New Stack
p.2 #3New Stack
Spectacular. Simultaneously makes me want to be there, and also very glad I’m safe and warm inside and not hanging by a tape and praying for my life
Jul 04, 2026 at 06:55 PM
p.2 #4New Stack
Mark,
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
Mark Metternich wrote:
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. It’s not a place I would recommend anyone to go unless they’re an experienced rock climber one false move and you’re probably dead! This is a spot I don’t know if anyone has ever been to. Because I don’t want to encourage people to potentially risk their life, not having an abundance of experience climbing (I was raised by a world class mountaineer) and using a rope and so forth I’ll keep it at that for now.
This was actually handheld at high ISO (and Image...Show more →
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
Mark Metternich wrote:
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. It’s not a place I would recommend anyone to go unless they’re an experienced rock climber one false move and you’re probably dead! This is a spot I don’t know if anyone has ever been to. Because I don’t want to encourage people to potentially risk their life, not having an abundance of experience climbing (I was raised by a world class mountaineer) and using a rope and so forth I’ll keep it at that for now.
This was actually handheld at high ISO (and Image...Show more →
Malka_1 wrote
Incredible image! People outside this forum will find it hard to believe it's not an AI/computer generated one. Question comes to mind - how did you get the camera to stay still for long exposure if there was a rope involved?Jul 05, 2026 at 05:25 AM
p.2 #6New Stack
guywithgas wrote:
Mark,
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
This was actually handheld at high ISO (and Image stabilization) shooting in continuous mode.
Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”…
What I love about doing that is that it knocks the noise down. And you can choose later how long you want the exposure to be. Simply by how many frames that you decide to blend together… Very loosely, about four frames equals one stop of noise reduction.
I shot it ultra wide angle, horizontally, also as a stitch!
Yes, it makes it a little bit complicated but this is what I do for a living so it’s kind of a snap for me.
But it allowed me to shoot very wide horizontally, pointing nearly straight down, then up more toward the horizon line, where all the waves were moving!(and I waited until the surf was kicking up) and then I did another shot tilted more upward to get plenty of sky!
Because I sit behind my computer doing post processing 8-14 hours a day, usually six days a week (hardly ever for myself, but for others for Gallery enlargement print processing) I’ve got loads of cool tricks up my sleeve to really get Quality pretty much no matter what the camera system. I have some ways to rely on algorithms that are not the generative AI type. Algorithms that are designed to extract real detail. And that’s a long complicated story.
I’ll say that I get the most out of camera raw, which is also in Lightroom (the develop tab is camera raw) and I always, always ALWAYS turn OFF the sharpening, because it does nothing but damage Images! And one of the best noise control techniques is to use.Adobe’s Denoise for each layer, as a raw smart object layer in Photoshop, as a duplicate. In other words, bring in every layer without Denoise. Duplicate it. On the bottom layer run Denoise, but on the top layer don’t. Then all you have to do is go to the layer style blending options “Blend If” for the top layer (that does not have the Denoise) and all you do is alt/option click on the right side of the little black slider node. Then split, and slide it all the way across. This makes the Denoise 100% at the black point and 0% of the white point in a perfectly graduated fashion!
Because noise resides more and more in the darkest tones and less, and less in the lightest tones, you retain all of the naturalness, natural look to the lighter mid tones, lights and highlights… because our eyes are drawn to highlights and lights and midtones, this makes it work brilliantly. I don’t know why AI (Adobe Denoise) doesn’t automatically just do this.
Even at 6400 ISO or even 12,800 ISO, when you do it right, there’s hardly anyone that would not think that the file was shot at 50 ISO. And it retains a natural look that you don’t get when you just clobber your photos with AI noise reduction or any other noise reduction.
After this is all pulled together, you have a very robust data intensive 16-bit file that can be rasterized (flattened -not raw) and can take all the fine-tuning you want until the image is fully corrected and optimized.
I can also say that photos that are processed this way respond to upsizing and sharpening algorithms in a profoundly better way than photos that are just clobbered with some type of noise reduction or AI noise reduction.
I hope that’s helpful.
My pleasure! I could not live (or do my job professionally) without Photoshop! Not even a chance. There at least 100 critical things (and that is an understatement) that allow photo quality to be higher than without it. Without it I would be back in the dark ages, especially for print, enlargement quality. The trends are always interesting to me. But it is my adamant opinion that people interested in pushing photo quality further should be strongly trending toward developing their fundamental Photoshop skills MORE. Just that noise reduction technique alone is a total game changer in what a Photographer can now shoot and still be incredible quality. Without clobbering it with AI.
