| Author | Thread |
|
|
07/03/2006 01:19:57 PM · #976 |
Originally posted by Prism:
I took your advice and darkened the sky in my "tourist" snapshot but then I decided to re-crop and re-edit the whole thing. Any comments or opinions on which version works better would be appreciated.
 |
The crop is much more effective. The sky's WAY too cartoonish-blue. The shot, in general, feels very flat, and that's hurting you; there's absolutely no serious "modeling" taking place from the light, except for a bit on the trees. You can improve it by local work to try to create zones of varying density as you go "into" the image (the grass lower right fore is too bright, for example), but the bottom line is it needs to be shot in better lighting. Post the original and let us see what's doable?
R.
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 03:41:40 PM · #977 |
Yeah, I still have a problem with sky colour, I can never quite get the right shade of blue. I am not sure how to get the full size original to post. I have uploaded it into my workshop but the link only seems to pick up the 164kb version, not the full size. Maybe it would be better if I emailed it to you? If so, should I use the Yahoo address shown on your profile?
Ricky |
|
|
|
07/03/2006 03:50:24 PM · #978 |
Originally posted by Prism:
Yeah, I still have a problem with sky colour, I can never quite get the right shade of blue. I am not sure how to get the full size original to post. I have uploaded it into my workshop but the link only seems to pick up the 164kb version, not the full size. Maybe it would be better if I emailed it to you? If so, should I use the Yahoo address shown on your profile?
Ricky |
Yah, sure; mail it to me. I'll take a look at it. As far as sky blues goes, when you're applying a gradient to the sky do it on an empty layer set to "multiply", pick a blue darker than the one you want, and then use image/adjustments/hue+saturation and move the master hue slider back and forth to get the blue the color you want. Do this IN the gradient layer, not as an adjustment layer. Then just fade the layer opacity until the actual amount of gradient darkening looks right to you.
R.
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 04:02:34 PM · #979 |
Originally posted by Prism:
 |
Wow, what a difference! I like the new edit a lot more. The overall color and contrast has been improved significantly (espeically looking at the new extended range of blues in the lake). I'll agree with Bear that the sky does look a bit cartoony, but you're going the right direction with your gradient. Like he said, just use the "color picker" to get a blue from the top of your sky, then in your color editor darken it. Use this new darkened blue in a foreground-to-transparent gradient on a new layer set to "multiply" mode.
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 04:12:07 PM · #980 |
Originally posted by Prism:
Beautiful job on this shot, Justin! I would be interested in seeing the original shot from before your post-processing, just to see the differences. |
 
After about 4 hours of careful editing ;)
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 05:11:18 PM · #981 |
Originally posted by justin_hewlett:
Originally posted by Prism:
Beautiful job on this shot, Justin! I would be interested in seeing the original shot from before your post-processing, just to see the differences. |
After about 4 hours of careful editing ;) |
Wow....
R.
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 06:42:41 PM · #982 |
Originally posted by justin_hewlett:
I almost just got a personal best with my Motion Blur entry.
Again, this was taken on one of my hikes. I know you've seen plenty of my hike images of blurred water and trees, but this one tops them all IMO. One of my personal favorites actually. Comments/critiques welcomed. I can share editing details if necessary, but most are in the image details. |
That's really nice, congrats on the almost-personal-best. Great job on the editing. |
|
|
|
07/03/2006 06:52:40 PM · #983 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Wow.... |
Originally posted by MadMan2k:
That's really nice, congrats on the almost-personal-best. Great job on the editing. |
Thank you very much.
|
|
|
|
07/03/2006 07:12:40 PM · #984 |
Applying a blue gradient to a complex sky
No Gradient:  ... Gradient: 
Here is another color sky gradient technique you may want to try when the sky is complicated.
It is EASY to apply, better maintains cloud detail without turning them excessively blue and does not bleed over into complex background detail like branches and leaves. It is straitforward and does not require any erasures or hand adjustments to the gradient or the gradient mask.
The technique works with any image with blue skies. I picked this image for an example because of the complexity of the sky detail. It has sinuos clouds and it has branches with leaves that jut up into the sky. The idea is to use a blue gradient to darken the blue in the sky but maintain it's natural look without any blue color bleeding into unwanted places like the cactus, clouds and palo verde trees.
