Panamint Range: Black & White Editing

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

12/03/2004 08:53:55 AM · #1

Another photoshop sample. A small version of the PSD is available for download, suitable for Photoshop CS and Photoshop 7 (edit and Photoshop 6) (and maybe more - maximise compatibility option is on)

This is another work in progress, trying to bring to life a B&W image that I saw when I took the picture.

Download the PS file (zipped)

First layer (cloning) was used to remove a rock clipped at the edge, with the clone tool.

The levels adjustment was applied to set the white and black point, in luminosity blending mode. Using the 'Alt+slider' option in levels, I set the white point with some clouds clipping. The painted mask on this level was set to reduce the adjustment in just those clipped areas, to bring them back in to the dynamic range. Using the alt key lets you see where the clipping will occur. I painted it back in with a soft brush, using a graphics tablet.

The Curves 1 layer is similar, adjusting the contrast, in luminosity blending mode again, to avoid any saturation shifts.

Hue/sat layer mainly adjusts the sky hue/saturation which leads to a slightly darker sky.

The 'redchannel' layer is a channel mixer layer, 100% red, monochrome option. Looking at the channels I decided everything I was interested in in this scene was best represented in the red channel information.

Dodge/burn overall layer is a originally an empty layer in soft light mode. For this I filled it completely black, giving the strongest burn to the whole image, just to get an idea of the impact. I then used a fairly soft brush to paint white and black on the mask to vary the effect. The 'X' key is great for switching quickly back and forth between the foreground and background paint colours (black and white with the defaults, if you hit the 'd' key) Working with a graphics tablet/ pen and the X key, makes doing a rough dodge/ burn mask really easy and quick. I then applied a gaussian blur to the mask layer to smooth out any abrubt transitions - some selection tools were used to do this with more control too.

Dodge/burn sky layer addresses the polarisation across the sky, darkening the left to keep it more in line with the right side.

The Tint layer provides a slightly cooler tint to the shadows of the image, which I think works well here. I prefer it to the straight neutral tones. I have several starting points for tint curves that I then play around with to adjust the shadows, midtones and highlight tints to suit the image.

This version isn't sharpened.

Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions you have for working with this. Also feel free to download the file and poke around the layers and change things up.

Message edited by author 2004-12-03 11:46:54.

welcher

Canon EOS-5D

12/03/2004 09:49:36 AM · #2

Nice photo, and neat photoshop work. What's the thinking behind the luminosity blending mode on your adjustment layers? Blending modes are the next great frontier I want to conquer in Photoshop.

12/03/2004 10:06:39 AM · #3

Originally posted by welcher:

Nice photo, and neat photoshop work. What's the thinking behind the luminosity blending mode on your adjustment layers? Blending modes are the next great frontier I want to conquer in Photoshop.

I'm using 3 blending modes in this image.

Normal for most of the layers, as the default.

Soft light for the dodge/burn (you can use overlay but that is quite a bit harsher in impact)

To your specific question though:

I'm using luminosity for two layers: The levels and the curves layer.

I'm using the levels layer to set the black and white points in the image. If you do this in normal mode, you also get an associated boost in saturation. Using luminosity mode just means that the changes modify the tonality and not the saturation.

The curves layer is the same. I'm adjusting contrast (tonality) if I use luminosity mode, just the contrast gets changed, not the saturation.

After all that, I then use another adjustment layer to directly change the saturation. This way there is less accidental saturation adjustment going on - I control saturation in one place, not 3 places. Certainly normal mode works just fine for the levels and curves too, but then if you go back and tweak those, the saturation needs tweaked again and so on. It is something I've recently started playing with - I used to just use normal mode for all of the tonal adjustments too.

Message edited by author 2004-12-03 10:07:38.

12/03/2004 10:24:55 AM · #4

nice work !!

i'm going to try to take a look at in with PS6.

also i read a post recently about sharpening a layer in luminosity mode, and have tried it on a few images. it seems to be a viable method of sharpening in certain situations.

