Photo merging

[Nwcid]

I am not sure if this is the right name, or the right forum section, but here goes.

I just took 4 sequential shots that I would like to merge into one shot. I am currently using Lightroom 5. Is there are way for me to do this? If not is there a free program that will let me do this?

An example of what I am trying to do is merge 4 shots of say a baseball player hitting the ball. I would like the picture to show all 4 places the ball was, but in one photo.

Thank you.

 

[snowbear]

Lightroom.
Develop : Photo : Photo Merge. Try "Panorama" and "Perspective" alignment. You can also use Photoshop, if you have it.

 

[Nwcid]

Thank you for the quick reply. Is that in LR 5 or LR 6? I am not finding that option on mine.

No PS or CC yet.

 

[snowbear]

I guess 6 -- I went to CC last year, right from LR3. I don't remember what I used to use for panos - maybe "PhotoMerge" -- try a Google search.

 

[Nwcid]

Thank you.

Might be a sign to move to LR6 or CC. Been considering it, just have not done it yet.

 

[TCampbell]

You can do some interesting things with strobe-scopic flash ... but that's better to do in a studio environment where you can control the light. For these types of shots, the shutter is held open in an otherwise dark room... but the flash pulses at a frequency you choose and each burst of light captures something in motion in a different position.

For Lightroom, it presumes that "merging" is either an HDR or a Panorama. For either... it tries to match up the frames and if the frames can't be aligned then it complains to you that it can't do anything.

In photoshop you can do "Edit" -> "Automate" -> and then either pick "Merge to HDR Pro..." or just "Merge" and you get lots of options. But again, this presumes you want an HDR or a Panorama (meaning it will do some analysis and figure out how these images fit together). That might not be what you want.

The other thing to do is just drop each image into it's own layer. Keep in mind that the order of layers is important in photoshop. If you put an image on the bottom layer, and then add another image to the layer above it, normally all you'll see is that top layer ... it obscures the lower layer.

But in the layers controls, you'll notice there's a box called "opacity". If you select the top layer, then set it's opacity to 50%, that "top" layer becomes 50% opaque (which implies the other 50% is transparent). This means you'll get a ghost-like top layer that you can see through into the bottom layer.

If you did this with 3 layers, leave the bottom layer alone (it should be 100% opacity), put a layer on top and make it 33% opacity and then make the top layer 66% opacity and you'd see all three layers.

Anyway... there's also the box to the left of the opacity control and it will default to "normal" (that's the blending mode). You can pick that menu and notice there are tons of options here... just start playing with options and also play with the opacity control and you'll probably start to notice how those work.

 

[Low_Sky]

I just took 4 sequential shots that I would like to merge into one shot. I am currently using Lightroom 5. Is there are way for me to do this? If not is there a free program that will let me do this?

An example of what I am trying to do is merge 4 shots of say a baseball player hitting the ball. I would like the picture to show all 4 places the ball was, but in one photo.

Lightroom photo merge (in any version) will not do what you are trying to do. Lightroom does HDR merges (blending different exposures of the same scene to capture a wider dynamic range than a single exposure), and panorama stitches. Photoshop can probably do what you want, but I have no advice to give there. Good luck!

 

[KmH]

Adobe's Photography subscription includes both Lightroom and Photoshop, because Lightroom has limited image editing capabilities.
Lightroom was/is designed to be a front end compliment to Photoshop for photographers, not a replacement for Photoshop.

Indeed, Lightroom's primary function is image database management. Image editing and image output are a secondary & tertiary functions.

 

[KmH]

Adobe themselves put Lightroom functions in that order:
Organizing (Library module, which is a database manager).
Editing (Develop module, which is Adobe Camera Raw, that first appeared with Ps 7 a couple of years before Lr.)
and last - sharing.
See what you can do with Lightroom Classic CC |

 

[dennybeall]

In the "old" days we did that as described above using multiple flashes while the shutter was open. In digital it's pixel manipulation and that takes Photoshop or equivalent programs, Lightroom is not a (n individual) pixel manipulation product.

 

[rosh4u]

Adobe's Photography subscription includes both Lightroom and Photoshop, because Lightroom has limited image editing capabilities.
Lightroom was/is designed to be a front end compliment to Photoshop for photographers, not a replacement for Photoshop.

Indeed, Lightroom's primary function is image database management. Image editing and image output are a secondary & tertiary functions.

Came to know detailed description of photoshop and lightroom. Helpful, thanks for the share

 

[smoke665]

If you're trying to create what's called a stop motion composite. I'm not aware of a way in LR, but it's fairly easy in PS. Once you bring in each image as a layer, use the auto align tool to align the layers. Then use a mask to mask out the parts of the image you don't want to show. This guy is a little dry, but the points are there. Using this method you can create fairly complicated composites.

If you are looking to create a motion blur/tail on the ball or bat then you'll have to go a little further. After doing the above you need to use the motion blur tool on each layer.
High Speed Motion Trail Effect - Photoshop Tutorial

 

[smoke665]

There's also a way to create a similar effect in camera without a stobe/flash using a technique I've been experimenting with. You set your exposure to give you a long shutter time then click and pull, as if you were panning. I can tell you from experience there's a lot of trial and error in the technique. Using this method should get you a ghost effect on the movement, but leave the starting or ending position in focus, depending on if your movement is front loaded or tail loaded.

 

[Nwcid]

Smoke, the video you posted looks like what I want to do.

I have these 4 shots and I want to see all 4 positions of the gun and the clay. Looks like I will need PS to do that so I will be looking at CC this week.

I have added the 4 unprocessed files. I am not sure why they are not directly attaching. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't......... I even tried massively reducing the file size thinking that was the problem.

 

[smoke665]

Sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't......... I even tried massively reducing the file size think

Are you linking the images from another site or uploading them using the upload a file button here?

I could open them, they all seem underexposed