Post:
1-Choose "Select->Color Range" and pick "Blues" (or "Cyans") from popup list
2-Choose "Layer->New->Layer..." and accept defaults for a transparent layer
3-With new layer highlighted choose "Layer->Layer Mask->Reveal Selection" or just click the new mask icon
4-Use Color Picker to choose desired shade of blue
5-Select Gradient tool and drag downward from top to below the lowest blue in sky
You can apply all the other gradient things you'd normally do like mode changes, fading, duplication or layer opacity changes. But you will find this application can be more subtle than others even at 100%.
In step 1 you could alternatively use the shift key with the eyedropper tool to make a sky selection.
Message edited by author 2006-07-03 19:14:02.
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 06:19:59 AM · #985 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by overclover:
ok let me have it, I've been reading like a woman possessed and taking pictures before the crack of dawn and at dusk regularly like a true addict. I think Im getting somewhere. |
Yeah, you're getting somewhere :-) Can you add the original, unedited version to your post? I'd love to see what you were working with...
I presume the unnatural coloring is a deliberate choice? The overall impact of this image is some sort of post-apocalyptic blight :-) I like it pretty much, but then I'm a sci-fi-freak of a bear.
R. |
hope this works
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 08:03:36 AM · #986 |
...
With some touchup work this does not make a bad black and white.
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 12:53:08 PM · #987 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
...
With some touchup work this does not make a bad black and white. |
That's some nice work, Steve. Care to share your editing steps? Looks like quite a bit of dodging and burning.
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 01:51:04 PM · #988 |
Originally posted by justin_hewlett:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
...
With some touchup work this does not make a bad black and white. |
That's some nice work, Steve. Care to share your editing steps? Looks like quite a bit of dodging and burning. |
Wellll... that is a closely guarded secret, but for you and overclover I will make a special exception. ;)
Post:
1-Duplicate BG layer
2-Standard Levels (White triangle only shifted left)
3-Hue/Sat and Channel Mixer for B&W conversion and color adjustments for better B&W contrast and highlighting of the foreground
4-With low opacity setting clone clouds from the right side of the image into a new blank layer to fill in the overexposed area
5-Selective dodge and burn with vivid light for ground highlighting on 50% greyscale overlay layer
6-Smart sharpen (then mask out haloing on horizon)
Message edited by author 2006-07-04 14:26:16.
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 02:12:36 PM · #989 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
dodge and burn with vivid light for ground highlighting |
Hmm, interesting. I've never use anything other than "overlay" on my d&b layers. In your experience, which different blending modes are similar to "overlay" but allow for specialized effects like "ground highlighting?"
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 02:23:42 PM · #990 |
Originally posted by justin_hewlett:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
dodge and burn with vivid light for ground highlighting |
Hmm, interesting. I've never use anything other than "overlay" on my d&b layers. In your experience, which different blending modes are similar to "overlay" but allow for specialized effects like "ground highlighting?" |
I did do it on a 50% greyscale overlay layer. Sorry I did not make that clear. I've not used anything other than overlay mode but I suppose any in that group might work depending on the image.
Message edited by author 2006-07-04 14:29:47.
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 02:55:25 PM · #991 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Applying a blue gradient to a complex sky
No Gradient: ... Gradient:
Here is another color sky gradient technique you may want to try when the sky is complicated. ... |
Wow, stdavidson, what a fantastic color sky gradient technique you shared earlier... It is amazing, it is so natural looking and so easy... I studied the two images closely and the color you could get into the tree detail is incredible.
You are a genius. And with your personality and good looks I'm surprised the women of DPC aren't bareing themselves to you in droves!
|
|
|
|
07/04/2006 10:46:40 PM · #992 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Applying a blue gradient to a complex sky
No Gradient: ... Gradient:
Here is another color sky gradient technique you may want to try when the sky is complicated. ... |
Wow, stdavidson, what a fantastic color sky gradient technique you shared earlier... It is amazing, it is so natural looking and so easy... I studied the two images closely and the color you could get into the tree detail is incredible.