Mark,
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
Mark Metternich wrote
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. It’s not a place I would recommend anyone to go unless they’re an experienced rock climber one false move and you’re probably dead! This is a spot I don’t know if anyone has ever been to. Because I don’t want to encourage people to potentially risk their life, not having an abundance of experience climbing (I was raised by a world class mountaineer) and using a rope and so forth I’ll keep it at that for now.This was actually handheld at high ISO (and Image stabilization) shooting in continuous mode.
Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”…
What I love about doing that is that it knocks the noise down. And you can choose later how long you want the exposure to be. Simply by how many frames that you decide to blend together… Very loosely, about four frames equals one stop of noise reduction.
I shot it ultra wide angle, horizontally, also as a stitch!
Yes, it makes it a little bit complicated but this is what I do for a living so it’s kind of a snap for me.
But it allowed me to shoot very wide horizontally, pointing nearly straight down, then up more toward the horizon line, where all the waves were moving!(and I waited until the surf was kicking up) and then I did another shot tilted more upward to get plenty of sky!
Because I sit behind my computer doing post processing 8-14 hours a day, usually six days a week (hardly ever for myself, but for others for Gallery enlargement print processing) I’ve got loads of cool tricks up my sleeve to really get Quality pretty much no matter what the camera system. I have some ways to rely on algorithms that are not the generative AI type. Algorithms that are designed to extract real detail. And that’s a long complicated story.
I’ll say that I get the most out of camera raw, which is also in Lightroom (the develop tab is camera raw) and I always, always ALWAYS turn OFF the sharpening, because it does nothing but damage Images! And one of the best noise control techniques is to use.Adobe’s Denoise for each layer, as a raw smart object layer in Photoshop, as a duplicate. In other words, bring in every layer without Denoise. Duplicate it. On the bottom layer run Denoise, but on the top layer don’t. Then all you have to do is go to the layer style blending options “Blend If” for the top layer (that does not have the Denoise) and all you do is alt/option click on the right side of the little black slider node. Then split, and slide it all the way across. This makes the Denoise 100% at the black point and 0% of the white point in a perfectly graduated fashion!
Because noise resides more and more in the darkest tones and less, and less in the lightest tones, you retain all of the naturalness, natural look to the lighter mid tones, lights and highlights… because our eyes are drawn to highlights and lights and midtones, this makes it work brilliantly. I don’t know why AI (Adobe Denoise) doesn’t automatically just do this.
Even at 6400 ISO or even 12,800 ISO, when you do it right, there’s hardly anyone that would not think that the file was shot at 50 ISO. And it retains a natural look that you don’t get when you just clobber your photos with AI noise reduction or any other noise reduction.
After this is all pulled together, you have a very robust data intensive 16-bit file that can be rasterized (flattened -not raw) and can take all the fine-tuning you want until the image is fully corrected and optimized.
I can also say that photos that are processed this way respond to upsizing and sharpening algorithms in a profoundly better way than photos that are just clobbered with some type of noise reduction or AI noise reduction.
I hope that’s helpful.
Malka_1 wrote
Incredible image! People outside this forum will find it hard to believe it's not an AI/computer generated one. Question comes to mind - how did you get the camera to stay still for long exposure if there was a rope involved?My pleasure! I could not live (or do my job professionally) without Photoshop! Not even a chance. There at least 100 critical things (and that is an understatement) that allow photo quality to be higher than without it. Without it I would be back in the dark ages, especially for print, enlargement quality. The trends are always interesting to me. But it is my adamant opinion that people interested in pushing photo quality further should be strongly trending toward developing their fundamental Photoshop skills MORE. Just that noise reduction technique alone is a total game changer in what a Photographer can now shoot and still be incredible quality. Without clobbering it with AI.
Jul 07, 2026 at 09:47 AM
p.2 #7New Stack
I have thought the exact same thing many times. And I don’t believe so because it’s pretty much straight up and down rock climbing to get up to the top. And the size of the waves makes it considerably prohibitive to even get to it.
Wouldn’t that be cool to somehow have a tent with a little light in it put up in there somehow for a photograph? 😆
jgurbisz wrote:
Very surreal indeed. Gotta wonder if any humans have been in that tiny forest up there.
Jul 11, 2026 at 11:50 AM
p.2 #8New Stack
Mark Metternich wrote:
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. I...
