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Light Trails

Posted: Thu 04 Feb 2016, 11:18
by Ronald Barker
I have never taken images with light trails so my first attempt.
Light trail 1.jpg
Light trail 1.jpg (179.1 KiB) Viewed 5670 times
Light trail 2.jpg
Light trail 2.jpg (195.62 KiB) Viewed 5670 times
Light trail 3.jpg
Light trail 3.jpg (168.42 KiB) Viewed 5670 times

Thank you Tom for your help.

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Thu 04 Feb 2016, 11:47
by Rose
Really nice !! Well done Ron :) Am just looking at mine and will post some later

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Thu 04 Feb 2016, 12:17
by Rose
Here are some of mine...

Light trails 1_edited-1.jpg
Light trails 1_edited-1.jpg (404.5 KiB) Viewed 5668 times


Light trails 2_edited-1.jpg
Light trails 2_edited-1.jpg (423.26 KiB) Viewed 5668 times

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Thu 04 Feb 2016, 12:19
by Rose
And two more...

Light trails 3_edited-1.jpg
Light trails 3_edited-1.jpg (316.46 KiB) Viewed 5667 times


Light-trails-4_edited-1.jpg
Light-trails-4_edited-1.jpg (383.94 KiB) Viewed 5667 times

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 08:43
by Paul Heester
Love these shots and didnt realise this is what you captured last week.

A good tip Ive used previously is to stack multiple images together of trails (in my previous case it was star trails). This keeps the ambient light low by using shorter exposures but still retains the trails. As an example Ive used Ron's 3 images which I had on 3 separate layers in Photoshop and I then set the blending mode of each layer to Lighten.

Light trail stack.jpg
Light trail stack.jpg (149.68 KiB) Viewed 5644 times

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 11:05
by Rose
I have three images that I want to do this with but I'm not sure how to do it ! :? Can you post an idiot's guide please Paul ?? ;)

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 12:42
by Rose
I think I managed to work it out... ;)
This one has been merged from 3 images

Merged trails (web).jpg
Merged trails (web).jpg (149.07 KiB) Viewed 5637 times

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 12:54
by Paul Heester
Rose wrote:I have three images that I want to do this with but I'm not sure how to do it ! :? Can you post an idiot's guide please Paul ?? ;)


Of course! As usual there are numerous ways to do the same thing*, the below covers the easiest I think :) Im using the naming of Ron's images as a guide.

    Load all images into Photoshop so they are tabbed at the top.
    Right-click on the layer of "Light trail 3" and select duplicate layer. As the destination select "Light trail 1"
    Close Light trail 3
    Right-click on the layer of "Light trail 2" and select duplicate layer. As the destination select "Light trail 1"
    Close Light trail 2
    On your remaining Light trail 1 image the layers should look like below:
    stack1.JPG
    stack1.JPG (17.74 KiB) Viewed 5637 times

    Now select both top layers (left-click and SHIFT) and change blend mode to Lighten:
    stack2.JPG
    stack2.JPG (18.06 KiB) Viewed 5637 times

    Et voila!

Its possible that your camera may have moved during exposure so you may need to move the layers to align them properly.

*You can also use File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack if you have alot of images.

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 14:51
by Rose
Thanks Paul ! :) This is pretty much what I did I think ;)

Re: Light Trails

Posted: Tue 09 Feb 2016, 18:40
by davidb
Wouldn't this topic be better off in "Techniques and Tutorials" ?