You are a genius. And with your personality and good looks I'm surprised the women of DPC aren't bareing themselves to you in droves! |
Thanks for sharing your simply amazing wonderful sky gradient technique, stdavidson. Next week when I go back to work from vacation and have access to CS2 again, I'll have to give it a try. Meanwhile, I am still trying to see if I can use any of it in PSPX (which I have at home). If I can figure it out, it sure beats all that painful selecting around branches business! 8D |
|
|
|
07/05/2006 12:58:45 PM · #993 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
[quote]
Wow, stdavidson, what a fantastic color sky gradient technique you shared earlier... It is amazing, it is so natural looking and so easy... I studied the two images closely and the color you could get into the tree detail is incredible.
You are a genius. And with your personality and good looks I'm surprised the women of DPC aren't bareing themselves to you in droves! |
Jejejeâ„¢ Way to toot your own horn, Steve. Let me add that I'm having the same "problem" with the women of DPC not flocking to me in droves, I attribute it to my aloof bear-ness.
Anyway, you just introduced what was gonna be the NEXT lesson in applying gradients, so I thank you for that. Let's see how many are interested. One bit of warning, though; the color range selector will also pick up the blues (or cyans) in the shadows and in strongly-lit clouds, and this can sometimes be a problem as the gradient overlaps objects. You can manually remove the largest areas where this happens if the affected areas are themselves fairly solid. It's not really an issue with a subtle gradient like you have shown here, but it's noticeable with more extreme gradients.
R.
Message edited by author 2006-07-06 00:12:28.
|
|
|
|
07/05/2006 01:41:18 PM · #994 |
Originally posted by overclover:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by overclover:
ok let me have it, I've been reading like a woman possessed and taking pictures before the crack of dawn and at dusk regularly like a true addict. I think Im getting somewhere. |
Yeah, you're getting somewhere :-) Can you add the original, unedited version to your post? I'd love to see what you were working with...
I presume the unnatural coloring is a deliberate choice? The overall impact of this image is some sort of post-apocalyptic blight :-) I like it pretty much, but then I'm a sci-fi-freak of a bear.
R. |
hope this works
|
I decided to have some post-4th of July pyrotechnical fun with this one, working from clover's original, and came up with the following. Don't ask me for my editing steps, I was just firing at random and undoing and trying again, free-float mode :-) I didn't spend as much time as I ought to have cleaning up the sky/foreground interface, mostly because at 640 pixels what's the point? But this could all be done clean from a full size original...
Edit to add: NO dodging or burning was used, and the only selection used was to make a selection for the sky, and later invert that to work on the foreground. And yes, I'm aware of the sloppy cloning work, this was a "speed challenge" jejejeâ„¢
Robt.
Message edited by author 2006-07-05 13:45:58.
|
|
|
|
07/05/2006 03:30:58 PM · #995 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Applying a blue gradient to a complex sky
No Gradient: ... Gradient:
Here is another color sky gradient technique you may want to try when the sky is complicated. ... |
Anyway, you just introduced what was gonna be the NEXT lesson in applying gradients, so I thank you for that. Let's see how many are interested... |
Think gradients are a good topic for a lesson, especially for landscapes. They can be used in so many different ways for several different purposes.
Typically, for sky work, I usually do a color range selection and paint a color (or black or white) on a 50% greyscale overlay layer to do what other folks use a gradient for. In an overlay layer I like the natural way the color merges with the original color and how it maintains the natural sky gradient. But you can achieve roughly similar results with a gradient in a selection mask and reducing the opacity of the gradient layer. And it is easy to do.
Message edited by author 2006-07-05 15:33:02.
|
|
|
|
07/05/2006 06:27:38 PM · #996 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Applying a blue gradient to a complex sky
No Gradient: ... Gradient:
Here is another color sky gradient technique you may want to try when the sky is complicated. ... |
Anyway, you just introduced what was gonna be the NEXT lesson in applying gradients, so I thank you for that. Let's see how many are interested... |
Think gradients are a good topic for a lesson, especially for landscapes. They can be used in so many different ways for several different purposes.
