Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Blending Exposures

If you've been using a digital camera for any length of time, you're aware of what a juggling act it can be to get a photo that's properly exposed throughout its entire range, from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights. With most digital cameras, you're likely to hit the clipping point (Adjusting Tone) in an image much sooner than you want to: If you up the exposure so that the shadows are nice and detailed, then about half the time you blow out the highlights. On the other hand, if you adjust your exposure settings down to favor the highlights, then your shadows are murkier than an old Enron annual report. Figure 8-10 shows the problem.

Digital blending is a technique photographers use to get around these limitations. To use it, you bracket your shots, meaning you take two or more identical photos of your subject at different settings—one exposed for shadows and one for highlights—and then combine them, choosing the best bits of each one. People who are fanatical about a truly perfectly exposed photo may combine several different exposures.

That technique is great for landscapes. But if you're shooting hummingbirds, roller-skating chimps, or toddlers, you know it's just about impossible to get two identical shots of a moving subject. And if you're like many people, you may not realize you didn't capture what you wanted until you see the shot on your computer at home. But even if you only have one photo of that perfect moment, you can sometimes cheat a ...