Edgy Landscape

Jerry Rusk, Lakewood, CO

The problem: There’s certainly nothing wrong with the scene selection (Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring), or the composition, or the lighting, or the decision to convert to black-and-white. But the conversion left artifacts in the clouds (notice the overly crisp — actually jagged — edges of the clouds against the sky) and dropped the trees on the hillside into murky darkness.

What now? The photographer supplied us with the color original, so we first made a duplicate background layer in Adobe Photoshop CS3, then used the Multiply Blend tool to increase shadow density — in effect, giving us a little more detail to work with. Then we used the Channel Mixer to convert to monochrome, but here we did something a little more involved than usual. In viewing the image in the different channels, we saw that the sky looked good in the red channel alone, and the ground looked good in the blue channel alone. So we put them in two separate layers and combined them. Because this made the sky so dark, it made a lone cloud in the top center of the original frame fight for your attention, so we cloned it out to make an even, dark expanse.

Next time: We see quite a few good pictures that develop problems in conversion to b&w. If monochrome is your mania, it’s worth experimenting with the Channel Mixer in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements’ B&W Converter, or plug-ins such as Alien Skin’s Exposure.

Tech info: Tripod-mounted Canon EOS 20D with 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 Canon EF-S lens. Exposure, 1/40 sec at f/18, ISO 200. Converted to b&w in Photoshop.

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Floating Element

Michael Dreese, Middleburg, PA

The problem: Okay, we admit we’re suckers for pictures of small boats drifting in the fog. We like this one, but the fog is so thick, and the contrast so low, that the boat almost gets lost. Also, while the boat is positioned off-center along the horizontal axis — that’s good — it evenly splits the picture vertically, which lessens dynamic tension. It should move either up or down.

What now? First we made a new crop from the original RAW image file. Closet traditionalists that we are, we put the boat right at the rule-of-thirds intersection point, one-third up, one-third in. We sharpened the file a bit to get a little more snap in the boat. We noticed a slight magenta tone to the image; we decided to boost it by using Photoshop’s Photo filter adjustment to add a pink overlay.

Next time: Simple images can provide plenty of opportunity for experimentation with cropping, color, contrast. You know, those things people used to do in — what was it called? — oh yeah, the darkroom.

Tech info: Nikon D70 with 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX Zoom-Nikkor. Exposure, 1/10 sec at f/8, ISO 200. RAW converted in Photoshop CS.

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Elephants and Kilmanjaro, a perfect combination. Paul Marcellini of Miami processed his shot from Amboseli National Park to accent the drama. Nothing wrong with that approach, but the elephants blend in with the foreground, and the image has too pink a cast.

Working with his RAW file in Adobe Camera Raw, we converted the top and bottom of the frame separately—the top with a darker exposure—and chose a more neutral tone in both. Then, in Photoshop CS5, we cropped to get in tighter. Yes, we lost most of the purple cloud, but it was distracting. We used Smart Sharpen on the elephants to increase their separation from the foreground, but this had little effect. So we selectively darkened the ground around them, essentially rendering them lighter. Total time fixing: 20 minutes.

Photo: Paul Marcellini

The post How To: Tweak For a Stronger Image appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Usually when we run a photo by Ben Cooper, it’s of a rocket launch (he’s a NASA photographer), but he’s also an avid nature shooter. He had the right idea, while in Yosemite, of using a flashlight to add fill light to the grass hummocks in the foreground, but the whole picture remains too flat and dark.

Working with his original RAW file, we increased exposure, added Fill Light to open up the shadows, and used Clarity to boost midtone contrast. We then opened the file in Adobe Photoshop CS5, masked off the sky, and adjusted contrast using Curves. We also used Curves and a mask to add extra contrast to the mountains, before leveling the horizon.

Total time fixing: 15 minutes.

Cooper shot the picture using his Nikon D200 and 10–20mm f/4–5.6 Sigma DC lens; exposure, 30 sec at f/6.3, ISO 100.

Photo: Ben Cooper

The post How To: Lighten Up those Shadows to Produce a Stronger Image appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The interplay of the gold against blue in Sharon Gallentine’s shore scenic makes for striking contrast, but the Fix-It team thought the blues were too electric. The color is typical of shadows on snow, and is amplified early and late in the day.

The best way to fix color casts is to work in the RAW file, but the Manistee, MI, resident’s Fujifilm FinePix S5800 does not allow RAW capture. Luckily the JPEG had enough information to work with. In Adobe Photoshop CS5, we used Curves to pull down the blue channel. Then we cropped in, as well—this made the group on the ice more prominent. We didn’t crop so much that we lost the nice curve of the foreground grasses.

Time fixing: 10 minutes.

The shot was taken with the S5800’s 38–380mm equivalent f/3.5–3.7 lens at about 85mm; 1/100 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100.

Photo: Sharon Gallentine

The post How To: Color Correct for a Stronger Image appeared first on Popular Photography.

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You’ll notice very little difference between the Before and After versions of this photo because it needed very little fixing. The composition and exposure of this shot by Jessie Hoye of Berkeley, CA, are right on the money. But the picture looked slightly flat in the water and sky, and we felt that these could use a little boost.

Working in Adobe Photoshop CS5, we used masks on two Curves Adjustment Layers to separately tweak the water and the sky. In each layer, we used a shallow S-curve tailored to its specific tonal range, brightening the highlights and deepening the shadows.

Total time fixing: 5 minutes.

Hoye shot with a Nikon D60 with 10–20mm f/4–5.6 Sigma DC lens; exposure, 1/4 sec at f/13, ISO 100.

Photo: Jessie Hoye

The post How To: Use a Touch of Curves to Create a Stronger Image appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Heath Stovall saw more than a straight shot in his image of a country road, and so the Florence, AL, shooter worked on its contrast and color in Adobe Photoshop CS3 for a moodier interpretation. We like the idea, but found the colors too muddy and decided to take it one step further into mononchrome.

We started with a flat conversion of Stovall’s RAW file to make sure we had as much detail as possible. Then, using the Photoshop plug-in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (reviewed on page 80) we went black-and-white with the preset called Full Dynamic Harsh. Next we modified the preset using different control points for the sky and land areas to keep the latter darker and less contrasty.

Finally, we added a very light selenium tone for a hint of color in the image.

Total time fixing: 15 minutes.

Photo: Heath Stovall

The post How To: Determine if Your Image is in Need of Greyscaling appeared first on Popular Photography.

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