Landscape Photography | Complete Guide to Time-Blending

Focus-stacking and Time-blending all in one video
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THE VIDEO:
Time is one of the most important elements in landscape photography. Time-blending allows us to use different shutter speeds for different parts of the frame; meaning that each moving element looks exactly how we want it to look.
In this Complete Guide to Time-Blending I show you how to blend various exposures for both time AND Focus.
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[@OrphanSocks]

This is the first time I’ve seen this method of creating a group to add in the time blend after focus stacking. Very cool. Thank you!

[@Alister_Benn]

Very welcome!

[@john_norris]

I know I am late to the party Alister, but I just wanted to express my gratitude to you for this video. It was a Eureka moment for me. For about as long as this tutorial has been on YT, I have been searching (and paying) for PS tutorials with the specific aim of learning time/exposure blending. I hate PS with a passion and whilst I'm pretty IT savvy and can run scripts and the like, the unintuitive labyrinth that is PS has defeated me every time. I know it's baby steps, but you got me to my feet. Thank you so very much 🙏 I will now immediately unsubscribe from the other charlatan landscape photographers and follow you. 😏 Happy New Year!

[@Alister_Benn]

Haha, awesome, delighted to hear that man ❤️ reach out anytime if I can help out

[@sornberg]

Very useful. Thank you.

[@deanastrawn8224]

Wow! Loved watching you do this! I will have to save it and have it beside me while I try to do it to keep up tho! lol

[@guykerr8111]

Very timely as I am off next week to spend some time shooting a creek we hiked today. Thanks!

[@steveh1273]

very helpful, thank you Alister and nice images; that's what it's all about.

[@madrobotgames2677]

Thank you.

[@Alister_Benn]

You're welcome!

[@plantherain]

Magnificent Alister. Thank you. 🌧 🌳

[@renagoodfriend-leve9443]

Love this that you go through this so clearly and meticulously.I have tried this on my one ,your work flow so much cleaner and intuitive .Much thanks again🙏🏻

[@sandyweir9692]

Phew! Focus-stacking and time-blending all in one; something else I didn't know about. Thank you, Alister, for this thoroughly enlightening tutorial; it was brilliant. Best wishes.

[@Alister_Benn]

Yeah, I went all out 😂

[@LieutenantLights]

Aaaaaahh YESS! I have been waiting for this! James Hurren

[@Alister_Benn]

Great, happy to deliver

[@danasnyder3072]

I loved this! I will definitely give it a try, and the simplicity of your process is refreshing, thank you.

[@dantraof]

Thanks for useful info. Learned a few tricks I will use for my processing workflow later. You just got a new subscriber!

[@andrewrichardson7339]

Thank you this is very useful; now I just need to get out take some photos and then give it a go 👍 📷

[@karlthefirst8690]

Hey Alister, this was SO interesting. Even though you’re covering processes with which I’m familiar, it’s quite enlightening to see how you go about it: where I might improve my methods and where, just as importantly, I can feel encouraged that I’m already on the right track. I am curious whenever I see people using PS’s auto-blend in cases like this. You seem to have a great system for “fixing” it afterwards. I just often find that the mottled crazy blends PS does leave me more confused and with sufficient cleanup to do that I find myself wishing I’d done it manually from the jump. Keep up the great work and thank you. The mix of tutorials, interviews, and discussion you’ve landed on recently feels natural and just about right to me.

[@patrickguilfoyle8884]

Alister, what a great instructional video regarding time blending. Well done.

[@Alister_Benn]

Thanks, pleased to read you enjoyed it

[@claudehamel9228]

I could give you a medal for this one, as flowing water is my clearly my "cup of tea". Patienly waiting for your colour ebook! Highest regards, CH

[@Alister_Benn]

Medals are good :-) The book is own its final stages. Should be out in a couple of weeks.

[@brianaikens7282]

Excellent video. I learned a lot, and you helped take some of the anxiety out of the Photoshop blending procedure (time and focus). It will allow me to approach a number of situations with a new tool set for support. Keep up the fine work.

[@briestockwell5402]

Great tutorial! Was SUPER helpful to see this from start to finish. I needed this one!

