestions?
Blending and composites with CM
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sjordan93436
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mikemeister_admin
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Hi, I have a feeling this is impossible as our eyes can so easily detect a line (contrast difference) even if it not all there.
Greg taught me one important thing on the course - and that is to cheat wherever possible!
Have you tried the free Autostitch program? I find that it does the blending automatically even when I forget to keep the exposure the same during pano shots.
All the best
Chris
Greg taught me one important thing on the course - and that is to cheat wherever possible!
Have you tried the free Autostitch program? I find that it does the blending automatically even when I forget to keep the exposure the same during pano shots.
All the best
Chris
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mikemeister_admin
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sjordan93436
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I know the rules, but this case I forgot to change to manual. Rule one, Manual focus, manual exposure. My bad. My procedure is to chose the most challenged or most typical image from a collection of raws. I do as little as possible in Lightroom, but sometimes need to fix shadow highlights etc. I also do lens correction in LR. I paste the settings to the rest of the images. Then to the photomerge magic.
Auto stitch works okay but gets confused with multiple exposures. When I follow the rules, no problem. I was stitching panos on a project, some good some fair. I had three that would not stitch.
After I slept on it, there are a couple of possibilities.
1. Load in layers. Do rough cm or exposure compensation. then use photoshop to auto arrange, then auto blend. I think doing auto arrange and auto blend is the same as photomerge.
2. Second alternative. Photomerge. Select the problem layer. Load and save the mask. Then do a composite layer. Turn the saved mask into a selection, Then run CM, save the curve. Go back load the offending layer fix and feather or blur the mask.
When it comes to compositing, automerge does not work. I can upload a photo I did for fun. I pasted a head of a friend who is a singing cowboy on a photo of the Naked Cowboy of New York. It was quite striking. (problem with posting is that I can only post the composit.) When i get back to "big computer" I will post. It has been quiet on the board, I assume the class is active.
Auto stitch works okay but gets confused with multiple exposures. When I follow the rules, no problem. I was stitching panos on a project, some good some fair. I had three that would not stitch.
After I slept on it, there are a couple of possibilities.
1. Load in layers. Do rough cm or exposure compensation. then use photoshop to auto arrange, then auto blend. I think doing auto arrange and auto blend is the same as photomerge.
2. Second alternative. Photomerge. Select the problem layer. Load and save the mask. Then do a composite layer. Turn the saved mask into a selection, Then run CM, save the curve. Go back load the offending layer fix and feather or blur the mask.
When it comes to compositing, automerge does not work. I can upload a photo I did for fun. I pasted a head of a friend who is a singing cowboy on a photo of the Naked Cowboy of New York. It was quite striking. (problem with posting is that I can only post the composit.) When i get back to "big computer" I will post. It has been quiet on the board, I assume the class is active.
Steve,
There are so many "if's" in here that it is hard to give you a solid answer...
IF:
The color and tone of the sky is an issue you could create a color pin and make each part of the panorama match on that color pin before you make the merge.
If:
You have enough Sky and you want to try to cover the entire thing you might want to wait till the end of the merge then mask by selection using the magic wand and some mask refinement techniques.
I recently saw a technique that might work for this...It was on a DVD from a British Magazine called Digital Photo. It was on a DVD dedicated to RAW processing but....It could be adapted to this process.
The method was to take a single image using RAW and make the sky darker and the landscape brighter. They did it by masking the sky and using ACR to adjust the images. Then they used some mask refinement techniques to blend the transition between them. They tackled both sides of the problem...the dark halos as well as the bright halos along the mask edge.
If:
You want me to take a hack at it I'll certainly give it a go but you would have to send me the images in a higher resolution.
Greg
P.S. Old age?? nonsense... Just surprised to see a time stamp of 4:00 AM on a posting from Midnight... ;D
There are so many "if's" in here that it is hard to give you a solid answer...
IF:
The color and tone of the sky is an issue you could create a color pin and make each part of the panorama match on that color pin before you make the merge.
If:
You have enough Sky and you want to try to cover the entire thing you might want to wait till the end of the merge then mask by selection using the magic wand and some mask refinement techniques.
I recently saw a technique that might work for this...It was on a DVD from a British Magazine called Digital Photo. It was on a DVD dedicated to RAW processing but....It could be adapted to this process.
The method was to take a single image using RAW and make the sky darker and the landscape brighter. They did it by masking the sky and using ACR to adjust the images. Then they used some mask refinement techniques to blend the transition between them. They tackled both sides of the problem...the dark halos as well as the bright halos along the mask edge.
If:
You want me to take a hack at it I'll certainly give it a go but you would have to send me the images in a higher resolution.
Greg
P.S. Old age?? nonsense... Just surprised to see a time stamp of 4:00 AM on a posting from Midnight... ;D
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sjordan93436
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Here is attempt one. I shot it on a boat with aperture priority. The boat rocked, waves moved, and exposure changed. Not ideal. I did not correct exposure.
Attempt two, I attempted to correct exposure in LR (ACR) on the different images. There is more manual editing (it may not be worth it). The water vary and the blending there is poor. The sky works because of the clouds on the right.
Since the water is the problem, I think the pin idea would be best. I adjusted the exposure in LR. It is soooo much better and more accurate in CM. I think I should load the images as layers. Run CM on each, getting sky and water to match as best as possible. Auto arrange and auto blend.
Attempt two, I attempted to correct exposure in LR (ACR) on the different images. There is more manual editing (it may not be worth it). The water vary and the blending there is poor. The sky works because of the clouds on the right.
Since the water is the problem, I think the pin idea would be best. I adjusted the exposure in LR. It is soooo much better and more accurate in CM. I think I should load the images as layers. Run CM on each, getting sky and water to match as best as possible. Auto arrange and auto blend.
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