Thank you for taking the time to share your technique! If you don't mind me asking - does it allow you to reproduce the view as close as possible to how you experienced it, or to create a more artistic/abstract interpretation?
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. I...
Thank you for taking the time to share your technique! If you don't mind me asking - does it allow you to reproduce the view as close as possible to how you experienced it, or to create a more artistic/abstract interpretation?
Jul 11, 2026 at 10:17 PM
p.2 #9New Stack
This is one of the best and most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. Maybe it is the best. Or is it a seascape? That’s about all I can think of to specifically comment on, the rest of what we might be talking about is all pretty much perfect.
Jul 14, 2026 at 07:13 PM
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p.2 #10New Stack
Malka_1 wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to share your technique! If you don't mind me asking - does it allow you to reproduce the view as close as possible to how you experienced it, or to create a more artistic/abstract interpretation?
It is certainly my pleasure! Wow, that is a great question!
And the answer to that question would certainly vary from image to image. Usually, I’m employing every technique I can to better translate to the viewer the full experience of seeing what I saw, and being as authentic as possible in doing that (with creativity) But I would never want to pigeonhole myself into one type of approach because that then limits creativity and limits what you can and can’t do. And I find limiting myself boring, and doesn’t breed longevity and unrestrained passion for me. So it’s a little bit of a difficult question on this one. But I’ll give it a try. I have other images of this sea stack that would be easy to answer a simple yes.
So on this one it’s, kind of, a yes and a no. I’m sorry to answer paradoxically, but there are some aspects that are yes, and some aspects that are no. If that’s all you want me to say then that would be a lot easier, but I know some people really enjoy learning on this forum. So for those who potentially might read this, I’ll try to describe a little.
Even though I’ve been off this forum a lot over the last four or five years, due to “life happens” family members passing away, caretaking, and other tough challenges that happen to the best of us, especially as we get older… I have never stopped photographing, pedal to the floor, in growing/development of both the capture and the post-processing (and the art of seeing). I never imagined having the skill sets I am blessed to have today. It blows my mind. I kind of showed up here, surprised. But it makes sense because I just can’t stop learning. I love to learn and I love to grow.
In this case, I’m using a pretty crazy wide lens and I’m getting much more down toward the water, and I am pushing away my impulse to shoot the scene vertically because it’s such a tall subject matter and I’m wanting to isolate it away from anything on the left and right. I’ve literally climbed down a cliff so there’s nothing obstructive above it either. So it certainly lends itself to a vertical. But the amount of area that it consumes is massive!
When I got to the position, I tried every approach I could think of. And what I settled on, especially because I had a limitation of time (clients were done and they were going to take a little break) but not willing to take advantage of that time, so needed to grab this as fast as I could, but do it well, in case I don’t get the opportunity to do it next year, or ever again… Side note: at the end of this workshop, I had an extra day to go anywhere I wanted, and I really wanted to go back and just sit right here all day long, but the weather in this area wasn’t right.
Anyway, after some attempts, and various test shots, I settled on a horizontal, ultra wide camera angle, but multi-shot vertical stitch.
I think I initially had a radical breakthrough in my mind about how things can be photographed when years back I took the iPhone and put my body into some unique places (in the SW) and used the 12 mm, panorama/stitching mode. Just obsessed with new creative approaches, I did some crazy wide angle panorama stitches just for fun/experimentation to see how the unique perspectives would turn out. And whether or not they could at least be played with for fun and re-cropped, and maybe perspective shifted in camera raw and so forth… these experiments, yielded a handful of wildly new approaches in my mind. But because the quality obviously lacked, the next question was, how could I do this with a good camera and a good lens… or what would it be like to stitch at 11 mm or even 9 mm! I do know that Marc Adamus loves to do this type of thing as well. And I think I did derive some inspiration from some of his work years ago. Where he was able to get perspectives that no one would be able to see with their eyes, even if they were there.
But once my brain started understanding how things might end up looking (by taking all sorts of crazy test shots, including those Ultra Wide panorama stitches…) I started getting excited about pretty radical new possibilities.
More recently (last year and a half) I’ve been using the Laowa 9 mm, which is dumbfounding wider than 12 mm!!!
I will attach my test when I first got my 9 mm to this comment. And stitching crazy approaches to just about anything I can think of. I will also attach a photo that is one of those initial SW panorama stitches that blew my mind because even standing right there, your eyes could never see it.
Anyway, all of that to say YES, I want the viewer to feel far more of what it reels looks and feels like to be down lower, and powerfully intimidated by the massiveness and height of this sea stack, and the mighty surf below. And in that sense, it still falls short.