12/03/2004 10:58:23 AM · #5

Originally posted by soup:

I tend to just use Fred Miranda sharpening actions (his CS Pro: Medium action). It is about the next thing on my list to stop doing quite so 'automatically' I think. Got any more info on the luminosity mode sharpening you mentioned ?

12/03/2004 11:38:01 AM · #6

i can't find where i read it, but remember now that it was part of a more involved process. maybe edge ( mask ) sharpening, but it has something to do with minimizing color shifts due to sharpening, and minimizing the sharpening of any color noise.

here is a bit of info on it, though many seem to switch to LAB mode, and sharpen the L channel. this method doesn't require you move out of RGB mode.

Luminosity sharpening

Luminosity sharpening II

12/03/2004 11:39:13 AM · #7

BTW you can open your PSD files in PS6

12/03/2004 11:45:57 AM · #8

Originally posted by soup:

BTW you can open your PSD files in PS6

Thanks for the info on this and the sharpening.

Message edited by author 2004-12-03 11:46:23.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

12/03/2004 11:52:38 AM · #9

i've also recently tried something called edge sharpening.
i find this to be kind of a pain in the neck. and that the luminosity method seems to serve the same purpose, and is also very easy to apply. easy is good in my book...

edge sharpening

Message edited by author 2004-12-03 11:53:12.

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

12/03/2004 12:24:41 PM · #10

This article on luminouslandscape.com has a bit about sharpening the luminance channel in lab color mode.

This one describes 'smart sharpening' and also has a couple Photoshop actions that implement the technique.

12/03/2004 06:01:37 PM · #11

Originally posted by micknewton:

Thanks Mick.

BigZenDragon

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

12/03/2004 06:06:01 PM · #12

sorry - my computer screwed up...hope I didn't just post something nonsensical...!

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

12/03/2004 06:44:46 PM · #13

Here is my edit:
link to portolio image removed
(I removed the image from my portfolio because it is not mine but Gordon's. If someone still wants to see it, I have uploaded it to a hidden gallery at my pbase account. Copy and paste this link into your browser: //www.pbase.com/azrifel/image/37207419.jpg It will remain there for a few weeks to months if Gordon has no problem with it.)

- from your psd I deleted everything but the cloned color layer
- new layer, overlay mode, 50% gray
- brush @ 30% black on the sky
- brush @ 15% black on the left bright part of the sky
- history brush one step back @ 40% on a part of the 15% previous step
- flatten
- levels, tightened to the first left point and somewhat inwards on the right
- channel mixer, monochrome
* 100% R
* 100% G
* -100% B
- sharpening on lightness channel in LAB mode
* 100%
* 0.3 radius (640 wide image)
* 1 treshold
- RGB mode
- save for the web

The channel mixing created a far more dramatic contrast between the sky and the earth. That's the way I like it, let me know what you think of it.
I also prefer to dodge and burn on an overlay layer instead of PS d&b tools and I prefered to darken the left more.
PS version was 6.0

Message edited by author 2004-12-06 16:56:42.

12/03/2004 06:54:49 PM · #14

and you find no negatives to switching to lab mode?
i'm no expert, but most of what i have read, except this NASA article, seemed to sort of frown upon it.

EDIT: it's a very dramatic scene - what you have done ;}

Message edited by author 2004-12-03 18:55:59.

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

12/03/2004 07:14:05 PM · #15

Originally posted by soup:

and you find no negatives to switching to lab mode?

Me? Not really. Sometimes I see a significant color shift when I switch from LAB to RGB, but it changes back again from LAB to RGB. This sometimes gives me new ideas to go back and change some stuff again.
It is in many ocassions hard to judge how much sharpening you are applying in LAB mode (B&W presentation), especially when you work on color and cannot predict the effect in color.
I use the LAB luminance USM exclusively. Proved to myself two years ago that it was better than normal RGB USM. The results are good enough for me so I never tried stuff like Fred Miranda's actions or with soft/hard light layers. I have to experiment with new settings now that I use the D70. The S602 required much more USM.