Typically, for sky work, I usually do a color range selection and paint a color (or black or white) on a 50% greyscale overlay layer to do what other folks use a gradient for. In an overlay layer I like the natural way the color merges with the original color and how it maintains the natural sky gradient. But you can achieve roughly similar results with a gradient in a selection mask and reducing the opacity of the gradient layer. And it is easy to do. |
I think we already did a "lesson" on applying gradients to a plain sky, when we didn't have to worry about protrusions like in your shot. The NEXT step was to do examp[les like yours. Why not write us up a mini-lesson on how to do what you're describing, Steve? In particular, tell people how to create and use the 50% gray layer, and how to make a color range selection. The stage is yours :-)
R.
|
|
|
|
07/05/2006 10:50:10 PM · #997 |
It's taken a good long while, but, I have finally gotten through all of this thread. Although some of the material is the same as was in the mentor thread, this was very worth-while. I have learned a lot reading through everything and really enjoyed the before and after post processing examples. Also, some of the discussion among members, hearing different viewpoints, was very helpful.
So, I wanted to take a moment to thank all those that have contributed.
Now, I have a question. I don't have Photoshop, but am interested in the contrast masking that has been discussed extensively in this and other threads. From what I read, the CTRL-ALT-Tilde sequence creats a feathered highlight selection. How is a highlight defined, and how much feathering? Is it everything above middle grey, the top 25%, etc??? Does the amount of feathering depend on the dimensions or is it a set number of pixels? I'd like to try duplicating this with PaintShop Pro.
Also, not that my 'vote' counts, I'd like to see a discussion of landscapes with ultra-wide lenses. This was brought up a few pages back, but the panoramic discussion took off, and UW compositions never really got discussed.
Thanks again to Bear for leading the instruction, and all those that have contributed.
|
|
|
|
07/06/2006 03:10:33 AM · #998 |
OK, one last kick at the cat with edits on this shot. I think I have a more realistic sky this time and have played around with spot editting to try and create what I hope is modeling as mentioned by bear_music. I also darkened the grass patch. Any comments?
tsheets,
what version of PaintShopPro are you working with? Both PSP9 and PSPX have a masking feature that works similarly to that described for Photoshop. The short cuts don't work, but if you create a duplicate layer, then use Layers->New Mask Layer->from image, you will create a group layer with a mask. Any adjustment layers below the mask are then affected by the mask. You can modify the mask using the eraser or by painting on it (varying shades of white to gray to black change opacity of the mask) |
|
|
|
07/06/2006 10:03:55 AM · #999 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
I think we already did a "lesson" on applying gradients to a plain sky, when we didn't have to worry about protrusions like in your shot. The NEXT step was to do examp[les like yours. Why not write us up a mini-lesson on how to do what you're describing, Steve? In particular, tell people how to create and use the 50% gray layer, and how to make a color range selection. The stage is yours :-) |
Ah hah! I see through your ploy. You sly devil, you! I respect that kind of thinking. ;)
I will see what "lesson" I can come up with. LOL!!!
Btw... I might have been sleeping through the original gradient lesson. :)
Message edited by author 2006-07-06 10:53:34.
|
|
|
|
07/06/2006 10:31:05 AM · #1000 |
Originally posted by tsheets:
... I have a question. I don't have Photoshop, but am interested in the contrast masking that has been discussed extensively in this and other threads. From what I read, the CTRL-ALT-Tilde sequence creats a feathered highlight selection. How is a highlight defined, and how much feathering? Is it everything above middle grey, the top 25%, etc??? Does the amount of feathering depend on the dimensions or is it a set number of pixels? I'd like to try duplicating this with PaintShop Pro.
Also, not that my 'vote' counts, I'd like to see a discussion of landscapes with ultra-wide lenses. This was brought up a few pages back, but the panoramic discussion took off, and UW compositions never really got discussed.
Thanks again to Bear for leading the instruction, and all those that have contributed. |
Hmmmm... the "CTRL-ALT-Tilde" might be a built in Photoshop 'thing'. Do not know if this is a feature common to other photo editing or not. I use PS CS2 for my editing but have the freebie software Gimp installed and have worked with it and it is a very sophisticated program.
I kinda doubt it does the 'contrast mask' technique as described by Bear_Music but you should check the documentation of your editor to know for sure.
Your question, "How is a highlight defined, and how much feathering?" is a good one. That is something I have wondered about myself regarding 'contrast masking' and never really found an answer. In Photoshop there is a setting in Curves that divides the display into fourths. Highlights are defined to be everything on the upper right 4th part of that display. Whether that applies to "CTRL-ALT-Tilde" and how much feathering is applied I do not know... maybe Bear_Music does.
|
|
