First go at layers - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

05/09/2005 07:09:09 PM · #1

and after:

I did the 2 layers/ gradient tool merge and a little bit of shadows/highlight and dodge/burn (following pedro's advice!). I also had to neatimage the end result because of the noise brought out...
So, what do you think, is it too much?
Thanks

buzzmom

Panasonic DMC-FZ20

05/09/2005 07:15:04 PM · #2

wow that is beautiful!!! i am so jealous i cant even figure out how to begin!!!!

aronya1

Nikon D70

05/09/2005 07:18:39 PM · #3

Beautiful colors, but yes, I'd say it is a little overdone. Personal taste, of course. The sky looks almost like a cartoon or a painting, while the mountains look like a photo. It DOES look good, though.

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/09/2005 07:22:11 PM · #4

its a good start.

keep it up.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/09/2005 07:50:11 PM · #5

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm off to bed now, it's nearly one in the morning in the UK and my eyes are starting to hurt... I think I agree with you tim, it is a tad overdone!

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

05/09/2005 08:10:55 PM · #6

Originally posted by tazza:

I saw the thread posted earlier about how to fix blown out skies and I read the original thread by orussel (here) and decided to try it on an old pic I took on Christmas eve last year. That shot really didn't do justice to the view, which was really disappointing... Anyway, that's the way it looked before:and after:

I did the 2 layers/ gradient tool merge and a little bit of shadows/highlight and dodge/burn (following pedro's advice!). I also had to neatimage the end result because of the noise brought out...
So, what do you think, is it too much?
Thanks

Generally speaking the result is very good with the possible exception that the yellow might be a bit intense.

An alternative way to bring out color in an image that does NOT increase noise is to use a 50% greyscale layer.
These are the steps:
1-Layer-->New Layer and set the mode to 'overlay' and check the 50% neutral grey checkbox.
2-Select-->'Color Range' and use the color picker to select one or more shades of one color (like red or yellow in your case) to select the colors to be enhanced. Be sure 'selection' rather than 'image' is checked and set your fuzziness to about 20%. In this display the selected color will appear white and the unselected areas will be black. When you have selected the proper amount of color click 'OK'. A selection area with 'marching ants' will be displayed. Chose Select-->'Save Selection' and give the selection a meaningful name (like yellows, reds, etc.) You save it for two reasons. One, a saved selection becomes a mask you can manipulate if you need to and; two, the exact selection can be relaoded later as needed.

This type of selection is significant because all color pixels of the selected color range are selected, even when it is less than 50% of the color of a particular pixel and therefore lies OUTSIDE the 'marching ants' display. The 'marching ant' display only circles areas where more than 50% of the color of the pixels are in the color range.

3-Select-->feather. An amount 10-25 pixels is common. Experience will help you to guess what works best and it is different for each selection. This helps establish the color transition back to the rest of the image to make the changes that you will apply look natural.

4-Go to the toolbar and double-click the foreground (top) color. It will be the last color selected by the color picker. Either adjust that color to better match the color as you remember it or select the color from scratch, whichever is easiest.

4-Select the 'Brush Tool' from the tool bar and make it a LARGE brush size. You will have to experiment to determine the proper amount of opacity to set the brush for but can easily range from 3% to as much as 80%. The opacity determines the amount of color you will paint. I usually try a couple of different opacity values until I get the color intensity correct.

5-With broad strokes using a large brush size you paint the color onto the 50% grey layer. Be sure to check to see that you have that layer selected before you start painting. Though you can paint on the actual image layer it is not nearly as natural looking as it is when painted on the greyscale layer. The reason for that is that the final view is a combination of both image layer and the greyscale layer that are merged together rather than the color simply being painted on top of the image layer replacing the existing pixels.

The cool part is you don't have to be careful when painting with the brush tool because the selection you just made has taken care of all that for you.

6-Select-->deselect

7-Repeat steps 2 through 6 for each color you want to enhance without the nasty noise side effects that you get with other types of adjustment layers.

A big advantage of this method is that it does not modify your original image at all, it does it WITHOUT added noise and it can easily be readjusted later.

There you go... what could be simpler? ;)

Message edited by author 2005-05-09 20:15:12.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/10/2005 06:33:26 AM · #7

Originally posted by stdavidson:

There you go... what could be simpler? ;)

Autocolor? Just joking, thank you very much for taking the time to post this technique, I appreciate it a lot as I really want to get better at PS. It sounds really useful especially for cameras with noisy sensors like mine and I'll definitely give it a go (when I've got 3 or 4 hours of spare time ;)

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

05/10/2005 06:41:16 AM · #8

That's even more overdone than mine! ;-)

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/10/2005 07:06:10 AM · #9

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

That's even more overdone than mine! ;-)

Yeah, but yours scored 8.27!!! And got 150+ favs (including me). In fact it was one of the first photo I saw on DPC and I couldn't believe how gorgeous the colors were! I know the secret now ;-)

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

05/10/2005 07:12:58 AM · #10

The PP on mine was fairly simple, no dodging and burning... just seperate into two layers, and adjust curves seperately on each layer. Obviously, there was some perspective correction as well. And quite aggressive sharpening on the tower.
I have to say though that I much prefered the colours in your original photo. You particularly need to be careful about blowing out the detail in your sky by oversaturating... your histogram for each colour channel should not blow out. You can tell this without Photoshop by noticing large patches of solid colour without detail in your photo.