Category Archives: Post Processing
Quick Tip: A Vignette of a Different Color
So vignettes have hit the streets running as one of those awesome ways to make an image go from eh.. to Wow… I don’t want to like vignettes because they seem so cliche, but they work, they really work. They do a great job of diverting one’s attention to the focal point in an almost subliminal way. So how can we spruce up the vignette a bit to get a different look with the same concept? Photoshop of course! I have used the power of blending options, specifically Color, and really enjoy the outcome.
- Duplicate the image layer you would like to vignette by pressing Ctrl+J (Cmd+J)
- Go to Filter>Lens Correction or press Shift+Ctrl+r (Shift+Cmd+r).
- In the Lens Correction panel click on the Custom tab.
- In the Vignette section change the Amount to -100 and the Midpoint to +15
- Press Ok
- Now, in the layers palette, select your vignetted layer and change the Blend Mode to Color.
- And there you have it, a subtle, what I like to call, Color Reduction Vignette! A nice alternative to the typical Vignette seen all over the web.
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Quick Tip: Auto Align Layers
Auto aliging layers in Photoshop is an invaluable tool for any HDRtist. It is very common to create a tone mapped file and use elements from the original exposures to enhance local areas. Photoshop CS 5 has a very simple feature for making image alignment a breeze!
To set yourself up, open your tone mapped file, open the exposure you want to auto align, drag and drop the original exposure onto its tone mapped version. You should have two layers stacked on one another in your layers palette. Now follow these simple steps to ensure the 2 layers are perfectly aligned.
- 1. Select both layers in the layers palette. Press and hold CTRL (CMD for Mac) then click both layers inside their text box. Clicking on their thumbnail will select all, ensure you click on the text area of the layer.
- Make sure the move tool is selected, either click the tool or press hot key: V.
- Click on the side by side face icon in the options bar on the top middle portion of the interface (I have it highlighted with a three next to it in the above image). This will bring up the Auto Align Layers panel.
- By default, Photoshop will select Auto, this is what you want selected.
- Click OK. Photoshop will take a minute or so to think about the pixels in both layers and when it is done, your layers will be auto aligned.
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5 Post Processing Tips for HDR: Photoshop CS 5
As a follow up to last weeks 5 HDR Tone Mapping Tips: Photomatix and the following weeks A Few HDR Shooting Tips, here are my top 5 post processing tips I cannot live without using Photoshop CS 5. I have several hundred tips to give out, hence all of the tutorials I do, but the following tips are features I cannot live without when processing my HDR photos.
1. Adjustment Layers are the bread and butter to making any HDR image pop. I have not processed a single HDR image without using adjustment layers. The most important adjustment layers being Curves, Levels, and Saturation. If you get yourself better acquainted with all of these you will be making awesome HDR photos in no time. I have never seen a perfect HDR image come out of any HDR tone mapping program, you have to think of the result as a negative that needs some good old adjustment layer dark room time.
2. Masking is essential for making awesome HDR images. I am constantly using masks on my adjustment layers. Adjustment layers, for the most part, make global changes. However, when you make an adjustment layer, there is an empty white rectangle next to the adjustment, this is a layer mask. Select that blank rectangle and start painting on your image with black where you want the adjustment to disappear, paint white where you want those areas to come back.
3. Blending Modes can add some much needed flare to any HDR image. Try using them sometime. For instance, duplicate the image you are working on, select the duplicate in the layers palette, go to the drop down box that currently says normal, change it to Soft Light and adjust the Opacity and Fill to your liking. You will instantly add drama to your photo, scroll through the rest of the blend modes while you are at it, you may find something you like.
4. Noise Reduction can really help clean up the pesky noise that tone mapping can introduce. Go to Filter>Noise> Reduce Noise, I typically use these settings and adjust them as I need based on the amount of noise in the image.
5. High Pass Sharpening is usually the last thing I do to an image unless I am uploading it to the web. Some web pages like Redbubble automatically sharpen the image when you upload it, dual sharpening tends to make the image look too sharp and many times introduces artifacts that are a nuisance. For printing purposes, high pass sharpening is a must it can really set your images apart from the rest!
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Quick Tip: Hiding Layers Quickly
Many times I need to hide my layers when I am working on either an HDR image with several adjustments or making a 60+ layer composite image. I find it very painstaking and tedious to click each individual eyeball to hide the layers to see how the image is developing, especially when the project has 60+ layers. Well, as usual, I learned something new by complete accident.
I was holding down the control key when I scrolled across my project layers palette in Adobe® Photoshop® CS5 and noticed 2 of my layers were now hidden. I thought for a second, “How could those layers magically disappear?” So I went back to the layers palette with control still held down and noticed more of my layers were now hidden. I released control and waved my mouse back over the layers and nothing, they were still hidden, “That’s odd?”… At that moment I scratched my head and was dumbfounded for a second. So I pressed control again and waved the mouse over the hidden visibility eyes in the layers palette… low and behold the layers became visible once again.
Later I found that pressing Alt (Option on Mac) while clicking a layer will hide all other layers in the palette. Holding Alt (Option on Mac) and clicking that same layer will bring all the other layers out of hiding.
These tricks may seem trivial, but imagine the amount of time you will save using these hot keys. It would take approximately 9 seconds to hide 10 layers by clicking them individually when it should only take one using either the control or alt key method. If I had known these methods over the last 11 years of Photoshopping I could have saved myself well over 17820 seconds, that’s almost 5 hours.
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Photoshop Tutorial: Dreamscape Effect
Today’s tutorial is a Dreamlike effect, similar to the flashback effect you see in movies. It usually occurs where someone travels into the past or lays down for a nap and starts seeing things all blurred and sepia toned. I wish I dreamed that way, but fortunately enough for me, I can make every image I make look like one!
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Quick Tip: Quick White Balance
Have you ever taken a ton of pictures and found out you forgot to set the white balance? Have you ever taken a picture with Auto White Balance selected and not received accurate colors? Both of those questions are yes for me. More often than not, my white balance is wrong. I am horrible at remembering the white balance adjustment. With all of the other camera settings going on with HDR shooting how can you be expected to remember all of them. Have no fear many programs have a way to accurately fix your white balance with the click of a button. I will show you one way in Photoshop. This is the quickest and sometimes best method for me, however, it is not an end all method by any means.
Quick White Balance Adjustment:
- Open your photo in Photoshop.
- Create a levels adjustment layer, if you are unsure, click that link.
- In the levels adjustment panel, click on the little white eye dropper.
- Hover over areas you think to be white with the white eye dropper tool.
- Watch the numbers for R, G, and B in the info tab (F8 toggles the Info tab). You are looking for all numbers in all 3 categories to be as close to 255 as possible. 255 R, 255 G, and 255 B are considered true white.
- Once you have found an area comparable (I would say between 235 and 255) left click that area.
- Your image will magically receive a white balance make over!
While this is not always a tried and true, set in stone, concrete method of achieving white balance in Photoshop, it sure is a darn good start.
One thing you may want to invest in is a certified white balance card. I have a Whibal card which is very handy. To use it, throw it into the picture, snap a shot of it in the scene, and remove it for the next series of pictures. You will need to shoot the Whibal card again when your lighting conditions change. When it comes time to post process your work, open the Whibal shot in Photoshop, create a levels adjustment layer, click on the grey dropper this time, and select the light grey area on the whibal card. You can now drag and drop that levels adjustment layer onto every picture that has relatively similar lighting conditions.
