How to Blend Photos With Different Shutter Speeds in Photoshop

Often in landscape photography, you will want to blend different exposures in the same frame to balance different shutter speeds due to extreme dynamic range. However, sometimes, you might want to blend different shutter speeds in the same frame to create the right amount of movement in each element. This fantastic video tutorial will show you exactly how to do just that using Photoshop.

Coming to you from Alister Benn of Expressive Photography, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to blend elements with different shutter speeds into the same frame. This can be an excellent way to really take control of your images. For example, there are a few nearby rivers I like to stand in the middle of with a camera when the leaves are changing. I normally use a pretty strong ND filter to get an exposure of around 10 or 15 seconds to make the water silky smooth, but the problem is that unless the air is dead still, it turns all the leaves into a blurry and uninteresting mess that ruins the shot. Blending different shutter speeds allows me to get the effect I want on the water while keeping the leaves crisp. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Benn. 

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Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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