ASK JIM
Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.
Q: Jim . . .I added the moon to this shot of Teluride, Colorado, and even though the edges of the moon
blend well with the sky, it doesn’t look right. It looks pasted in. Do you have a solution for this? Robert Middleton, Ft. Collins, Colorado
A: This is a good question, Robert. I struggled with this myself until I realized what the problem is. With
this much of the lunar surface illuminated, there is a subtle glow around the periphery of the moon. That glow can’t be created in Photoshop. You have to take two shots: First, shoot the nightscape and let the moon blowout, as it will. Then you’ll have the glow. Then, shoot the moon again with the correct exposure (1/250, f/8, 200 ISO) to capture detail in the lunar surface and paste that shot over the blown out moon. Then, with one of the blend modes in the layers palette, blend the two images together. I’ll be demonstrating this in my upcoming Online Photoshop Training starting August 2.
© Robert Middleton 2020
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