Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: RP: Moeraki Boulders; Nik Adjustment Brush; Tony Kuyper PS Actions

Threaded View

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Jay Gould's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    In the whole wide world!
    Posts
    2,788
    Threads
    332
    Thank You Posts

    Default RP: Moeraki Boulders; Nik Adjustment Brush; Tony Kuyper PS Actions

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi, I am posting this here because the post is mainly about new workflow procedures I have learned in doing an RP of Moeraki Boulders for my buyer: OP = http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...hlight=Moeraki.

    Normally a buyer sees an image on your website; in this case the buyer first saw the image on my mentor Kah Kit Yoong's website: http://www.magichourtravelscapes.com...y=nzexpedition.

    When we cyber chatted after I sent him a jpeg of the image for his approval, his reaction was that the image on KKY's site was redder and sharper than the image I sent him. I didn't know if in posting the jpeg I sent to KKY he either/both processed/sharpened to make it look better. Anything KKY wants to do to any of my images can only make them look better!

    Anyway, back to the drawing board. A lot of you reading this are going to quickly tell me how easy it can be done using basic PS tools; horses for courses! I am slowly learning PS that to Bob A., my brother, and others. I am quickly learning to use the wonderful plugins available from Nik, Topaz, and amongst others, Tony Kuyper's (TK) incredible PS actions pertaining to saturation, lumination, web sharpening, and a host of other tools. Many here on BPN know and use Tony's stuff; you should really check it out: http://goodlight.us/index.html.

    Nik Adjustment Brush; what an amazing find. Nik is know for its U Point technology; I use it all of the time in Viveza. Up until today, when I didn't want to apply a change to the entire image I would use a mask. Do the changes, create a mask, and either paint them in or paint them out.

    Because I wanted to apply different filters to different parts of the image, after I did some post Lightroom content aware cleanup, presharpened, and used TK's Burn-Dodge Action, I did a CTRl-Alt-Shft-E (CASE) to merge the layers so that I could apply each filter independent of the other filters.

    First, I applied Nik Detail Extractor by brushing the filter onto the boulder and the rippled water. I then did another CASE; this is necessary if you want to apply a different filter in different places without using the first filter.

    Next, I created a double filter of Tonal Contrast and Brilliance/Warmth to be applied only to the sky and rippled water; I did not want to apply it globally. Again, once saw that the sky was as I wanted it I simply clicked on the brush and painted the combined filters where I wanted the effect.

    Finally, I applied a 10% + 10% burn to the entire image to tone it down.

    Flattened, saved and used Alien Skin BlowUp to reduce in size, and then brushed Nik RAW Output Sharpener. Brushing was fantastic!

    I didn't want to sharpen the dry sand or most of the sky; I only wanted to sharpen the foreground boulder, the rippled water, and the sun. I used the default settings and simply changed the size of the brush and opacity as I brushed on sharpener to the different areas.

    I would think for this would work great for Wildlife and Avian. The ability to sharpen the entire animal/bird and a bit of extra sharpening to the eye simply by brushing a stronger opacity eliminates the necessity to create masks to isolate portions of the primary subject.

    The larger watermark is there because this image is a reduction of the high res image posted on my Zenfolio website.

    Here is the final result; I hope you like. Jak and I do!!
    Cheers, Jay

    My Digital Art - "Nature Interpreted" - can now be view at http://www.luvntravlnphotography.com

    "Nature Interpreted" - Photography begins with your mind and eyes, and ends with an image representing your vision and your reality of the captured scene; photography exceeds the camera sensor's limitations. Capturing and Processing landscapes and seascapes allows me to express my vision and reality of Nature.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics