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08/07/2004 02:46:55 AM · #1
How do you lighten the underneath of birds. Took these pics today. I tried curves, and levels ...but these mostly worked on the sky. What do I do next? Pics have been cropped, resized and slight USM after resizing ps7


closer crop of the 2nd pic. would like to lighten the underwing slightly but not lose the definition on the bird......but can't do it!!!! Have real probs with these white birds!


thanks
sue
08/07/2004 02:54:56 AM · #2
Well, sometimes I use the shadow/highlight feature of photoshop, it's under Image - > Adjustments. Here's what I got after using it:



Other than that, try reshooting when the sun is lower and during mid-day, watch where the bird is in proximity to the sun. A more overcast day will give you softer lighting. Depending on how far away the bird is, I suppose you could also try using a flash.
08/07/2004 03:05:30 AM · #3
Thanks Brian....was too far away for flash today. Will try that with the ps and see how I get on.

sue



edited to add yet another seagull pic ;)adjusted the levels here. Grass looks a bit too green and bird too white.

Message edited by author 2004-08-07 03:15:16.
08/07/2004 03:37:03 AM · #4
Sue,

There's actually a pretty easy solution, but if you're not familiar with the technique, it can be rather time consuming...

- Outline the section you want to work on using the Polyagonal Lasso tool (the standard lasso is a bit too loose for my taste, especially up close).

- To keep from getting sharp, over-contrasted edges, choose Select > Feather... You'll have to determine the pixel length of the feathering for yourself depending on the size of the selection and the resolution of the file, but usually something between 2px-5px works best.

- From here, you can make broad "strokes" by applying an adjustment layer using Levels, or you can hand-tool the results by using the Dodge & Burn tools. In this instance, you would want to dodge some parts of the wing in order to lighten them. A word of caution, though -- both the Dodge tool and the Burn tool both pack quite a punch. I typically leave mine both set between 9%-18% and get plenty of results out of each pass. You will have to choose between affecting the shadows (that's it for this case), midtones, or highlights for each individual shot, but this should get you there.

And if you want to get really elaborate, you always have the option of dodging a large portion of the wing and then burn details back in by hand.

Note, however, that some of these tricks even push the boundries of what's allowed with advanced editing, so use at your own risk. ;)

08/07/2004 03:56:22 AM · #5
Thanks Jake! Think I'll need to print that off and work through it step by step.

sue

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