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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Advice re editing please
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AuthorThread
 03/14/2005 03:31:11 AM · #1
Would appreciate some advice on how to do it.

How could I have edited this shot for the Ansel Adams challenge to have got a better photo. I got a lot of comments regarding the clouds being overexposed, it was a fairly clear day with white clouds......or should I have just used a different image with a more dramatic sky.

I personally was uninspired by this image........I think that showed both in my image and my result.
original uncropped


challenge entry


thanks
sue
 03/14/2005 03:41:26 AM · #2
Well I'm pretty new when it comes to photography, and even newer when it comes to editing, but it seems to me that those clouds are completely blown out, which, unfortunately means that even the photoshop geniuses among us would have trouble fixing them. Aside from the clouds there's not much wrong with the image, though to be honest I'm not really inspired by the composition either.

Best of luck in future, judging from some of your previous shots, particularly the dog ones, you've definately got some talent to work with :)!

Message edited by author 2005-03-14 03:42:39.
 03/14/2005 11:10:04 AM · #3
Well here's the thing, with the clouds being over exposed they will never have the detail that you want, but if they did have some detail or you just wanted to try play with the sky, you use the color select tool and select the blue of the sky and darken it with levels or curves, then convert to black and white and that would give you a more dramatic sky.

You could even use a layer mask with a gradient (with the blue selected) to make the sky darker at the top and lighter as it nears the horizon line. There are quite a few tutorials on-line about making dramatic black and white conversions from color photos.

Also another thought is, using the Channel Mixer tool, a really powerful tool, you can replicate traditional B&W lens filters with it.

Try this on you photos instead of using desaturate (control-U or apple-U):

Channel Mixer with the 'Monochrome' box ticked, and enter these values:

Neutral ( R=45, G=35, B=20, Constant=0 )
Red ( R=100, G=15, B=0, Constant=-15 )
Yellow ( R=60, G=30, B=10, Constant=0 )
Orange ( R=75, G=20, B=20, Constant=-15 )
Green ( R=35, G=55, B=20, Constant=-10 )
Blue ( R=15, G=15, B=80, Constant=-10 )

Play with the numbers and you can get some really cool results (notice the blue channel for your sky)

Good luck!
03/14/2005 11:48:54 AM · #4
Kris,

I must be missing something. When I go to channel mixer and select monochrome, all I get is the gray output channel. Although when playing around with the controls, I can get a fair B&W image, I don't have all the controls you list.

Dick
03/14/2005 01:17:01 PM · #5
Thanks for the replies :) Will try this again, with a more dramatic image though.....learned a lot with this challenge. It made me try out loads of different ideas, made me really look at b/w imaging.

This was one of the images I played with to see if I could get shades of grey and I was pleased with how it turned out



sue
 03/15/2005 02:09:40 AM · #6
Oh damn, I'm sorry, I was in a hurry this morning and decided to combine two programs and three filters together. . . Seriously, yes you will only get the gray channel with the monchrome box selected (and can use the sliders to do the walking there), and you won't have all the options I listed (because I think I was looking at notes from a third party plug-in I have), any-who, sorry if I confused. Here we go:

Try moving the sliders on the Red, Green, and Blue pull down bars, you can use the numbers from below or not then hit ok, then re-open the channel mixer and click the monochrome button, then try the sliders again, anyway good luck and I feel a bit foolish for misdirecting you, sorry.
 03/15/2005 05:16:10 AM · #7
Thanks for that Kris :)
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