But on the “no” side, is that I like more surreal, sublime long exposures. I gravitate towards, and always have, a little bit more surreal imagery.
So, I did the multi shot blending, and exposure averaging, so that the water was not hard (conveying more of a sense of motion). So, certainly not a documentary journalism approach in that sense.
The second aspect that would also be a “no” is that I wanted this stack completely isolated away from anything around it. That is why I climbed down to that position. It does wonderfully isolate the stack, and it helps a lot to relay better how massive it is…. But this photo still falls very short, in my opinion, in terms of relaying how insanely massive what you’re looking at is and how close it is/feels. And how intimidating!
Lastly, there were some intrusions on the left that I cloned out that would have been distracting elements on the edge of the frame. There is a stack to the left of this, but in this position, I was able to isolate it out of the scene.
I’m a huge believer and advocate for eliminating as many distracting elements as possible, for a better, more straightforward dynamic viewing experience. Many of my favorite photos I have seen over the years, and a couple of my favorite Photographers uniquely know the power of minimizing distracting elements, either by very careful framing or combining that with post-processing (cloning, eliminating distracting elements) so that the visual experience can be both powerful yet simplified (often contradictory concepts ). Over the years, and hand full of Alex Noriega’s images have had a big impact on me.
So it’s a yes, and a “no” on this one. I wanted it to have a slightly surreal, artistic feel, which comes especially out of the longer exposure approach to the water, and some of the processing decisions, but at the same time it is a “yes” that I was wanting to far better relay the look, POV and feeling of seeing this huge natural wonder, from down low, with movement and time.
Sorry if that TMI, and I’m sorry if it doesn’t fully explain…
GeofFX wrote:
This is one of the best and most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. Maybe it is the best. Or is it a seascape? That’s about all I can think of to specifically comment on, the rest of what we might be talking about is all pretty much perfect.
Wow. That’s an incredible compliment and thank you very much. I would definitely call a Seascape.
Mark,
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
I would love to hear about your results once you try this. Because I’m in the business of pushing the quality of enlargements, this is massive! I’m going to make a video tutorial on it, that I’ll put on my website, but being able to get the best stuff only into the areas that we really need it and to keep as much as possible, as natural as possible, is opening up a foundation of possibilities for enlargement print quality never obtained before.
One of my first successful tests, 12 mm horizontal camera angle, iPhone, vertical panorama stitches (using the panorama mode) from my feet, to even beyond straight up and slightly back behind me… which radically opened new possibilities of perspectives
Mark Metternich wrote
Thank you very much. I only needed a rope to get to the positioning. I...It is certainly my pleasure! Wow, that is a great question!
And the answer to that question would certainly vary from image to image. Usually, I’m employing every technique I can to better translate to the viewer the full experience of seeing what I saw, and being as authentic as possible in doing that (with creativity) But I would never want to pigeonhole myself into one type of approach because that then limits creativity and limits what you can and can’t do. And I find limiting myself boring, and doesn’t breed longevity and unrestrained passion for me. So it’s a little bit of a difficult question on this one. But I’ll give it a try. I have other images of this sea stack that would be easy to answer a simple yes.
So on this one it’s, kind of, a yes and a no. I’m sorry to answer paradoxically, but there are some aspects that are yes, and some aspects that are no. If that’s all you want me to say then that would be a lot easier, but I know some people really enjoy learning on this forum. So for those who potentially might read this, I’ll try to describe a little.
Even though I’ve been off this forum a lot over the last four or five years, due to “life happens” family members passing away, caretaking, and other tough challenges that happen to the best of us, especially as we get older… I have never stopped photographing, pedal to the floor, in growing/development of both the capture and the post-processing (and the art of seeing). I never imagined having the skill sets I am blessed to have today. It blows my mind. I kind of showed up here, surprised. But it makes sense because I just can’t stop learning. I love to learn and I love to grow.
In this case, I’m using a pretty crazy wide lens and I’m getting much more down toward the water, and I am pushing away my impulse to shoot the scene vertically because it’s such a tall subject matter and I’m wanting to isolate it away from anything on the left and right. I’ve literally climbed down a cliff so there’s nothing obstructive above it either. So it certainly lends itself to a vertical. But the amount of area that it consumes is massive!
