STEP BY STEP ESSENTIAL SHUTTER BLENDING SKILLS

Shoot with different shutter speeds and combine frames in Photoshop for the best motion blur in scenes

01 SHOOT A LONG EXPOSURE

Set up on a tripod and compose the scene, then focus and switch to manual focus to lock it in place. Fit the ND filter, set Manual exposure mode, use aperture f/16 and Auto ISO, and set shutter speed to around 20 secs or whatever results in ISO100. Take a shot.

02 GO FASTER

Decrease the shutter speed to 10 seconds, five, two, one and whatever else you like. The faster shutter necessitates a higher ISO, which means more image noise, but as we’re only likely to use the blurred water from the faster frames, we’re not too concerned.

03 TONE IN PHOTOSHOP

Highlight the frames you want in Adobe Bridge, rightclick and Open In Camera Raw. Highlight the frames and adjust tones to boost contrast and colour so they match. Highlight image with higher ISO, go to Detail panel and increase Noise Reduction to tone it down.

04 LOAD INTO LAYERS

Hit OK to go back to Adobe Bridge, then (with images still highlighted) go to Tools>photoshop>load Files Into Layers. Once loaded, drag the faster frame to the top of the stack, then hold Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon to add a full mask that hides the layer.

05 REVEAL THE BLUR

Grab the Brush tool, set colour to white and paint to reveal the parts of the layer that you want visible – here it’s the streaks of blur in the waterfall. We’ve also blended a third, darker frame here for the brighter details and sky in the distance.

06 FINAL TONING

When happy with the blend, hit Cmd/ctrl+shift+alt+e to merge a copy of the layers, then go to Filter> Camera Raw Filter. Use the local adjustment tools to enhance blur. Hit K, paint over blurred water streaks, then increase Clarity and Exposure to lift them.