INTRODUCTION TO LAYERS

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For those of you who are already well versed in Layers, you may find this information of little value. However, if you are just now starting to learn the value of Layers in Photoshop or other programs, I would encourage you to keep learning!

I created this sample photo to give you an idea of what is possible utilizing layers:

#1. This is the base exposure, which also included the cobblestone road. At the time, there were no people walking on the street.

#2. As my camera was firmly fixed on my tripod, I took photo #2 of the person walking down the sidewalk. The camera exposure remained the same as the first photo, which is essential (manual exposure for this process is very helpful).

#3. I waiting a little longer for this next group of people to walk into frame. Again, they were exposed with the same amount of light as #1 and #2.

#4. This fourth photo was of a horse and carriage that went by. That part of the photo seemed empty, so the addition of the wagon was very much welcomed.

#5. This part of the photo was incredibly overexposed. It was too bright and too harsh, so I underexposed the photograph to even things out.

In Photoshop, I now had 5 separate photographs available to cut and paste. The final image is a well-exposed, relatively dynamic travel image. There are many great on-line resources on how to actually create Layers in Photoshop, so do a search and start opening up your horizons! I have found that the greatest advantage of Layers (for me) is the ability to get even exposure throughout the whole photograph, and add people to the photograph in a very natural way.

Finally, for those of you who are valiantly protesting in your mind regarding the ethics of this type of photo manipulation, it is time for you to realize that almost every advertising image you see in the entire world is manipulated to some degree. If you don't don't ascribe truth to advertising photographs to begin with, you won't have those ethical questions to deal with.

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