It is Monday

Well it started raining buckets about 4:00 A. M...and the awning on the RV was banging up and down so out we went to take off the screen and then roll up the side awning.  It has rained ever since and it is now 3:40 PM.
Since there had been no rain for four weeks everyone seemed to welcome the rain.  We went to Orlando to an outlet mall and it was packed.  We also picked up an inflatable mattress for when we have visitors.  That starts in two days.  Went to a flea market while there, bought nothing..a new record.  Stopped a Wally World for some milk, and wound up spending 30 bucks.  Man!  you just cannot get out of there with out spontaneousness purchases.  Don't we wish we could sell photography like that?

Sure Glad I got Herb's car photographed on Saturday night.  It was perfect conditions to do automobiles.
I had a cloud cover above and behind me at the camera, and a clear sky behind the trees behind the car.

There were a lot of exposures make from various angles while I waited for the light to balance between what was coming from the West and the bounce fill from the clouds from the East.  That finally arrived about 30 to 40 minutes AFTER sun set when the direct rays no longer are there, but the soft light is still in the sky for reflections into the car shapes.

Finding the exact, correct angle so the chrome would show and the upper curves showed their shapes.
My final exposure was 4 seconds at F 5.6 with the 70-300 set at ab out 105mm.

Once in Photoshop there was some burning and dodging using Layer Adjustment Masks both on the car and the back ground to add separation and leading visual lines.  If I would have had lights available there could have been a lot more done, but I am happy with the shot, and I know the owner will be too.

A few little points for you to see and think about.  Notice the placement of the antenna.  Also, the highlight on the curve of the rear fender?  That was the reflection of the white house on the corner.  I did work the chrome on the windshield with a layer adjustment mask to lighten and make even as possible.
The drivers side, where the scoop is, was lightened slightly to capture the shape better.  Again with a layer adjustment mask.
Burning and dodging in the foliage behind the car creates the light drawing you from .upper left to the car.and the dark tree stops you visually.

And here is a collage that I also put together using this shot and some CU details of this vintage and "very cherry" corvette.

One of these days, I am going to hang a big muslin from the awning of the RV and see if I can get a car in a 3/4 front view on a plain background.  That is what I see for my future,, maybe.

You all play nice now, and let me hear from some of you out there.  Judy and I will be back in Indiana by the second week in April, and that is no April Fool's joke.  We have a cpl of gigs plus several high school seniors booked to do in the garden when we get there.   So turn up the Spring!

B&J

Layer Adjustment masking 2 Spot color Correction

Happy Friday to all you busy Photographers.  Don't forget to set your clock up one hour on Saturday Night...It is time to Spring Forward.  It is Time to Spring Anything....tired of the cold damp nasties.....

Last issue on the Blog,  I did a burning and dodging with Layer Adjustment Masking layers.

Today I am going to show the advantages of using LAM in Color Balance mode to spot correct balance in an image.

When would I want to do this?

Maybe an outdoor portrait that has green in the shadows, or a sunny day snow picture that has blue shadows?
  Or  any other time you have a stray or color that is wrong, bad, yucky, distracting, or you just want to change for the sake of change.

Let's learn how to fix things like that very quickly with just a few clicks and strokes of a brush.


Here we have a duck swimming in some pretty green water that does not look good, and we want to change.

In the Layers Pallet, select the Layer Adjustment Mask symbol...the black and white circle to get the menu.

Select Color Balance and slide the magenta / green slider to the magenta and the blue slider as shown below.

Next...Select a soft edge Brush.

Make sure Black and White are your colors with Black on top.

Click  Edit> Fill> Forground Color.

Now your image looks just like the first image here.  The mask has been removed.  ON the layer, the mask is now black and you can see though to the layer below.

But here is the fun part.  Change the foreground color to White,

With your soft edge brush at 100%, start painting at the bottom of the water, and work your way up painting in better looking water.

Around the bird, you may switch back and forth from white to black and back again as you paint around the bird.  To look like this.....

I over did the magenta abit here so I went back with another LAM and added some green and did the same thing again.

Then I added a new thing I learned from Michael Barton last weekend to get the final image.

this is Pencil Sketch Sharpening.

Cool huh?  I will pass this along next week.....

remember the original

Learn how to use the many other tools in Layer Adjustment Masks...They sure can come in handy.

PS.. On my monitor I still see a bit to much magenta and/or blue  in the low densities..so I should have lowered the opacity of the LAYER MASK....

That is another total control options that this technique gives you.

Thanks for hangin around, and have a great weekend.  I will sign on again from Florida on Monday.

Remember too, I do work in your studio, one on one as a studio consultant, not only in Photoshop, but in many other areas too.  If interested, contact me in your best way...

bdroberts@bdroberts.com 

Have a great day!

Bruce

Layer Adjustment masking

Here is a subject that does not get talked about enough.  Layer Adjustment Masks.

They work just like Layer Masks but cover a wider spectrum of adjustments.

Here is the tool bar drop down for using LAM. To find, click black and white circle in Layers Pallet.

 the main ones I use are curves, levels, Hue and Sat., and maybe sometimes color balance.  As you play and learn these functions you will soon realize the benefits

What it does

First of all it allows changing the output without changing the file until you are positive this is what you want to do, as the feature is done in a Mask, not to the file.

To refresh on Masking.

When you create a function mask remember that Black takes off the mask, and White adds to the mask.

So if I make a mask change, then fill the mask with black, I have taken the change away.  

Now, if I use a brush at 50% opacity, with White on top, I can put back the "change" exactly where I want it.

I will do one using a Curves LAM to create a burning and also a dodging tool that will not change color.

By having these two LAMs I can paint in shadows and add highlights to an image.

