Folks just starting out in Photoshop often find the Curves dialog intimidating and only use the Levels Dialog. But with just a little bit of knowledge a new user can move from the “simple” Levels tool to Curves and in doing so gain so much more precise control while adjusting tones in their images.
In Part 1 of this series we will look at how simple it is to set the white and black points on an image using both Levels and Curves. When setting white and black points we are brightening the lights and darkening the shadows. This means we are increasing the overall contrast in the image. And this boost in contrast can help the overall appearance of many images. In Part 2 we’ll look at adjusting the overall brightness of an image with both Levels and Curves. And introduce you to the added control that Curves provides. Read the rest of this entry »
The other day I was talking to someone about underwater photography. They had seen one of those show slide shows, that occasionally float around on the Internet, and this one was devoted to the underwater world. As a non diver they had not experienced anything like that. And the idea of sharing underwater images on this blog hit my like a rock. My underwater images don’t get that much exposure. I do have a few that I have in my inventory that I take with me to juried art show. But is very rare that I sell one so I don’t print many. But one of the big reasons for me to make photographs in the first place is to share the experience with a wider audience. So the idea of Underwater Wednesday was born. And I thought I would start this series with an image of one of the larger animals that many find frightful but I find so amazing. A shark.
Read the rest of this entry »
The alarm goes off and I’m up to look out the window to see if I can confirm the weather man’s prediction, that the wind would stop. And for the first morning that I’ve been doing this the trees outside our room are not blowing. Everything was still. Hooray!! That means for the first time since we’ve been in Death Valley we will get to shoot the sand dunes.
When we got there we realized that all that wind has done some good. It had covered up all the foot prints left by all the previous visitors. So finding interesting subjects with no signs of the hand-of-man would be easier.
Read the rest of this entry »
Last night I was getting caught up listening to some podcasts that have been setting in iTunes for a while. And I though these three audio podcast from Brooks Jensen’s Postcast on Photography and the Creative Process went along with and enhanced an idea I had for a blog posting. So I thought I would combine the two.
In my recent classes I’ve been reinforcing the idea that digital photography is a two step process: image capture followed by post processing. And if you don’t do much post processing you are doing your images a disservice. Tasteful post processing will allow you to bring out the emotions that you were experiencing while you were photographing. And this will cause the viewer of you images to become more engaged. Read the rest of this entry »
TAT is the Target Adjustment Tool. It is used to make edits by clicking and dragging in the image. This allows one to pick an area to edit based on it’s visual characteristics (tone, color, etc.). The TAT is available in Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw (and Lightroom’s Develop Module). In ACR and LR Develop it is available with:
- Parametric Curves
- All three of the HSL tabs as well as the Grayscale tab
In Photoshop its available on 3 Adjustment Layers:
- Hue/Saturation
- Black and White
- Curves
Read the rest of this entry »
In previous posts in this series I’ve talked about what white balance is and how it can be used creatively, both in the field and in post production. In Part 1 we noted that if the camera’s WB setting matches the color temperature of the light hitting the subject; white, and all other colors, will be rendered correctly. And that we could change the mood or fell of an image if we intentionally used an “incorrect” WB to render the image warmer or cooler. But if colors can be accurate or intentionally changed which is correct? I addressed this question in Part 2 and gave two different approaches or strategies that can be used to determine which WB setting to use: Accurate and Creative. And in Part 3 we discussed how shooting in the raw format allowed for greater flexibility in setting any WB after the shoot. And that when shooting in jpg the photographer needed to pay more attention their camera’s WB setting during capture.
In this post I’m gong to discuss ways to determine what your WB should be set at. Read the rest of this entry »
As usual, we awoke early so we could get to our destination before sunrise. I was still hoping to get to the sand dunes when the sun was low. Unfortunately a quick look out the window confirmed that the wind was still bowing….hard. So this ruled out the sand dunes for another day. So we opted to return to Zebriskie Point. Early on I shot HDR brackets and then switched to shooting with a GND (Graduated Neutral Density) filter. I must be one of the last dinosaurs shooting that way. Most guys just continue to shoot the HDRs and do not bother with the GND filter. Read the rest of this entry »
