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Thread: When the light has left

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    Default When the light has left

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    Still experimenting with making luminosity layers, inverting them and blending to improve the light quality. This photograph was taken about half an hour after the sun had set and the raw file has no light quality to it at all. I've adjusted the curves slightly, added the inverse layer with the gaussian blur set to 250% and blended on overlay. One round of noise reducton and USM at final size. As I'm not very confident with the techniques yet any C & C welcomed as usual.
    Mara North Conservancy, Jan 2010.
    40D; EF70-200 f2.8 USM @ 70mm; f8; 1/180; ISO800 … I'm sure I would have used a bean bag but can't remember!

    Oh, my first post using Prophoto colour space so lots of different dynamics I'm playing with. May not work yet, but it's a work in progress! :)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hilary Hann View Post
    but it's a work in progress! :)
    Work is progressing in right direction Hilary , one top notch shot , lovely sky colors and excellent placement of elephant , Big congrats
    TFS

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    you did some nice work here Hilary! I would love to see a "straight-out-of-camera" shot for comparison? maybe post one below?

    a quick way I get detail back from the sky is duplicating the main layer, then doing a levels adjustment to darken the clouds, then go to the blue channel, select the highlights and mask it out, blending back with desired opacity.

    love the space, comp and tones here
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Ken Watkins
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    Hilary,

    I have no idea what inverted luminosity layers are but they certainly seem to have a dramatic effect on the sky.

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    You did a very good job here Hilary. I like the comp but wonder what a more pano crop will look like.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Beautiful effect Hilary.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Thanks for the feedback. I've attached the original, un-processed file for comparison.
    Morkel, thanks for the info on how you handle the skies. The method I've followed has one great advantage in that you can set up one action for the whole adjustment as it is global and requires no individual work depending on position of sky, foreground objects etc., no masking out objects or skies. So providing your image would respond to this, just hit the action and it's done. Not all images respond of course.
    The other beauty with this adjustment is that you are getting the light coming out of the subject rather than from a light source (or that is the perception) which works really well when you have an image like this which was taken after the sun has set. You can get a more luminous image. You will see what I mean when you compare the raw capture to the processed image.

    Harshad, Ken & Rachel, thanks for the comments. If viewers don't respond to the image itself, then the work (and the comp) has failed. And I have plenty of those! :o

    Hendri, I think a more pano crop would lose the impact of the sky which I've tried to maintain. Knowing what I do now, I may have taken a couple of different views at capture to try different crops.

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    Very interesting processing, Hilary. I like the direction you're going. The main giveaway is the halo around the elephant. If you mask the elephant carefully, you can then work inside or outside that mask and avoid halos.

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    You have a good eye David, I'm working on the halo issue! :)

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    interesting Hilary - big difference between the RAW and your OP :)

    I agree with David, masking is most necessary where your subject protrudes into the sky.

    Would you mind typing out the detailed PS action for all of us to learn and see how you do it?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Morkel, I'll do my best to put something together but want to make a few fine tunings first. Remind me if I don't get back to it, sometimes I forget to follow through. :)

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    Nice work done Hillary and I'm learning a lot from this thread. Please post the full process, much appreciated!

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    The heat index here being 111 F at the moment, I decided to experiment with your original a bit to stay cool. :cool:


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