Category Archives: Photography

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour Part 6

The recent epidemic of absolutely beautiful skies made me think of all those times I shot pictures of what I thought were interesting skyscapes, only to load them up on the computer and be disappointed at how boring and dull they looked on the screen. Let’s face it – how many of us interested amateurs with point-and-shoot cameras walk around with a Neutral Density Gradient filter in our bags?

Enter Scott Kelby with a quick fix for toning skies.

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour:

6. Mimicking the effect of using a Neutral Density Gradient filter is a simple three step process.

Okay, I think it was technically five steps. But it really felt like just three.

So I was going through some of my older photo folders and found my stash of Maui pictures. One picture particularly caught my eye, and I wondered why I never worked on it. Then I looked at it full size and remembered why – the sky just looked blah to me, not like the clean blue that I remembered.

Enter Photoshop and the gradient fill layer. Make the skies ever so slightly bluer without touching the foreground, and now I have the picture I want.*

on the beach

on the beach ND

And just for kicks, I threw in a Portraiture filter to mix things up a little. I’m all about mixing, you know. That’s ’cause here at The Ivory Hut, we’re equal opportunity filter users.

on the beach potraiture

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*If you’re really interested in the process, here you go:

  1. Create an adjustment layer (choose Gradient) and make sure your foreground color is black.
  2. Pick the second gradient (from medium gray to transparent) and make sure the dark area of the gradient is in the right position. Hit reverse to position it over the sky, or even change the angle if that’s what works best for the photo.
  3. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay, and then go back to the gradient fill dialog to tweak the settings. To do this, double-click on the gradient adjustment layer thumbnail in your layers palette.
  4. Click on the gradient thumbnail in the dialog to bring up the gradient editor, and move the sliders so that the gradient stops where it’s supposed to stop. Done!

Okay, so those are four steps. I can always make up a fifth one, or remove one to make it three. But then that’d just be more work for me, and you know me. I’m all about avoiding work. That’s ’cause here at The Ivory Hut, we’re minimal opportunity brain cell users.

People like me

Disclaimer: I realized, belatedly, that the title of this post can be misleading. I briefly panicked and thought, “Oh no! Innocent passersby will think I’m some full-of-myself blogger who likes to declare to the world that random people everywhere like her. It’s not true!!” (I say “innocent passersby” because everyone else who knows me will never assume that. They already know that people barely notice me, let alone “like” me for any apparent reason.) So, if you are one of those innocent passersby, please don’t judge me so soon. As you read the post, you’ll find out that people liking me is the farthest from the truth and is soooo not what I meant when I wrote the title. So don’t be afraid. Carry on. Okay. I’ll shut up now.

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I think there’s a word for people like me. You know, the devoted step-parent who’ll do anything for her stepson whom she adores like he was her own. The kind who’s more than happy to attend his band banquet even though she’s not really into crowds of other parents she’s never met before. The one who’ll go with a smile (and a camera to document the event) because it means a lot to him, and he’s a senior and hey, they were this year’s state and regional champions.

Yes, I even forgot to be overly self-conscious and procured for myself a shooting position right in front of the podium as soon as the band director started handing out recognition plaques. And I waited patiently for his name to be announced, every now and then looking anxiously at the table where he was sitting with his friends to see if there were any candid moments to shoot.

You’d think I was just like any other normal parent, concerned and always trying to do the right thing. And I can’t fault you for that.

But then, a little later, you might sneak a peek at me, and discover that I’ve gotten hopelessly distracted by the interesting ceiling covered with loose layers of billowing sheer fabric, gathered so nicely towards the center where the chandelier was hanging. And instead of paying attention to the band director, I now have my camera trained up at the ceiling at who knows what.

abstract ceiling

Yeah. I’m not too proud of myself for that. And when I say, “I think there’s a word for people like me,” please don’t respond out loud. It’s kinda rhetorical. That, and I’m really a bit scared of what you might say.

Although, in my defense, I took that while they were calling out the names of the freshmen and sophomores, so I figured they’d have more band banquets in the future that’ll erase the memory of the crazy lady taking pictures of the ceiling.

blue abstract

But … but … wait. Isn’t that the same lady who went for seconds of the calamari and took the last slice or two (or three) of the freshly-baked bread?

Good thing she won’t be at the banquet next year.

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour Part 5

Just as I was getting used to playing with curves on Photoshop CS2 and finding the right blend to make the midtones stand out, Scott Kelby goes and shows me a simpler way to do it. No math involved, no shaping the right S-curve, and there’s even no necessary constant monitoring of the image to make sure every adjustment is right.

