Move the Light - Tutorial - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S

02/15/2007 11:54:35 AM · #1

Ever take a shot and then later think "I wish 'the' 'light' had been this way or that way?" It happens to me a lot, especially outside 'the' studio where I have little control over 'the' ambient 'light'. Here is a fix that works wonders I thought I'd share with 60,000 of my closest friends. It's a method that does not destroy pixels and can be surprisingly forgiving.

We'll begin with this image (though practically any image can benefit from this technique in some amount):

Now, knowing that 'the' human eye will naturally be drawn to 'the' brightest parts of an image, I want to use that to my advantage. I want 'the' eye to first find 'the' horse's head, then follow to 'the' cart behind it, and I don't want 'the' eye to trail off to 'the' background. I'll begin my editing with that goal in mind.

So, step one is to add a new blank layer over your original layer (ctrl + shft + N).

Next, set your paintbrush to pure white & 100% opacity. Using 'the' paintbrush tool, paint over your image where you think you want to add more 'light' and/or highlights. It will look ridiculous, but don't worry, and don't worry about being tooooo precise either - as I mentioned, this technique is very forgiving.

You should have something that looks a bit like this:

Silly, huh? :)

Now set your paintbrush to pure black & 100% opacity and paint over 'the' areas you want to darken - again no need to be tedious about it.

Something like this:

Now for some magic...

With your goofy looking layer selected, change 'the' Blending mode to Soft 'Light'.

'The' image will still look dumb, don't worry:

Finally, choose Filter / Blur / Gaussian Blur and with a HEAVY hand blur 'the' layer until your shadows and highlights blend seamlessly into your image --

And your image should look something like this:

(note I added contrast and tweaked levels for 'the' final image)

Before and after comparison

Note: You may want to do your 'Light' and Dark adjustments on separate layers for more control. You can adjust 'the' opacity of your 'Light' and Dark layers to get precisely 'the' look you want. You can repeat 'the' above steps again and again on 'the' same image until you get 'the' results you want. You can also play with colors instead of black and white for different effects.

Let's have a quick look at using 'the' same technique on a portrait:

Here is my starting image:

It was shot on an overcast day and 'the' 'light' was flat.
'Light' and Dark added:

Notice I added "'light'" on 'the' forehead, bridge of 'the' nose, just under 'the' eyes and 'the' chin - all places where sunlight would normally hit.
Blending mode changed to Soft 'Light' & Gaussian blur added:

And finally a bit of curves adjustment and sharpening for 'the' finished portrait:

Before and after comparison

Play around with it - see what you can do! :)

Message edited by author 2007-02-15 22:22:09.

bassbone

Nikon Z8

02/15/2007 11:57:48 AM · #2

Cindi - You are my hero! Thanks for 'the' tutorial....

Rae-Ann

Fujifilm FinePix S9000

02/15/2007 11:59:49 AM · #3

WOw ...nice trick..and I have been learning all about layer masks etc lately so this is Perfect!

Thanks Cindi!

magenmarie

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

02/15/2007 12:08:10 PM · #4

Cindi, you are amazing. Thank you for this very helpful info. :)

angela_packard

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

02/15/2007 12:12:46 PM · #5

that's awesome...i might just have to try it out!

Hipychik

Sony Alpha a6000

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

02/15/2007 12:14:06 PM · #6

Thanks Cindi...I love learning all this new stuff. This is great.

flavioalima

Nikon D90

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

02/15/2007 12:54:03 PM · #7

Thanks for 'the' help!

BTW, where could I find other good tutorials about layers, masks and 'the' like? I started to use Gimp, but just can't get my images 'the' way I want...

Thanks again.

Raynox Pro Digital 0.66X Wide Angle Conversion

02/15/2007 01:10:03 PM · #8

Flavio - this (DPC tutorials)is a good place to start if you haven't checked them out already. Beyond that I find google continues to deliver new and more wonderful tutorials everytime I search.

RolandB

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

02/15/2007 01:36:58 PM · #9

WOW!!! Thanks for 'the' great "illustrated" tutorial. You're doing stuff I've never even heard of!!

Am I correct in assuming that this is perhaps an alternate and easier to control choice to dodging and burning? I'll have to play around with it a lot more, but my initial reaction is I'M IN LOVE!

Thanks again for sharing.

Raynox Pro Digital 0.66X Wide Angle Conversion

02/15/2007 01:46:29 PM · #10

Originally posted by RolandB:

...Am I correct in assuming that this is perhaps an alternate and easier to control choice to dodging and burning? ...

Yes, you are correct. Dodging & burning have their place, but remember that they directly change pixels and this method does not. You also have a great deal of control because you can have your adjustments in layers that remain changeable.

.... and you're welcome. :)

RolandB

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

02/15/2007 01:49:55 PM · #11

Originally posted by idnic:

Dodging & burning have their place, but remember that they directly change pixels and this method does not. You also have a great deal of control because you can have your adjustments in layers that remain changeable.

Ah, I forgot about that. No more starting over when I've burned/dodged too much! Going to work with it now. :)

margiemu

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/15/2007 01:50:28 PM · #12

Great tutorial! Thanks Cindi!

Valdo

Canon EOS-40D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

02/15/2007 01:52:19 PM · #13

Thanks for sharing, you are 'the' greatest ever ;)

Amazing specially in 'the' horse's image, my eyes goes to 'the' cart in 'the' original image in 'the' secon they follow 'the' horse first. Thumbs up!! girl

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

02/15/2007 02:07:21 PM · #14

Nice tutorial. I do something very similar as an alternative to dodge/burn but instead I use masked curves that acts as 'the' painted layer.

kashi

Nikon D60

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G

02/15/2007 02:21:08 PM · #15

WOW ! That is really REALLY cool - thanks.

TonyT

Fujifilm X-T5

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

02/15/2007 02:45:42 PM · #16

Excellent. Reading through this gave me a much better insight on how use layers.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

02/15/2007 03:20:38 PM · #17

I intentionally made this tutorial very BASIC with no more details than necessary to get 'the' main process explained. Once you start playing around with it try using different opacity paintbrushes, colored paintbrushes, etc.... 'The' sky is 'the' limit.

And yes, with Photoshop there are a dozen ways to do everything, this is just one technique that works well.

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

02/15/2007 03:23:08 PM · #18

Nice tutorial UGLY horse.

candlerain

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/15/2007 03:28:50 PM · #19

Thanks!

phatphoto

Nikon D200

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

02/15/2007 03:40:40 PM · #20

Thanks for 'the' tutorial. I will have to try this out. Thanks again!

Stiger

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

02/15/2007 03:47:59 PM · #21

Great tutuorial. I'm gonna give this a try when I get home tonight.