Photoshop Adjustments

After some good photo taking discipline while on holidays, I failed to even get out this weekend to do a photo of the week. But, here's a blog post for those few who do come to visit here.

I've had a conversation with a friend on Facebook concerning Photoshop. He uses it to color some of his sketches that he scans in to the computer and, like me, I think is in the process of learning more about the program as the days go by.

He wondered at how Photoshop is used in photography. Now, I know this is obvious to those who are photographers and who use Photoshop, but for others who may only be getting acquainted with the program or have just started to experiment with using it in other fields, it may not be as obvious. So, I thought I'd give a brief demonstration by just showing an unadjusted photo right out of the camera and the same photo after I have worked on it a bit in Photoshop.

The picture I will use was originally posted in my February 7 PAD post.













Here is how the picture looks right out of the camera. I shoot in RAW with little in camera processing so this is like a digital negative. As you can see, the contrast is poor and it is all rather bland.













This next one is how it looks after being processed in Camera Raw, adjusting it to get a better contrast and prepare it for final work in Photoshop.













This one uses a little bit different effect than in the original post referenced above. In addition to "developing" the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw, I also made some adjustments in Photoshop to increase contrast, clean up some sensor dust spots, darken the sky a bit and bring out some of the shadow detail in the bench. I also cleaned up some footprints in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. This version has an action applied that gives it a bit of a dark, gaussian glow to it. It has created some artifacts in the sky, but overall, I have just kind of fallen in love with the look of this image.

Hopefully, you can see that there is considerable difference from the straight out of the camera shot above.

You may think that this is a lot of work, but I consider it fun and the more I learn, the quicker it becomes. It is no different from the advanced hobbyist from the film days who had his own darkroom and produced his own prints. I never quite got there although I always wanted to. Digital gives me an opportunity to have similar fun without the chemistry and need for a darkroom. All I need now is a printer, the final step in this great hobby.

Travelling Home

No picture today although I have worked on a couple I took yesterday that I should get up in a day or two. The PAD (picture a day) project was a good experience for me and, though I don't have time to do it all the time, I think it has inspired me to try and do a picture a week on weekends. In between I should go to work on some of the pictures I've taken over the last 6 months and see how they look.

I have a bit more knowledge of digital and Photoshop and working the pictures to get the most out of them than I did a few months back. That's a good thing obviously but I need to revisit some of the earlier pics to at least get that contrast up on them.

Today was a travel day. The highway I wanted to take was still closed due to an avalanche and so we took a longer route via Kamloops and Cache Creek coming down the Trans-Canada highway (#1) through the Fraser canyon. There was some concern because the signs outside of Kamloops indicated that #1 was closed south of Lytton. Sheesh! We phoned our son who checked the net and found out that there had been several mini-avalanches but it was supposed to be clear by noon. The radio indicated the same and so we took a chance and continued on. Fortunately, by the time we got to the spot, the road was clear and we had no delay.

We are overnighting in Burnaby and stopped at IKEA where I picked up some DIY strobist-type stuff to try and make use of in portrait work. I'll try and have more to say about that in a couple of days.

To those few who bother with this blog, I am obviously no expert, but I am trying to learn. Most of my time recently has been spent trying to learn some Photoshop techniques. I still need to learn more but I also need to get into the lighting area to focus on portraits and stuff like that. Too bad I have to work, I could use the time learning. However, I have to pay for some of this stuff somehow. I have a bit of lens fever having actually seen the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS lens the other day in a camera store. I need it...I want it.....$$$$.