Is there any difference between a combination and composing in post-processing? Some photographers make no difference between the two. But for many people, there is a remarkable difference. This can represent the difference between deception and handling noise or dynamic range.
I have seen that the night photographers find it important to distinguish between the conclusion and the composition. I am going to describe how most night photographers use two words.
How night photographers penetrate a combination from compositting
Conjunction
Mostly for night photographers, when they say they are combining, they are keeping the same camera setup while taking several photos. In other words, cameras, lenses and positions are the same, and photos are taken closer to the same time, and quite often, in quick succession for each other. Then, they take these pictures and mix them together to handle the noise, dynamic range, or both.
Combination
For most night photographers, a mixed is something different. A composite is combining two completely different photos simultaneously. In other words, the position, camera, and/or lenses are different from each other. An example of this would be to take a foreground picture from the northern hemisphere and combine it with a Milky Way photo taken in the southern hemisphere. Another example can be if you use luminar neo or photoshop, which to replace the sky with the sky that they provide.
Ideally, it is similar to cutting a person’s picture from a magazine and sticking to another picture, only quite refined (when I do so … my composite is usually done for laughter, and not so much for realism!).
With composite, the photographer is no longer trying to make something that was actually present during the photo, a realistic illustration of it. And this is why so many night photographers go out of their way to differentiate between mixtures and composites.
Why does photographer mix photos one night?
There are many reasons that one night photographers mix the photo. I will cover those who do not include deception or fecary.
HDR combination
HDR (high dynamic range) is almost a dirty word in photography. Many of us are still surrounded by 2010-2013 or more HDR HDR photos. But the truth is that HDR exists since the mid -1800s (take a bow, Gustav Le Gray!). For night photographers, we can use HDR if there is a broad dynamic range that the camera can capture in an exposure.
We make an HDR mixture by setting our camera on a tripod, then take many different exposures of the same scene in succession so that we capture the dynamic range more. Then in post-processing, we mix those many exposures together in one image together. The goal is to present the scene naturally, an hope.
A foreground combination with the sky
It includes very long exposure of the first landscape, less-ayo photo. This first picture can be a “blue hour” foreground, or a foreground that is burnt by the moon or even stars. Why do we do this? The main reason is that we can make less noise in the foreground. And sometimes, the foreground is very dark, and it is a good way to appear something in the photo.
After taking the foreground photo, we take another photo. It is a small exposure, a high-ISO photo of the wiring sky or a milky way.
Focus stacking
Yes, night photographers also use focus stacking, such as day photographers. And this is for the same reason: we cannot get views in the focus from the same exposure. Instead, we mix two or more photos together. The above picture uses only two photos, one focuses on the sky, and the other focuses on a nearby arch. Mixing them together makes a picture, where both elements are in meditation, resulting in a more pleasant image that is more such as how we missed the scene.
Star trails
Night photographers will take pictures in succession, one after the other. Then we later “stack” them in a program, allowing them to shine the most bright parts of each photo. Then we mix it in a single image that reflects the clear movement of stars in the sky created by the rotation of the Earth. This method is much less noise than single exposure image and provides more flexibility. It is also easy to do. How can you read Make Star Trails easily in Photoshop here,
Darshan
When we mix, we are using the same camera setup. We do this so that we can address the dynamic range and boundaries of the camera to try to make what you see and experience. Obviously, as with something else, it can be done bad or maximum, where it is no longer in reality. But at that point, you can say about any type of post-processing.
When we are composing, we are using two different camera setups. This includes cuttings and pastings rather than often using Blend mode that provides post-processing software,
Of course, the difference between compositing and blending can, well, mix together. After all, both can look similar if you are looking at someone post-processes. But I believe that there is sufficient fundamental difference to differentiate between the two. Certainly, many night photographers feel like this.
