One of the Easiest Ways to Blend Exposures in Photoshop

Landscapes often have dynamic range that exceeds the capabilities of even the most modern camera sensors, and as such, exposure blending is one of the most common techniques photographers employ to improve the quality of their photos. There are many different ways to go about this, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you one of the easiest and most precise ways to do it using Photoshop.

Coming to you from Blake Rudis with f64 Academy, this great video tutorial will show you how to use Photoshop's Blend If function for exposure blending. Blend If is a bit hidden in the program, but it is quite powerful. It works by combining two layers based on either their grayscale luminosity or the luminosity of one of the individual color channels. Depending on the application, this allows you to create double exposures, target specific areas for adjustments without needing complicated masks, or, in this case, to blend multiple exposures. Just be sure to take advantage of the feathering capabilities as well, as this will allow you to easily blend the transition and make a more believable edit. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Rudis. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out "Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi." 

Alex Cooke's picture

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.

Log in or register to post comments
1 Comment

I've been on so many landscape photo sessions and find that 9 times out of 10, all the detail you need can now be pulled from a single raw file. I don't know if the dynamic range in our files are that much better than 10 years ago but very very rarely to I even need the bracketed shots anymore. I know working with Elia Locardi and Mike Kelley with architectural photography, the correctly metered photo almost always gives them what they need.

This video is an interesting spin on how to blend two photos if you do need the extra information. Never thought about doing it with the blend if tool though.