Step By step take two exposures and merge

Create balanced images by blending two separate frames together with layers in photoshop

01 Camera on Tripod

Use a good tripod so it makes it easier to blend your two Raw exposures after. We’ve also used a wide-angle EF 16-35mm f/2.8l lens to fit in a large part of the scene and sky. Compose and focus on what’s crucial to the scene – the building in our image.

02 Compensate your exposure

Shoot in Av mode at an aperture around f/8 for good depth of field. Now you can leave the settings, leave the composition and focusing, and with your aperture still fixed at f/8, adjust the shutter speed using exposure comp.

03 expose for The sky & scene

To capture an exposure for the brighter sky we used 1/400 sec, f/8 and ISO200. For the second shot that captured the darker parts of the scene – the land and back-lit building – our exposure was 1/80 sec, f/8 and ISO200.

04 minor raw enhancements

Open your two Raw images in Adobe Camera or Lightroom and ensure the WB/ colour temperature is the same, make minor tweaks to the Contrast, and perhaps Highlights and Shadows, but don’t change the exposure brightness of either.

05 merge your exposures

Open both in the Photoshop CC. With the darker sky exposure opened, Select All and Copy, get the land exposure image up, and paste the darker image on top to create a new layer. Alt/right-click on the New Layer icon to add a black layer mask.

06 Paint in The sky

Make sure your foreground colour is set to white, then with the layer mask selected, use the Gradient tool by dragging a line down from the top of the image to top of the horizon, or roof here. This creates a gradient mask to reveal the darker sky.