Great. Now I can’t even feel smart about it.

But seriously. It is so ridiculously simple that even though I still haven’t found my CS3 Power Tour workbook, I didn’t need it for this post. I mean, if even my short-term-memory-challenged mind that keeps failing to keep track of chores and grocery lists and maintenance schedules can remember this without a cheat sheet, then it must really be that simple.

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour:

5. If you want an almost no-brainer method to punch up your midtones, do it in Lab color.

Here’s a photo I took in Grand Cayman a few months ago. It was a bit overcast that day, which made for the flat colors in this photo. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Hey, it’s my memory, okay?

lonely jetski before

After adjusting the exposure ever so slightly, I converted it to Lab color. Then I launched curves and switched to the “a” channel. I shifted both endpoints of the curve (or line, if you insist I say that because it’s straight and you don’t want me to confuse anyone) in toward the center by equal amounts.

The adjusted curve looks like this:

lab color curve

(By the way, yours will look a bit different because that’s a CS2 screen shot. I didn’t feel like powering up the other machine just to get that capture. Bear with me, I haven’t had breakfast yet.)

Don’t be alarmed by the intermediate effects on your image. You’ll see it in green or blue or some other strange otherworldly hue, but that’s okay. Be patient and wait for the final result. Which won’t be a long wait, because the only thing left to do is to make the same adjustment for the “b” channel, and presto! Instant midtone punch.

lonely jetski before

lonely jetski after

If you plan to do more processing or save it as a jpeg file, don’t forget to convert it back to RGB color.

And if anyone asks, tell them, “Oh, I converted the image to lab color mode and then manually adjusted the curves for individual channels to get that result.” They’ll think you’re a genius and that you can calculate the slope of a curve in your head without a calculator and recite the value of pi to twenty-nine decimal places.

Then you can come back here and thank me. I will gladly accept words of praise and bars of chocolate. And chewy home baked cookies.

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour Part side note

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour:

Side note: I learned that it’s really difficult to write the next installment for this series when you don’t know where in the world you left your seminar workbook.

Sorry about that. Excuse me while I turn my house upside down looking for the workbook.

In the meantime, I thought I heard someone mention Alfred Hitchcock here. So here’s a shot I took last week. From my porch. Again.

And yes, those aren’t leaves.

birds

Think maybe those birds took my workbook?

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour Part 4

I blame the recent too-early-cause-it-ain’t-officially-winter-yet flurry action for the delay in posting this next segment. It made for great pictures, but not so great motivation to sit down and write. Also, I had too much hot chocolate yesterday.

But last night, I re-arranged my computer room to put my two machines closer to each other. And this morning, I hooked up my external drive to my CS3 machine (because that’s all I’m using it for) so I could work on a few of my older images. Particularly this one:

Passaic River sooc

That’s a picture of the river that flows through our town. I was so disappointed with the photo because the colors seemed flat and lifeless. Not at all anything like the vibrant yellows and golds and reds and oranges that I remembered. I mean, I wouldn’t have made my son stop on the side of a winding road so I could walk out in the cold drizzling rain while crazy-fast drivers more than twice almost made me roadkill if the view hadn’t been that spectacular.

Whew. That was a long sentence.

Fortunately for me, I felt like I learned enough to give this a whack at Photoshop.

What I learned at the CS3 Power Tour:

4. While older versions of Photoshop are definitely robust enough to fix your JPG mistakes, doing it in Camera Raw is so much easier and faster.

It took literally minutes and only a few clicks. I loaded up the photo and fixed the exposure first. Then I bumped up the midtones, increased blacks, and added a bit of fill light. Then I threw it back to Photoshop for final sharpening. With a little cropping to finish it off, here’s the before and after:

Passaic River sooc

Passaic River after

It may seem oversaturated to you, but I’m telling you, that right there matches exactly what I remember seeing that afternoon. And now I can finally feel like I didn’t waste my time standing on that bridge with cold hands that afternoon. Because you know that the afternoon means high school kids are on the road with their new licenses, and the stuff they were shouting at me while I was walking around scouting for better vantage points could fill another post.

Man, what is it with me a long sentences today?

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Addendum: Just for kicks, and because it looks pretty, here’s a version done by Sherweld using the Orton Effect.

Passaic River ortonized

Dreamy, yes? Makes me think of sitting by a fireplace, curled up with a good book or just looking out the window admiring nature. Aaaah. I think I need to go get some hot chocolate now to complete the image. Excuse me while I overload myself with yet more sugar and cocoa.