When I got to the position, I tried every approach I could think of. And what I settled on, especially because I had a limitation of time (clients were done and they were going to take a little break) but not willing to take advantage of that time, so needed to grab this as fast as I could, but do it well, in case I don’t get the opportunity to do it next year, or ever again… Side note: at the end of this workshop, I had an extra day to go anywhere I wanted, and I really wanted to go back and just sit right here all day long, but the weather in this area wasn’t right.
Anyway, after some attempts, and various test shots, I settled on a horizontal, ultra wide camera angle, but multi-shot vertical stitch.
I think I initially had a radical breakthrough in my mind about how things can be photographed when years back I took the iPhone and put my body into some unique places (in the SW) and used the 12 mm, panorama/stitching mode. Just obsessed with new creative approaches, I did some crazy wide angle panorama stitches just for fun/experimentation to see how the unique perspectives would turn out. And whether or not they could at least be played with for fun and re-cropped, and maybe perspective shifted in camera raw and so forth… these experiments, yielded a handful of wildly new approaches in my mind. But because the quality obviously lacked, the next question was, how could I do this with a good camera and a good lens… or what would it be like to stitch at 11 mm or even 9 mm! I do know that Marc Adamus loves to do this type of thing as well. And I think I did derive some inspiration from some of his work years ago. Where he was able to get perspectives that no one would be able to see with their eyes, even if they were there.
But once my brain started understanding how things might end up looking (by taking all sorts of crazy test shots, including those Ultra Wide panorama stitches…) I started getting excited about pretty radical new possibilities.
More recently (last year and a half) I’ve been using the Laowa 9 mm, which is dumbfounding wider than 12 mm!!!
I will attach my test when I first got my 9 mm to this comment. And stitching crazy approaches to just about anything I can think of. I will also attach a photo that is one of those initial SW panorama stitches that blew my mind because even standing right there, your eyes could never see it.
Anyway, all of that to say YES, I want the viewer to feel far more of what it reels looks and feels like to be down lower, and powerfully intimidated by the massiveness and height of this sea stack, and the mighty surf below. And in that sense, it still falls short.
But on the “no” side, is that I like more surreal, sublime long exposures. I gravitate towards, and always have, a little bit more surreal imagery.
So, I did the multi shot blending, and exposure averaging, so that the water was not hard (conveying more of a sense of motion). So, certainly not a documentary journalism approach in that sense.
The second aspect that would also be a “no” is that I wanted this stack completely isolated away from anything around it. That is why I climbed down to that position. It does wonderfully isolate the stack, and it helps a lot to relay better how massive it is…. But this photo still falls very short, in my opinion, in terms of relaying how insanely massive what you’re looking at is and how close it is/feels. And how intimidating!
Lastly, there were some intrusions on the left that I cloned out that would have been distracting elements on the edge of the frame. There is a stack to the left of this, but in this position, I was able to isolate it out of the scene.
I’m a huge believer and advocate for eliminating as many distracting elements as possible, for a better, more straightforward dynamic viewing experience. Many of my favorite photos I have seen over the years, and a couple of my favorite Photographers uniquely know the power of minimizing distracting elements, either by very careful framing or combining that with post-processing (cloning, eliminating distracting elements) so that the visual experience can be both powerful yet simplified (often contradictory concepts ). Over the years, and hand full of Alex Noriega’s images have had a big impact on me.
So it’s a yes, and a “no” on this one. I wanted it to have a slightly surreal, artistic feel, which comes especially out of the longer exposure approach to the water, and some of the processing decisions, but at the same time it is a “yes” that I was wanting to far better relay the look, POV and feeling of seeing this huge natural wonder, from down low, with movement and time.
Sorry if that TMI, and I’m sorry if it doesn’t fully explain…
GeofFX wrote:
This is one of the best and most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. Maybe it is the best. Or is it a seascape? That’s about all I can think of to specifically comment on, the rest of what we might be talking about is all pretty much perfect.
Wow. That’s an incredible compliment and thank you very much. I would definitely call a Seascape.
Mark,
That was a great and detailed explanation. I was aware that combining multiple exposures reduces the noise levels. The technique of layering denoised image with non-denoised one to reduce noise only in the darks of the image is a very creative. Thank you for sharing that in great detail. I am not a PS user (I use Affinity Photo), but understood the concept an itching to try it the next time.
Sreedhar
I would love to hear about your results once you try this. Because I’m in the business of pushing the quality of enlargements, this is massive! I’m going to make a video tutorial on it, that I’ll put on my website, but being able to get the best stuff only into the areas that we really need it and to keep as much as possible, as natural as possible, is opening up a foundation of possibilities for enlargement print quality never obtained before.
