Tag Archives: curves

HDR – Quite a Curve HTDS

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One of the many effects in Adobe Photoshop is the Curves tool. Not many people seem to use the presets to “redefine” the tonal qualities of an image. I’m going to explain how I got the above image using, first a monochrome conversion of the original and then applying some of the Curves variations. I’ts pretty amazing what can be done by just using a preset instead of trying to find that perfect curve. :-)

This is the original post processed, High Dynamic Range image. As you can see, I softened the overall image and used some sharpening and luminance in Adobe Camera Raw. This gave me the crisp edges along with a smooth texture on the rose petals. And it almost looks like the real thing, doesn’t it.

  • Quite a Curve – Black and White

By moving the image into Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and choosing a more high key preset, I got a nice, smooth monochrome version . . . interesting but not very punchy, if you know what I mean.

Using a Curves layer back in Photoshop, I chose the presets that affect Contrast the most and also added my custom version that I’ll use for the RGB preset transition.

Yes, at first glance, they seem to look very similar. But if you look closer and notice the variations in the curves in the histogram, the differences are clear.

The Medium Contrast setting has very little curve and just a subtle variation in tone. With the Increase Contrast setting, a little more depth is added by darkening the tone shift in the petals and almost eliminating the details in the background. Strong Contrast gives a sharper definition between light and dark which gives a lot more definition to the edges of the petals. But, by lowering the bottom end of the curve in the Custom setting, I brought the petals back to a more realistic look and added more depth in the shadow areas.

The beauty of Monochrome in it’s more contrasty glory!

  • Quite a Curve – RBG

The most interesting preset for Curves is the RGB preset. The variations are infinite for color/tonal shifts when starting with a Monochrome image. The possibilities with color are also pretty mind blowing. (I’ll do a post to cover that later.)

By starting with my Monochrome beauty above and initially applying my own creative curves to the individual red, green and blue curves, I came up with the image on the left below. Then, I added a little more depth to the bottom end of the curve for the image on the right.

I thought I’d add this larger view of the initial RGB conversion for a clearer comparison to the one that I started this post with. Even though these images are not even close to reality, as artistic expressions seldom are, I enjoy going beyond reality for a change.

HDR – It’s Not The Real Thing

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I don’t usually do HDR imaging like this but I thought this subject worked well for a “Beyond Reality” version of these old trailers. I used this image for a Short and Simple HTDS (How To Do Stuff) post on Adobe Photoshop Adaptive Wide Angle. I included a video explaining that process.

But for today, I wanted to just present the original HDR image in all of it’s glory. As you can see though, I still can’t bring myself to go to extremes with High Dynamic Range images. Even though this one has been pushed a little, it still has a realistic look; except for the over saturation, edgy contrast and extreme, wide angle leaning. :-)

For the monochrome version, I simply loaded the shot into Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and set Control Points for the lower corners to increase Structure and Contrast. I also used CPs in the sky to soften the clouds. I finished with a very smooth S curve to add more contrasty punch.

Equipment used: Nikon D700 with 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 set at 20mm, f/16, ISO 400. Handheld.

HDR Sharp and Smooth – A HTDS Process

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Many HDR images have been criticized because of the tendency of lots of photogs to go over the edge in post-processing. In this “How To Do Stuff” post, I’d like to demonstrate one of my techniques for producing realistic High Dynamic Range images that can be enlarged without losing too much visual detail. This image is a result of a bit of fine tuning with Nik HDR Efex Pro, Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Photoshop CS6.

  • Sharp and Smooth – Un-Cooked

I’d like to start with the image as it came out of Nik HDR Efex Pro and show how I use Camera Raw for most of the post-processing.

I started with the Basic panel to modify just about everything that was needed except sharpening/luminosity and correcting chromatic aberration.

As you can see, minor adjustments of Highlights, Clarity and Vibrance can add much more punch to an image. My next step is to add sharpening and noise reduction using Luminosity on the Details tab. I’m using a before and after blowup of the side of the water tower to show the details and the sky.

