topaz Clarity Archives - Nathan Firebaugh Photography

Making The Most Out Of Busy Photographs

Most of the time I try to wait for a clear shot before I take a photograph…. But sometimes that just never works out. Like for example at Monticello a few weekends ago I found a spot and waited and waited some more… after a few minutes I could see a pattern to the flow of visitors and I decided to shoot a few different shots and hope for the best. I didn’t carry my tripod into the house because only a bag of certain size is allowed… so I did these handheld.  First set of brackets I shot had people on the left side of the fish pond but the front of the house was pretty clear.

I knew I had to get a shot with the pond reflection clear so that’s what I waited for with my second set….

So now I had the whole pond clear of people well… sort of.. I had to use the left half from one and the right half from other. You may be asking the question how did you use these two sets when they are obviously from different angles. I layered them in Photoshop and applied a black mask to one of the layers, taking the white brush I masked a section big enough to see on top of the other layer. Then selecting the move tool I aligned the images based on the location of the house, pond etc.

Dealing with the people in the field and the rail towards the right side of the house took more work using the cloning tool to remake the railings from one just like it on the lest side of the house. 🙂

So remember sometimes you just can’t get a clear shot but doesn’t always mean you can’t get the shot you want!