Create PERFECT Milky Way Composites / Blends in Photoshop (3 Common Mistakes)

Have you ever seen a Milky Way photo blend that just looks straight up WEIRD? This often happens when compositing a Milky Way photo and a foreground photo together. There are three main reasons that cause these funky blends: color mismatches, exposure mismatches, and masking issues. In these video you will learn how to deal with these three common problems in order to create seamless Milky Way composite shots.
(Sorry about the tinny audio. My recorder bonked halfway through recording and so I was left with the on-camera mic only. D'oh!)
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[@davidhunter5623]

Thanks so much, so helpful. I would also love to see a video on your masking process for Milkyway blends.

[@akkarparkiamopas3401]

This is a critical issue astro photographer always run into. Thanks a lot for this awesome tutorial.

[@kamermans2]

Great tip for the edge cleanup! I always have trouble with trees moving in the foreground. Any tips on blending trees/leaves that are moving?

[@dimazhoutchkov3882]

Thank you for video! Same white balance at both photos should be more simple answer. Manually set white balance at 4100-4300K. And the same time of capture photos not like this: ground at twilight, and sky after three hours. Better and more fair way - do night photo at night. Do 2-3 minutes exposure time for foreground, do stacking for less noise. Photos, made at different time and staked together - its collage. If remember that real night sky color are some kind of dirty-brown color, not blue-cyan-green-magenta - than ground colors should be dirty-gray at night. Even at long exposure photos. Futher color adjust it's just our taste and our own type of art.

[@grmrtnz]

Joshua fantastic video! What you explained is one of the problems intermediate astro photographers face when editing MW blended images. Thanks!

[@nickdailey9889]

Perfect. I’ve been stuck on a milky ways cactus shot from the Alabama hills and I couldn’t get the blend right! Thanks Josh

[@ScotTheGr8]

Oh man, I needed this help so much. These tips were so helpful!!! I knew these things were issues with my composites but I couldn’t quite put it in words or figure it out. This nailed it. Thank you!

[@owenfetherston6906]

Not exactly Milky Way season yet but this helped me a TON with some composite issues from my recent shoot, thanks!😄

[@ivan_bland]

Very helpful, yes please on the masking tutorial!

[@Maybachdemon]

Dude, you're awesome! I'm definitely saving this to refer back to later when the milky way gets higher in the night sky here

[@pauloricardoferreira2841]

Thank you, Joshua, for another spectacular video where you share your knowledge and wisdom. Keep up with this great work and may God bless you.

[@rlfisher]

Great stuff. I'll remember the foreground-on-top and sky-on-bottom tip for my images.

[@nerissavaldez4227]

Thanks for the video! I’ve been struggling

[@SachinSingh08]

Amazing video as always. I learn a lot from these videos. Thanks once again! Love from India!

[@jd.1184]

I put the glow on the horizon because I liked it haha

[@andreaboyle9435]

Great information in this video, Joshua. I notice that you made it last year so I will look to see if you have done one on the masking process you use.

[@eanderson1956]

What a clever tip! Thanks Joshua.

[@k.7306]

Incredible & incredilbly helpful video! Unfortunately, there is another problem: the amount of noise between the sky and the (fore)ground is different...

[@desertgecko4549]

I paused at 0:31. Let me guess: adding "atmosphere" to the sky near the horizon. Nope, not what I was expecting. Good tips, although the first two are a bit obvious. Tip #4. Add atmosphere, or blur and slightly mask stars near the horizon. It didn't matter much in these sample shots with the horizon obscured by mountains, but when we have a horizon or near-horizon in our Milky Way composite, we must be careful that the stars close to the horizon are not as sharp and bright as they are high in the sky. This is because as we shoot horizontal we shoot through much more atmosphere, which blocks much of the starlight.

[@carlmcneill1139]

I have Lumenzia and I understand what making is and the basics of it. I would like to see a video on your workflow and how you mask to see if your way might be better.

[@perrypasloski158]

Thanks Josh, great tips, lookins forward to MW season!

[@michaelgoulding4425]

Great video, cheers for sharing. A video on your masking technique would be great, I enjoy your presentation style. 👍

[@melserbophoto]

Timely AF! Good video 👍🏻

[@mattorrz759]

Super helpful Mr Cripps 😁🤙

[@Adamix1212]

Thank you for this great tutorial! :)

[@danielcatalina1806]

hey Joshua, thanks for the tips, very nice explained. One question, instead of cloning edges and adding stars that do not belong there, wouldn't shrinking the sky layer with a few pixels achieve the same result as you did earlier just moving it down?

[@johncallery814]

I would also like to see the masking class for Milky Ways shots. I just took some good foregrounds with mountains with snow and trees above the horizon. I have not been able to get a mask that doesn't look funky. Having issues with Select and mask because of the snow and trees.

[@bernhardjost]

Great tips, another easy way instead of using the clone tool is to warp the background layer slighty

[@ocskaym]

Hello Josh! Is there any reason you didn't start with "auto align layers" in Photoshop before blending the two images together? It seems much more simple than the technique you showed here, but I can understand if it doesn't work in this case. Also, I'd love to see a masking tutorial from you! Many thanks! :)

[@julianrohloff2811]

Very nice video! I guess the edge-sharpening tip also works for HDR-halos. Basically it's the same thing right?

[@stufromoz8164]

Hi Josh, Just a quick question about a guy named John Muir he was a conservationist about 100 years ago in your part of the world, sierra nevada district , I think. Anyway I found an excert out of one of his books where he describes in amazing detail being caught in a snow storm on a mountain name Mt Shasta. My question is have you any work on this mountain and/or Strawberry valley, I ask because the way he describes the place it sounds like heavan on earth, It may be worth a look at for landscape photography. Tje recording is actually a sleep story I use if i have trouble sleeping it sounds like the most beautiful place, Thank mate cheers from Down Under.

[@adityarai3500]

Can u make a video on how to edit moon

[@ludupgyatso7]

My light frames have many star shooting but it doesn’t come star shooting line with Milky Way when I edit. How to do and how to write? Please teach

[@johnalexandermcbryde9788]

re run of three years ago milky way composites?

[@MichaelCoustier]

Not a single comment about "Where did you get that hat"? Come on bro, where did you get it? I can't find it online.

[@easy56wedge]

When you’re composing the original shots, are you cognizant of post processing same images in the office? Probably a stupid question…! lol.

[@davelong6727]

Thanks for the tips Get viewers to watch NIGHTSCAPESIMAGES- Richard Tatti

[@nightskyimages2977]

Personally don't think you should fake any image just keep it real 💯