In the last entry, I told you how to make a variable neutral-density filter so you can get long-exposure photos even in broad daylight.
Now, I'll show you how to do it without using a filter, or even a tripod for that matter. I found this tip on Digital Photography School, and I found it works beautifully for the most part.
I'll give you the tl;dr version of the article: Take multiple pictures of a scene, load them into Photoshop as layers, convert them into a smart object and then set your stack mode to "mean", which will cause the moving elements to blur, giving you the long-exposure effect you're looking for.
Here's an example I did. If you're a fan of "Twin Peaks," you'll recognize Snoqualmie Falls.
Now, I'll show you how to do it without using a filter, or even a tripod for that matter. I found this tip on Digital Photography School, and I found it works beautifully for the most part.
I'll give you the tl;dr version of the article: Take multiple pictures of a scene, load them into Photoshop as layers, convert them into a smart object and then set your stack mode to "mean", which will cause the moving elements to blur, giving you the long-exposure effect you're looking for.
Here's an example I did. If you're a fan of "Twin Peaks," you'll recognize Snoqualmie Falls.
I shot this with a shutter speed of 1/6 of a second, and while it blurs the water somewhat, it wasn't what I was hoping for. So, I took about 11 more pictures, with the same setting and then merged them.
This is the finished result.
As you can see the water has a much smoother effect that would normally be the result of a much longer exposure than I could have got under the existing conditions. It is more of what I was looking for.
So now you have another tool you can use when you want to get a long-exposure effect.
So now you have another tool you can use when you want to get a long-exposure effect.