Here is the original image straight from the camera.

To create these two masks:

In the layers pallet, click the black and white circle to get the menu above and select Curves.

In the Curves control box, click the center and drag down.  Don't worry about how it looks.

Below are the two masking layer that I created.  You can have as many masking layers as you want

   Here is the Dark.

Now we will remove the entire Dark Mask by going to EDIT > FILL.

Fill mask with Black which, removes the mask.

Change the color to white by hitting the X key.

Select a Brush of a large, SOFT Edge, and paint in the edges to darken.

You can also enlarge image, and with a small brush, build contrast in the shadow areas of the image.

But the best part is, as a mask, you can take it away if it is too much.

By changing back to Black I can take off the mask at the rate of the opacity.

Look at the white areas lighten up in the image below.  The color was changed to Black and the mask eliminated in just those control areas.

Now, create a Highlight mask by doing the same thing, only raising the center of the Curves control.

With black on top, EDIT > Fill the mask with black to eliminate.  Switch to White on top, use brush at 30
% to start, and add highlights or lighten areas more than in original.

Using both darkening, and lighter masks, you can burn and dodge the image to your liking and your style.

Also, since the adjustment is on a layer, if you over do, you can change the opacity of the layer to suite.

You have total control of the image this way.

The next issue will talk about using LAM and color balance to change color in a specific area.

As always, if you have questions...sing out and I will be sure and answer asap.

Have a great day,

B

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Back Home Again In Indiana

Monday, March ?

What a crazy few days!

The Professional Photographers of Indiana convention  and print competition is now over, and was a great experience for everyone but me.  For the first time in 50 years I spent most of the time in a motel room with a nasty, nasty head cold,,,Blahhhh!  Of which now on Monday I am still suffering from,  but trying to make some positive effort from being horizontal in bed....cough, cough !

It all started last Friday.

We flew back on Friday and when I awoke, there was the  scratchy throat.  By Saturday it was horizontal time.  Sunday a bit better, so was able to sit in on one program late Sunday, but still there today after getting back to Elkhart last night.

As to the print competition, the Four entries got me three 79's and one 82 for the prints sent.
And I agree with the judge's scores.  In each of the "close but no award" prints there was a detail missed, or a mishandling of files.  Either over sharpening, or missed artifact that was just enough to keep the score under the magic 80 mark.

The one print that did make the award list and got me a Silver Award in the Commercial category, was a photo of some crystal glassware shot at a flea market.

Yup..just sittin there on a board in front of a tent at a flea market. 

Of course there was more to it than that, but the basic image was captured, hand held, at a flea market under clear BLUE sky, and bright, direct sunlight.

Here is the "Rest of the Story"

After capture, it was brought into PS, and a second layer made.  Then,  the background area was selected by "color selection" which fortunately ALSO selected the color of the background that showed though the glass.  

A few "shift +" to add to the selection was needed to get all of the background features selected.

The selection was saved for future use.

On that layer, the selection was cleared by clicking on Edit > Clear.

The selection was then brought back and a Gradient Tool of two shades of gray was used to paint in a new background.

The glass layer was enhanced by layer adjustment masks and blending modes to increase contrast and sparkle.

There was also some vertical distortion in the image which caused the verticals to be narrower at the top.  This was corrected with Free Transform Perspective.

The matting is done by using Canvas Size and adding to the canvas size by changing the measurement to percentage and adding .1 in light gray, then changing foreground color to black and adding .25 to the canvas size.  The light gray was kept darker that the lightest in the glass as to not distract from the image.

Then, with the same layer active, using the magic wand, selected the gray line.  

Right click and saved as a new layer.

Opening Layer Styles and then using emboss to give the gray matting shape. then,

Flatten.

Closing Thoughts

Too apply manipulation for the sake of manipulation, is like an elephant painting a canvas.  Yes some may call it art, but I call it an accident.  But to learn all that can be done, sometimes you have to be that elephant.  Just keep trying things and learn what they do.  Record your efforts, and document what it did, cause there is a lot out there to try and to do.

Learn the tools in PhotoShop. ( I still am after 12 years). 

Learn layer Masking. 

Learn layer Adjustment Masking tools.  

Learn the Blending Mode tools in PhotoShop, then you have most of the brushes to create from your mind.

Learn the tools and how they can enhance your product that has a market value.  

That is the most important tool of all.

This Image  became  a very nice rendition of glassware, but the final image came from a combination of, first knowing HOW clear glassware is lit and photographed in a studio, Plus the use of PhotoShop to enhance the detail and contrast and make the final presentation.  It was a combination of  two experience and knowledge levels.  That does not make me better, just older and more experienced.

More importantly,  please understand that there is no real market for this image.  As it stands, it is just another pretty picture that won a ribbon, awarded by a panel of individuals that liked my results and presentation.

It only illustrates my knowledge of photography, and of PhotoShop, nothing more.  It takes both to succeed in photography today, along with several additional skill levels.

My point here is to illustrate the fact that manipulation in PS is at its best if one knows what the effects and results you are wanting to achieve. Pointless manipulation is useless and not effective.  Manipulation by knowing the effects of the tools, or in combination of the tools, to achieve a specific, known result is what you are after  The more you learn the various tools, and effects, the more you are able to take what is in your mind and apply it to the image as an expression of your mind. 

There are some great on line teaching aids, and of course,  study with someone who is more advanced are just a couple of ways to increase this knowledge.  Remember though, it is just another technique or brush stoke that you are learning.  It is the combination of all learned experiences that will show you to be the artist that resides within.

Man!  I hope this cold is gone by the time I get back to Florida...this just sucks!!

You all be good and play nice.

B

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