6 replies to this topic

[DuncanS]

Hi guys,

Am hoping someone can chime in and give me some help with a little project.

Lunar eclipse last night. Had camera on tripod and fixed focal length. Want to make a panoramic montage of images showing the moon going through the phases of the eclipse. Not super sharp as really did not have the right lens. Used 135mm with 2x and 1.4x converted. Not looking for perfect image quality just for a bit of fun. However I have 571 raw files!!!! What is the best way to do this.

I am thinking of cropping each image to just contain the moon at the same size and then layer in photoshop. Unfortunately as the earth is always revolving I had to keep moving the camera to keep the moon in the frame (every 20 shots or so) so I realize this will be quite manual! Once this is done is there a way of off setting each layer by a specific amount to the previous one, I hope so as this will save me a ton of time.

If there are any other / better / quicker methods please let me know.

Here is a quick sample to show kind of what I am looking to create.





Many Thanks in advance

Duncan

[TomR1]

I would crop the shots and import into CoralDraw or Illustrator. Adjust the background to the same black in PS before importing.

[Scubysnaps]

Hi Duncan, can it not be done like this?
Create a canvas in above proportions, add all your layers, select each layer one by one and move them on the canvas where you want them to appear, paint the canvas black or a sample from your sky, use a feathered eraser and blend in each layer?

[DuncanS]

Hi Duncan, can it not be done like this?
Create a canvas in above proportions, add all your layers, select each layer one by one and move them on the canvas where you want them to appear, paint the canvas black or a sample from your sky, use a feathered eraser and blend in each layer?

That's what I ended up doing. I pasted all the rough crops in on separate layers and masked everything out to just let the moons show through. Then I drew some guides to help align the images and dropped in a black background. I have posted version 1 in the topside forum.

Cheers

Duncan

[Bentoni]

Another simple method for a subject like yours is to start with a moonless photo of your sky as the background layer. Try an exposure that shows some relatively dark sky, but with details like a slight glow near the horizon and perhaps some terrestrial objects silhouetted in the foreground for context and composition. When you add the additional layers containing your moon images, set the blending mode to 'Lighten.' This should eliminate the need to mask anything, and the results look much more real or natural. You can then simply drag your moon layers wherever you want while still seeing all other layers.





I hope this helps.

Randall

[Bentoni]

I just saw your final post in the 'topside' forum. I think you've done an excellent job on a very troublesome subject. I have shot several lunar eclipses and the range of exposures makes a composite like yours quite difficult to handle. Your last version looks great. You have inspired me for the next eclipse. Nice work.

Randall

[DuncanS]

I just saw your final post in the 'topside' forum. I think you've done an excellent job on a very troublesome subject. I have shot several lunar eclipses and the range of exposures makes a composite like yours quite difficult to handle. Your last version looks great. You have inspired me for the next eclipse. Nice work.

Randall

Thanks Randall,

The post about blending modes was very helpful. I must look into these more!!! Would have saved me a few hours!!

One thing I did find very useful was having the camera linked to the laptop and controlling it from there. I used dSLR Remote pro, very useful bit of software!

Thanks again...