I’ve found that the settings on this tab are usually dependent on the starting image. With this shot, I was able to get a pretty decent compromise of sharp and smooth. But, as you can see, this was a windy day and some of my branches are doubled from the image blending process. This shot was taken with an old Nikon zoom lens that seems to produce quite a bit of Chromatic Aberration. So, the next step required some automatic removal with the Lens Correction tab.

I realize that most people don’t get too concerned with this level of detail but if you plan on making large prints, things like detail sharpness, luminosity and chromatic aberration need to be addressed. This is usually my final step in Camera Raw unless I want to do some type of split toning or additional color correction.

  • Sharp and Smooth – Photoshopping

Now I’m ready to move into Photoshop for some final enhancements and size modifications. By working with Layers, I made adjustments to the final image. My major effort was to remove the halo effect around the trees and tower. For this I simply used the burn tool at a very light, 3% setting with a soft blend. Slight adjustments to Hue/Saturation for realistic color, Exposure for Gamma Correction and Curves for overall contrast gave me just what I wanted. Here are the before and after versions.Now that we have a nice sharp and smooth image, it’s time to do the final stage for a large print version.

  • Sharp and Smooth – Big Time

By using the Photoshop Image sizing tool, I’ll create a larger than final size image for slight sharpening using High Pass filter. I’ve found that sharpening at a larger size and then reducing the size to the final print dimensions creates a more realistic effect.  My final size is 36 x 24 inches so I’ll create a copy with a 40 inch horizontal length. I then apply the High Pass filter using 8 pixels and Soft Light at 100% Opacity and Fill. The last step is to reduce the image size. This is a comparison with a small part of the original image.

Not sure where this is? Note the red box in the image below. That’s a pretty sweet rendition for a shot from an old, not so sharp lens.

This is one of many methods that can be used for enhancing an image to produce large prints. I will be presenting a few different scenarios in the future. And I hope this has been helpful.

HDR – Dramatic Effect with Photoshop Masking – HTDS

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Today, I’m using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image that I worked with a few days ago. In that post I demonstrated the film type functions in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. But now, I want to work with the color version to do a very short explanation of how simple masking can save an image from the trash bin. This is another HTDS (How To Do Stuff) post.

For this image, I wanted to preserve the heavy gray sky but make the foreground look like the storm was passing. I thought a brighter effect would accomplish this.

1.  I loaded the original HDR image into Adobe Photoshop CS6 and started by duplicating the background layer. This step is essential since I want to preserve the original.

2. The next step is to add a mask to the new layer. This is my working layer for applying the mask to the area that I want to modify, which in this case is everything except the cloudy sky.

3.  By using the Brush Tool at 0 hardness for an easy, smooth blend, Mode set to Darken and Opacity and Flow set to 100%, I just brush the area that I will modify. In this case, the sky will be left as is to preserve the tones that will allow the contrast to separate it from the ground.

4.   I added another layer for Curves to enhance the tones, colors and contrast on the masked layer. My last modification was to add a layer for Exposure where I adjusted the Gamma and Exposure to bring out more brightness.

I ended by using Layer > Flatten Image to combine my original sky with my changes.

This is a pretty simply method for masking but with the additional layering and modifications, a very dull shot can come to life. Here are the “before” and “after” images, side by side.

Equipment used: Nikon D700 with 28-70mm f/2.8 lens, 44mm, f/13, ISO 200. Bogen/Manfrotto tripod with ball head.

HDR – Smoky Mountains Winter Beauty

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Well, almost winter. This HDR image is from my trip to see family during the Thanksgiving holiday. We managed to hit just about every rest stop along the way and I decided to check out the scenery. The Smoky Mountains are beautiful no matter what time of year you visit or just drive through as we did.

Processing: I used only two images for this photo, -1 ev and the metered exposure. I worked with Nik HDR Efex Pro to bring out the details in the background and then used Adobe Photoshop to balance the scene. I finished with Curves and then enlarged the image for sharpening using High Pass filter. Then by reducing to my desired size using Bicubic (sharper) I got just what I wanted. The monochrome version was created using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 where I enhanced the tonal contrast to compensate for the lack of color.

Equipment used: Nikon D700 with 28-70mm f/2.8 lens.