Night Light

[Kathy Reeves]

Does the "headlights" look too yellow? Suggestions on improvement?

[Jackie Schuknecht]

No looks perfect Kathy, and the treatment looks perfect for this shot too! Love the racoon:) Great shot!

[Arthur Morris]

Quite loverly. Is the racoon added to the image? Please post the lens, camera, ISO, tripod or handheld, and exposure data so that we can have some idea of what you were doing and so that others can learn. I would like to see the dark areas a bit lighter.

[denise ippolito]

Kathy, I like the headlight colors it suits the older look to this image-The racoon is cute!! How did you add the headlights?

[Cindy Crawford]

This is really delightful. It belongs in a storybook! :):) Love the raccoon.

Do tell us how and what you did here- it is an intriguing composition.

[Kathy Reeves]

Thank you so much for your comments.
The car photo was taken in daylight about 2:00 PM---the camera was hand held.
F5.0, 1/250, ISO 640, FL 100mm using a 100-400mm lens.
The raccoon was added—I wanted him in the headlights but he was facing the wrong way. I have another raccoon I will try to put in the light.

I got some invaluable information from David Thomasson on turning day into night.
I did not follow directions exactly because I was creating a different kind of light.
Most of the following was based on information from David.
I started with a hue/sat layer and lower the sat and lightness.
I used 4 new layers for the light.
One layer I selected the area for the light. Added the 2 headlights with reflected graduate. and a layer mask and graduate tool to fade the light as it got father from the headlights. I set this to hard light and about 50% opacity. I believe I also feathered the selection. And erased some yellow from between the headlights.
Another layer was used for the light on the headlight and a little beyond in a lighter/brighter yellow. I used vivid light and about 50% opacity.
Another 2 layers I hand painted “where it needed it” and used hard light on one and linear mode on the other and both were set to about 10% opacity.
I experimented with mode, color, opacity and layer order until it looked right---more accidental the knowing what I was doing.
I used a slight poster edges on the background layer to bring out the edges.
Used the burn and dodge tools to create shadows and reflected light.
A big thanks to David for his expertise!

Kathy

[Kathy Reeves]

I added two raccoons---not sure if they help or hurt--I have looked at it too long.
Either/neither/both?

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the explanation; it is quite a bit of work. And way-cool. In the repost I like the racoon on the right but the one on the left is partially lit and for me that is distracting.

[Alfred Forns]

Kathy I like it even better with the second raccoon !!! Both are in great poses and look natural in the image !!! I like seeing both since they seem to be interacting, concerned he might be getting run over !! Big Congrats on this one !!!

[Julie Kenward]

I love it ALL! What a great way to totally change an image. Man, I wish I had that kind of time on my hands. This really rocks!

[denise ippolito]

Kathy, Thankyou so much for taking the time to write down all your steps-I'm having PC problems right now but hope to be up and runing by AM and can't wait to try this! I like your re-post as well !! Good job!!

PS-Thankyou David for all the help and tips!!

[Gus Cobos]

Well done Kathy,
It looks like an illustration...I like both renditions...:cool:

[chad anderson]

Very, very cool-- I am a fan of the second.

[David Thomasson]

PS-Thankyou David for all the help and tips!!

You're quite welcome. Some time back I put together a couple of mini tutorials on this technique. Here are the links:

http://www.radiantpics.com/dtn1.pdf
http://www.radiantpics.com/dtn2.pdf

One thing I do differently now: Instead of filling a blank layer with black to make the darkness, I use a hue/sat adjustment layer and dial the lightness slider down. Same effect, but it has the added advantage of allowing you to reduce saturation. Colors are less saturated in the dark, so it adds a little more realism to the effect.

When adding a lighted area to an image, you can also paint very lightly with black on the hue/sat mask to remove a little of the darkening effect and enhance the lighting effect.

I might add that playing with day-to-night renditions is a good way to learn about light, because it really requires you to think about how the light from a bulb would actually strike (or miss) various surfaces in an image.

[denise ippolito]

David, Once again thankyou-those were both very informative and the tip you gave about the brushes was great! I will try to re-do my recent post using your lampost tech. Have to try in AM. Thankyou once again!!!!!!!!

[John Ippolito]

Very cool images and a wonderful explanation! I absolutely love it/them!