Question about aligning a series

Hey guys, I recently went to Alaska, and was holding my camera by hand when I caught a calving event of a glacier. The pictures are a little bit off as a series because it wasn't on a tripod. I was wondering if there was a way that I could do something like stack all of the pictures together, then crop it so all of the pictures have the exact same framing. Is this something I would use a stack for, and break down the layers? Is there a better option? I have a subscription to Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom, so I am hoping there is a way to this without manually aligning and cropping.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

footballdude2k3 wrote in post #18934900
Hey guys, I recently went to Alaska, and was holding my camera by hand when I caught a calving event of a glacier. The pictures are a little bit off as a series because it wasn't on a tripod. I was wondering if there was a way that I could do something like stack all of the pictures together, then crop it so all of the pictures have the exact same framing. Is this something I would use a stack for, and break down the layers? Is there a better option? I have a subscription to Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom, so I am hoping there is a way to this without manually aligning and cropping.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

You absolutely can, at least in photoshop. Open as layers and align the layers. I forget which heading that is under right now but it is definitely doable. (I'm assuming they are at least relatively close).

What are you trying to accomplish however, something like a time lapse series?

Yes, I am going for a time lapse, and yes, the pictures for the most part are very close.

footballdude2k3 wrote in post #18934911
Yes, I am going for a time lapse, and yes, the pictures for the most part are very close.

Photoshop should do well then. There are all kinds of YouTube vids about stacking and aligning layers. If you can’t find what you need drop another line here and I’ll find the detailed stuff. I do it once in a while but not enough that I can regurgitate off the top of my head.

Select all of the images in LR and then "open as layers" in PS. In PS select all of the layers (select top layer and then hold shift and select the bottom layer) and then Edit/Auto-Align layers. Go with the default settings.

You will lose some of the image around the borders after the align and crop. It helps if you know you will be aligning layers to take that into account when framing your subject and go a little bit wide.