One of my first successful tests, 12 mm horizontal camera angle, iPhone, vertical panorama stitches (using the panorama mode) from my feet, to even beyond straight up and slightly back behind me… which radically opened new possibilities of perspectives
Jul 31, 2026 at 03:34 PM
p.2 #11New Stack
Very beautiful work Mark.
Thank you for explaining how you processed that, I could never do all that but some.
I saw in another post, that was posted many years ago about a method similar to what you explained...(Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”… ) I've tried that on a few pixs but nothing I was happy with, this winter I will work on it and see what I can come up with. I never in a million years would think of trying anything like that plus all that you have mentioned, that's why your pictures have some much beauty to them, you obviously have put a lot of time and thought into them, and these subjects deserve that. Again, Great Job.
Thank you for explaining how you processed that, I could never do all that but some.
I saw in another post, that was posted many years ago about a method similar to what you explained...(Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”… ) I've tried that on a few pixs but nothing I was happy with, this winter I will work on it and see what I can come up with. I never in a million years would think of trying anything like that plus all that you have mentioned, that's why your pictures have some much beauty to them, you obviously have put a lot of time and thought into them, and these subjects deserve that. Again, Great Job.
Aug 03, 2026 at 03:49 PM
p.2 #12New Stack
Mark Metternich wrote:
Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”…
I think you could do that nearly automatically in Lightroom Classic with the MergeRaw plugin: https://mackman.net/mergeraw/index.html
If so, it would save you a fair bit of time. And the merging is quite quick.
Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”…
I think you could do that nearly automatically in Lightroom Classic with the MergeRaw plugin: https://mackman.net/mergeraw/index.html
If so, it would save you a fair bit of time. And the merging is quite quick.
Aug 04, 2026 at 03:01 PM
p.2 #13New Stack
Stunning work. Excellent explanation on the ultra wide angle panoramic stacking technique and denoise in Photoshop, much appreciated. Very interested in trying some horizon blending and wondering if you did any in this processing and if so any tips.
Aug 12, 2026 at 02:51 PM
p.2 #15New Stack
Mark Metternich wrote:
It is certainly my pleasure! Wow, that is a great question!
....
I am one of those people who are here to learn, so definitely appreciate you taking the time to explain. I think I get it - you're trying to reproduce what you experienced, plus a light touch of abstract where you want it.
I am still fairly early in my photography journey, but I see that the learning never stops. Just when I think I got somewhere, I come across something like your post and it opens a new level of techniques. Photography could be many things - a facsimile of present for the future, a story, or a capture of full sensory experience of the wondrous world we live in into a 2D medium.
Malka_1 wrote
Thank you for taking the time to share your technique! If you don't mind me asking - does it allow you to reproduce the view as close as possible to how you experienced it, or to create a more artistic/abstract interpretation?....
I am one of those people who are here to learn, so definitely appreciate you taking the time to explain. I think I get it - you're trying to reproduce what you experienced, plus a light touch of abstract where you want it.
I am still fairly early in my photography journey, but I see that the learning never stops. Just when I think I got somewhere, I come across something like your post and it opens a new level of techniques. Photography could be many things - a facsimile of present for the future, a story, or a capture of full sensory experience of the wondrous world we live in into a 2D medium.
Aug 16, 2026 at 05:17 PM
p.2 #16New Stack
Mark Metternich wrote:
I’ll say that I get the most out of camera raw, which is also in Lightroom (the develop tab is camera raw) and I always, always ALWAYS turn OFF the sharpening, because it does nothing but damage Images! And one of the best noise control techniques is to use.Adobe’s Denoise for each layer, as a raw smart object layer in Photoshop, as a duplicate. In other words, bring in every layer without Denoise. Duplicate it. On the bottom layer run Denoise, but on the top layer don’t. Then all you have to do is go to the layer style...Show more →
Fantastic image and as someone who has largely used Lightroom for everything I'm really interested in trying this technique.
I’ll say that I get the most out of camera raw, which is also in Lightroom (the develop tab is camera raw) and I always, always ALWAYS turn OFF the sharpening, because it does nothing but damage Images! And one of the best noise control techniques is to use.Adobe’s Denoise for each layer, as a raw smart object layer in Photoshop, as a duplicate. In other words, bring in every layer without Denoise. Duplicate it. On the bottom layer run Denoise, but on the top layer don’t. Then all you have to do is go to the layer style...Show more →
Fantastic image and as someone who has largely used Lightroom for everything I'm really interested in trying this technique.