[@Alister_Benn]

Excellent, delighted to hear that

[@DWEccles]

Another excellent video - thank you. Yet again your material is challenging and so useful.

[@Alister_Benn]

Excellent, challenging is goid

[@stephensmith9236]

Only just catching up on this video - really helpful and very clearly explained - thanks

[@Alister_Benn]

Thanks so much

[@jamesfalconer7895]

Excellent - well explained & presented.

[@Alister_Benn]

Thank you

[@runepehrsson73]

Thank you so much I will place this as a favorite 👍😀👍

[@Alister_Benn]

Happy to hear that

[@johnbentley1056]

Great video and beautiful images. I love shooting long exposure waterfalls and cascades in my local canyons and forests but have never tried focus stacking or time blending. I am keen to go and shoot a few subjects to have a go. Thank you for sharing.

[@Alister_Benn]

Thanks for that, it adds another dimension for sure. These examples kind of needed it, but there are some that really benefit from this treatment

[@timmahaffey4895]

Hi Alister, thank you! I have not considered time blending water scenes. I just want to add that I cannot view your subscription content on an iPad. PC and iPhone work but I much prefer the iPad, sometimes working my own images on a PC simultaneously

[@margreetvanvliet9334]

Great video Alister. I was juist wondering if it would have been helpfull to use the TK-action panel to create a luminosity mask to blend in the water during the time blending in your first example.

[@Alister_Benn]

Thanks. Yeah, I guess you could to separate the water from the rocks....

[@keithpinn152]

Hi Alister: Thank you, thank you , thank you for developing this video. I love shooting long exposure images like you have demonstrated, but I have not been completely happy with the final outcome. This video has been very helpful in my understanding of this concept and I can't wait to get out again to try this. Do you always 'focus stack' for each scene image that you are about to create, and then 'time-blend' as the second group of images? I hope that I have asked this properly. Also, once you have created the focus-stacked/time-blended image do you at this point do you often go in and Dodge & Burn the images further? Finally, I have a suggestion for your Membership Channel participants. Could you include the RAW images in your video so we could work through the images at the same time of viewing your video? Keep safe. . . Cheers, Keith (Canada)

[@Alister_Benn]

In many cases the time blending is enough, I could probably have got away without focus stacking in these two cases, but wanted to demonstrate the two together. The principles are always the same: focus points where necessary and get the appropriate shutter speed for that place. Focus stack first, then substitute the water as demonstrated.

[@Alister_Benn]

Regards the RAW files for members videos, I’m not sure about the best way to get that to work, I’ll give it some thought. Maybe a lower resolution DNG

[@chrisalmerini3284]

On of the more straightforward explanations- well done. Can you share any tips to keeping the images orderly while in the field and then back to Lightroom? Meaning how do you remember this is a focus stack group vs just a single image of the scene? I often come back to the computer and cannot remember- did I focus stack this group or was I simply exploring shutter speeds and depth of field to find the right mix... Thanks!

[@Alister_Benn]

Thanks Chris, yeah, I was wondering if I had gone on too long, but I think I covered its pretty well.

[@peterorr999]

Chris Almerini I agree, it can be confusing to recall why you took a certain exposure/focus in a set of similar images once you start to do the post edits. Especially after a week long trip rather than a single shoot. I sometimes take a short video of the back LCD with my iPhone before going to the next exposure and verbally describe the purpose of that shot, which will show the exposure number on the screen for reference - eg ‘background focus to stack’ or ‘foreground 0.6 sec’. These audio notes can be typed into the image metadata in Lightroom for a permanent record. Very interesting to see your workflow in processing these water shots Alister, thank you.

[@Alister_Benn]

@@peterorr999 Useful. I often just reply on the aesthetics of each shot to remind me that they're different. Otherwise, a finger in front o the lens is always a good reminder that something funky is going on.

[@georgebarrphoto]

While this video didn't directly address my concerns about focus blending water, in fact it has taken it to a whole new level with differential shutter speeds for near water; great idea, more work. I've been using Helicon Focus and it would appear that using Photoshop for blending handles water much better - am going to run a couple of tests to confirm. Much appreciated. Don't know if it is appropriate to include a reference one of my images, but From last week: georgebarr.com/depths-of-maligne-canyon/