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06/06/2005 05:26:39 PM · #1 |
I've been messing around with depth of field and want to know what people are doing to create that pop in their pictures, especially in the sky. I did some quick dodging, contrast and brightness. What else do you suggest?
Before /After /After some Great Advice
  
Message edited by author 2005-06-06 21:36:34. |
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06/06/2005 05:41:11 PM · #2 |
My quick rendition. Not incredibly different than yours, just a little brigher in the shadows.
Lee |
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06/06/2005 05:53:15 PM · #3 |
I did Levels (brought both ends of the sliders in a little), Hue/Saturation (upped the saturation about 20), and Brightness/Contrast (upped contrast but not so much that the highlights in the clouds loose their detail) in that order. Also cloned out what looks like some sensor dust on the clouds.
EDIT: Now that I think about it that sensor dust that I cloned out turns out to the the American flag...Live and learn I guess.
*looks around nervously for men dressed in black coming to take him away*
Message edited by author 2005-06-06 17:57:11.
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06/06/2005 05:53:31 PM · #4 |
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06/06/2005 05:54:26 PM · #5 |
| Beautiful photo! Like how both of you made the clouds really pop. What is the tiny black thing above the tall center building - is it a part of the building covered by clouds? It just seemed distracting, and when I get a black speck on my photos, I know it's a dust speck I need to clone out. But man, I'm all about cityscapes and I love this view! |
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06/06/2005 05:56:01 PM · #6 |
Have you tried adding a gradient layer in overlay mode? Transparent to Black? I find that helps my cloudy skys quite a bit. If I have time I'll try to post an example.... but it's a pretty easy thing to try on your own.
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06/06/2005 05:56:28 PM · #7 |
| Looks like a flag to me so I left it in the picture. I cloned out all the other specs. |
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06/06/2005 05:56:58 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by woohoopepper:
Beautiful photo! Like how both of you made the clouds really pop. What is the tiny black thing above the tall center building - is it a part of the building covered by clouds? It just seemed distracting, and when I get a black speck on my photos, I know it's a dust speck I need to clone out. But man, I'm all about cityscapes and I love this view! |
It's a flag on a pole. A US flag, that is. |
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06/06/2005 05:57:26 PM · #9 |
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06/06/2005 06:02:21 PM · #10 |
oh btw...
-Curves
-Selective color editing of cyan and blue
-levels
-Dodgeing some buildings
-Burning some sky
-clone tool/heal tool
-Hue/sat/light edits in cyan and blue
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06/06/2005 07:10:28 PM · #11 |
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06/06/2005 07:44:54 PM · #12 |
Here's what I did real quick-like:
----------Before ---------------------- After -----------
* Open in CS2
* Checked White Balance - OK as is
* Cloned out the "stuff" in the sky except the flags. :)
* Image, Adjustments, Levels, Options, check Snap Neutral Midtones, top box (shadow) set to 0, bottom box set to 0.5, OK
* Image, Adjustments, Shadow/Highlight tool in basic, Shadow value set to 0, Highlights set to 15%, OK
* Image, Adjustments, Selective color, Open drop-down and select Blue, go to bottom slider for Black and up the level to 30%, Back up to drop-down box and select Cyan, go to bottom slider again for Black, and up teh level to 30%, OK
* Repeat above (adding too much at one time, generally over 20%) breaks down colors and adds noise.
* Image, Adjustments, Open drop-down and select White, go to bottom slider again for Black and slide left this time to a value of -20%. OK (this will boost the cloud whites without having to dodge)
* Image, Mode, Labcolor. Select lightness channel in channels box on lower right, (should now be a B&W image on screen) Image, Filter, Unsharp mask, set values to 50, 0.3 and 0, OK. Image, Mode, RGB. Save for web.
Open each so they are in taskbar and switch between them to see differences.
Message edited by author 2005-06-06 19:45:49. |
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06/06/2005 07:50:28 PM · #13 |
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and taking the time to share. It seems there are a ton of different ways to get almost the same result.
I cloned out the flag and several birds the first ime round on this one too ;) |
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06/06/2005 07:52:13 PM · #14 |
| Other than the cloning part, what I did above is all legal in basic editing by the way. |
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06/06/2005 07:57:03 PM · #15 |
Hi LowLight
Firstly, stick a 'please' on your thread title!
; )
Secondly, I'd go for the appearance of a polarized sky (polarizer is essential for good deep sky tones and tonal range). I've also exaggerated the 'drama' for this example.
This was a 5 minute quick fix, as follows:
Edits:
> add mono gradient map adjustment layer set to 'color' blend mode (goes b+w)
> dupe it and apply 'overlay' blend mode (fade opacity a tad) - deepens contrast
> copy 'merged' and paste above other layers - set to 'overlay blend mode
> disable adjustment layers revealing original colour layer
> Apply levels adjustment layer and add a graduated mask to deepen the top of the sky but fades out to top of skyline
See layer structure:
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06/06/2005 09:09:30 PM · #16 |
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