Aug 17, 2026 at 08:41 PM
p.2 #17New Stack
Bill Gass wrote:
Very beautiful work Mark.
Thank you for explaining how you processed that, I could never do all that but some.
I saw in another post, that was posted many years ago about a method similar to what you explained...(Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”… ) I've tried that on a few pixs but nothing I was happy with, this winter I will work on it...Show more →
Well that is awesome! Please let me know if I can be of any help. I can't help it, but I can out of my mother womb very passionate about life and loving to keep pushing forward. My dad (who passed away a few years ago at 86) was this way too. A world class mountaineer, and a ton of other things, he was unusual and very inspiring. Even in his 80's he never got set in his ways (had a very youthful spirit) and loved to keep growing and learning and stoking the flame of passion.
For me to choose Landscape photography as a full time career (about 22 years ago) was certainly a bit crazy. But I simply could not, not do it! And of course because there is SO VERY MUCH great work out there by SO MANY wonderful photographers (like all my clients work blows my mind) I just cannot help but to keep pioneering and pushing forward. So I hope you stay stoked and keep moving forward too and get some real fulfillment out of it all. What a wonderful privilege we get to do.
kaplah wrote:
I think you could do that nearly automatically in Lightroom Classic with the MergeRaw plugin: https://mackman.net/mergeraw/index.html
If so, it would save you a fair bit of time. And the merging is quite quick.
Thank you for the tip. I really do appreciate it. Because of the truly unprecedented power we have using Photoshop layers
(and especially lossless Raw Smart Object Layers - but not limited to...) it is already so easy, and so fast, and the control and nearly limitless unprecedented options, I just can't see a reason to do it any other way. Only takes seconds... Honestly, I often see a lot of these plug ins as unnecessary (and much more limiting) with just some very simple basic Photoshop fundamental education. The power of just Smart Object Stack Mode blending, the various Layer Blend Modes, and the Layer Style "Blend If" slider option is just mind boggling in power with really simple masking techniques...
But again, I do sincerely appreciate the feedback and recommendation.
CameraBuff wrote:
Stunning work. Excellent explanation on the ultra wide angle panoramic stacking technique and denoise in Photoshop, much appreciated. Very interested in trying some horizon blending and wondering if you did any in this processing and if so any tips.
Thank you! The sky/horizon line on this one was pretty straight forward. Just getting a little of the contrast in the sky to come out, make sure I was not creating edge artifacts, and letting the contrast be less at the far waterline because it was a little misty...
retheeshmailme wrote:
Simply Wow!
Huge thank you! Keep on keeping on!
Malka_1 wrote:
It is certainly my pleasure! Wow, that is a great question!
....I am one of those people who are here to learn, so definitely appreciate you taking the time to explain. I think I get it - you're trying to reproduce what you experienced, plus a light touch of abstract where you want it.
I am still fairly early in my photography journey, but I see that the learning never stops. Just when I think I got somewhere, I come across something like your post and it opens a new level of techniques. Photography could be many things - a facsimile of present for the future, a story, or a capture...Show more →
Awesome! Yes. Honestly I used to get so much guff online about the subject. I've been doing landscape photography as a full time profession (workshops, teaching, doing print post-processing to top class landscape and nature photographers nationally and internationally - usually under strict confidentiality agreement) for over 20 year straight now, and the learning and growing NEVER ends! If it did, I would bore and go do something else, but the opposite is the case. To say it has been an incredible experience would be a gross understatement. The learning, the experiences, the people, the places... I'm 59 now and have no plan to get set in my ways or stagnate in learning. It is always fresh to me. And to be able to help others honestly is the very best part of it, and the friendships/relationships acquired along the way. I often shoot 5-10 times a week on the ocean here in FL, and it never ceases to blow my mind how much more new and unique things we all can do. AND LEARNING! I'll be posting a few news ones pretty soon that when taken I have learned SO much. And I will share what it is I'm learning. Lastly, I'll have some new fresh video soon on my website (I'm so grossly behind on producing!) that I cannot wait to get out there because I know people will be super blown away by new levels of quality and control we can do. I never imagined it would get so good. As an example, I have sort of pioneered some new techniques using Adobe's "Color Variance" slider that is everything I ever wanted to be able to do for most color photos. That combined with one or two other color techniques allows absolute mastery of color and micro color variations in an image, helping the viewer better see something more like the unbelievable light we can see with our eyes.
