Composite Result: Vermillion Lakes

Final composite of the two images below. Vermillion Lakes Under the Stars, Banff, Canada. 

Long night exposure of the stars and glow from the Town of Banff.

Last bit of light on Mt. Rundle. Blended with the night shot above to bring out detail in foreground grass and create the top image. 

I promised in one of my Canada posts that I would share the night composite I did at Vermillion Lakes in Banff. I'm still learning Photoshop, and trying to figure out how I will implement it into my own photographic vision. I'm a big believer in getting the image as you see it in camera at the moment of capture (which is why I like using filters), but there are times when the camera cannot capture your intended vision in camera. After seeing a blog post by Sean Bagshaw on the Photo Cascadia blog, and communicating with Sean about his own process, I knew I wanted to try this technique of blending images in Photoshop. It takes a lot of patience and will, both during the shooting process and the post process, but it pays off in the end. Even if this image isn't the best night composite ever, now I know how it is done and I will be able to create images I never thought I could. That's just it about this whole photography thing: There is always something to learn!