I'm occasionally asked how I achieved a certain result given the prohibitive conditions at the time, so I thought it about time I revealed a few of the techniques I use.
This image taken on Skye on a grey day in December 2008 was achieved using a method called exposure blending. The camera was set up on a tripod, in manual mode and 5 exposures taken, from well over exposed to well under exposed.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-MZGL3BQ3EgQQggfoUttcsE7Vd0QA7eCs1cxiMQ4NE6BHU-QzLgFv3Zarm2k_baVv22mui4a3FsHratT4U6IpwnPUTta8YqVPNodkIMi1UtYwu3FKfaD3KAIMBFEvTg2GnzwNs7stbmN/s400/20081230_D0Q0885.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTWj8xCejubxlQV4_C8ZFCzoTQn4qiwPPNbW1xS0sgfxp3FfE4vembnV8ooxG14ywOtvE_hTd6Lpj6vzWGiPJp8SbJEd9w1xw5UGLbxe401fsUf2_v-I_lkx2AcPmt15dYut93iW836Ne/s400/20081230_D0Q0884.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBc1QOi5OW1zoR5CXgMPoH9lW1XzM642dNAgCWPVfHoR3_dRiPC3TEiNCDGYHrjY4BTW4kZ_KnhevKMyi1GDEtc1AsKuwX3pvMvA-uMT1OgsKqCac9_ucuVs9TAlV7wbfPK_eHg4KO402-/s400/20081230_D0Q0883.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgORlel85v_CLrTCMkzY12gutkCgL2wPrwRVlsHaBuUPTK1BBm78WJofdW2RolO0oV1LpOxQECAVYwHTwMT95ZAxJGj-BQctt-9EOZh52Tx3eNmQUyvL3n5v3fkiccqWcdxwFMF4ltBQR/s400/20081230_D0Q0882.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWt8kLE3VMGHGnnS1SjymGHuxY6eyf33pkCOL_Y6NTp1g-0oi76878hW9haWuzj38f34bbY2Umh0zfr3IIKyyuuaRHk1NmZyKUuQPronk0MFI7JFBi7echCOfVCbbsiuC-PvJM6sVGT-FB/s400/20081230_D0Q0881.jpg)
After processing in Lightroom with no adjustments, they were blended together using Photomax Pro. This gives a result which is far from finished, but a glance at the histogram tells me that I have all the detail in shadows and highlights and therefore have everything I need to make a half way decent picture.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDFI2LVsXla6j1IntQihMrQozrI87Xq0X0vEb8dAF1chT2ZSyxPWelgFJkKinhDQzs-qmMENVNPo_W_xQKvJ0vyQ4obHFz06O913yaM7U6aT6jNOono3aSkFpMQHE4lb25i792IaNuBD3/s400/20081230-20081230_D0Q0881_2_3_4_5_adjust.jpg)
The final image after a bit of retouching in lightroom and photoshop
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EDFoFHy4K80EJ1vmxRJvEfxP2O6_bdwgShMC_u7xOpLXte3FLNUdDUSVXcoMBCunTKq9QySpSO0mnJj25Yfxk93CDbbP3sFtEh4PXBV_8aNrNmcuXOOdwbeSsGmjPMYMgqOMR0QpCziY/s400/20081230-20081230_D0Q0881_2_3_4_5_adjust-Edit-Edit.jpg)