Keep on keeping in!
Very beautiful work Mark.
Thank you for explaining how you processed that, I could never do all that but some.
I saw in another post, that was posted many years ago about a method similar to what you explained...(Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”… ) I've tried that on a few pixs but nothing I was happy with, this winter I will work on it...Show more →
Well that is awesome! Please let me know if I can be of any help. I can't help it, but I can out of my mother womb very passionate about life and loving to keep pushing forward. My dad (who passed away a few years ago at 86) was this way too. A world class mountaineer, and a ton of other things, he was unusual and very inspiring. Even in his 80's he never got set in his ways (had a very youthful spirit) and loved to keep growing and learning and stoking the flame of passion.
For me to choose Landscape photography as a full time career (about 22 years ago) was certainly a bit crazy. But I simply could not, not do it! And of course because there is SO VERY MUCH great work out there by SO MANY wonderful photographers (like all my clients work blows my mind) I just cannot help but to keep pioneering and pushing forward. So I hope you stay stoked and keep moving forward too and get some real fulfillment out of it all. What a wonderful privilege we get to do.
kaplah wrote:
Mark Metternich wrote
Then I auto aligned the images in Photoshop, and then converted the layers to a single “smart object”. I used the smart object blend mode “mean” to average the exposures. That is under the pull down menus “Layer, smart object, stacking mode”…If so, it would save you a fair bit of time. And the merging is quite quick.
Thank you for the tip. I really do appreciate it. Because of the truly unprecedented power we have using Photoshop layers
(and especially lossless Raw Smart Object Layers - but not limited to...) it is already so easy, and so fast, and the control and nearly limitless unprecedented options, I just can't see a reason to do it any other way. Only takes seconds... Honestly, I often see a lot of these plug ins as unnecessary (and much more limiting) with just some very simple basic Photoshop fundamental education. The power of just Smart Object Stack Mode blending, the various Layer Blend Modes, and the Layer Style "Blend If" slider option is just mind boggling in power with really simple masking techniques...
But again, I do sincerely appreciate the feedback and recommendation.
CameraBuff wrote:
Stunning work. Excellent explanation on the ultra wide angle panoramic stacking technique and denoise in Photoshop, much appreciated. Very interested in trying some horizon blending and wondering if you did any in this processing and if so any tips.
Thank you! The sky/horizon line on this one was pretty straight forward. Just getting a little of the contrast in the sky to come out, make sure I was not creating edge artifacts, and letting the contrast be less at the far waterline because it was a little misty...
retheeshmailme wrote:
Simply Wow!
Huge thank you! Keep on keeping on!
Malka_1 wrote:
Mark Metternich wrote
Malka_1 wrote
Thank you for taking the time to share your technique! If you don't mind me asking - does it allow you to reproduce the view as close as possible to how you experienced it, or to create a more artistic/abstract interpretation?....
I am still fairly early in my photography journey, but I see that the learning never stops. Just when I think I got somewhere, I come across something like your post and it opens a new level of techniques. Photography could be many things - a facsimile of present for the future, a story, or a capture...Show more →
Awesome! Yes. Honestly I used to get so much guff online about the subject. I've been doing landscape photography as a full time profession (workshops, teaching, doing print post-processing to top class landscape and nature photographers nationally and internationally - usually under strict confidentiality agreement) for over 20 year straight now, and the learning and growing NEVER ends! If it did, I would bore and go do something else, but the opposite is the case. To say it has been an incredible experience would be a gross understatement. The learning, the experiences, the people, the places... I'm 59 now and have no plan to get set in my ways or stagnate in learning. It is always fresh to me. And to be able to help others honestly is the very best part of it, and the friendships/relationships acquired along the way. I often shoot 5-10 times a week on the ocean here in FL, and it never ceases to blow my mind how much more new and unique things we all can do. AND LEARNING! I'll be posting a few news ones pretty soon that when taken I have learned SO much. And I will share what it is I'm learning. Lastly, I'll have some new fresh video soon on my website (I'm so grossly behind on producing!) that I cannot wait to get out there because I know people will be super blown away by new levels of quality and control we can do. I never imagined it would get so good. As an example, I have sort of pioneered some new techniques using Adobe's "Color Variance" slider that is everything I ever wanted to be able to do for most color photos. That combined with one or two other color techniques allows absolute mastery of color and micro color variations in an image, helping the viewer better see something more like the unbelievable light we can see with our eyes.
Keep on keeping in!
Aug 19, 2026 at 11:20 AM