Enhancing Contrast and Colors with the Overlay Blending Mode and Eraser Tool

In this Photoshop tutorial I am going to describe a technique that allows you to enhance the contrast and deepen the colors of an image with extreme level values without over- or underexposing any areas. For this purpose, we're going to use the blending mode "overlay" and the eraser tool.



Above is my original picture. As you can see, the sun is bright while the tree areas are rather dark. If you tried to adjust the levels for the whole picture at once you'd probably just increase these extremes, causing the bright areas to be overexposed. Here's how you can avoid that:

1. First, open the picture in Photoshop and duplicate its layer by right-clicking on the background layer in the layers window (F7) and on "Duplicate Layer...".

2. In the layers window, click on the duplicated layer (default name: "Background copy"). Now the drop-down menu on top of the layers window becomes clickable. Click on it and select the "Overlay" blending mode. My picture now looks like this:



3. Next, select the elliptical marquee tool (press M or select it from the toolbar) and enter a value in the "Feather" field in the top toolbar that's high enough to ensure a seamless color flow. For this example image (800px wide) I used the feather value 100. Larger images require higher values.

4. The next step is a trial and error procedure. First, make sure your "Background copy" layer is still selected. Then, using the marquee tool, I selected parts of the sky where I wanted to enhance its contrast and had Photoshop auto-adjust the levels (Image > Adjustments > Levels > Auto). Now my picture looks like this:



5. I did the same thing with the ground area to increase its contrast, making the picture look like this:



6. Now, in order to brighten up the areas that are too dark, I used the eraser tool (E) and erased the dark areas from the "Background copy" layer, mainly trees and dark spots on the ground. I also erased some areas around the sun which were overexposed by the overlay mode.

Make sure the eraser tool's hardness (similar to the feather value) and size are adequate. In order to change these values, simply right-click on the image after selecting the eraser tool. Additionally, reduce the "flow" value for the eraser tool in the top toolbar.

Now my picture looks like this:



7. Finally, in order to reduce the noise in the sky and to enhance the details I applied the Noise Ninja plug-in. And there you go:




Here are some other images I processed using this technique:

Better Black and White Photos with Channels

Sometimes the best things are already there, waiting to be discovered ;)

In this tutorial I will demonstrate how you can use Photoshop to extract a channel from a picture for better black and white conversion.

This is my original shot:


The first thing you have to do is open the channels window by clicking on the 'Channels' tab (next to the 'Layers' tab in the layers window or Window > Channels). As you can see, in an RGB image we have the red, green, and blue channel:


All you have to do now is choose the one you like the most (in my case I prefer the green channel) and click on it.

Next, convert the image to grayscale (Image > Mode > Grayscale), otherwise you won't be able to save it as a black-and-white image.

Finally, you might want to increase the contrast a little. You can do so by duplicating the layer (click on the 'Layers' tab or Window > Layers, right-click on the background layer > duplicate layer) and choosing the 'soft light' blending mode from the drop-down menu:


If the contrast is now too much, you can gradually decrease the opacity of the duplicated layer until you get the desired effect. My final result looks now like this:


Now it's your turn--see the world in black and white!

Photo Enhancement: Sunsets

I'm about to start a new series in my blog called "Photo Enhancement", which is designed to give you tips and tricks how to make your photos look better and how to avoid common pitfalls. I'll focus on the common subjects first, and today we'll take a look at sunset shots.

The picture on the left is my sample image (found at sxc.hu; feel free to download it and try out the steps below with the actual photo).

One major flaw is the crooked horizon, which can be found in many sunset photos (and landscape photos in general). However, it's easy to correct. In Photoshop, click on Image > Image Rotation > Arbitrary and rotate it 0.8 degrees counter-clockwise (CCW). After the rotation process you'll see the white canvas at the edges, so we also have to crop the image a bit. According to the eye-pleasing golden mean, the best crop ratio is 1.6:1, which means the longer side should be 1.6 times the shorter side. Therefore, I cropped it like this:



Cropping the image like this has another advantage, which again is due to the golden mean: The horizon is not in the center (a 50:50 ratio of sky and ocean looks static and boring) but it divides the line from top to bottom roughly in the ratio of 1 (sky) : 1.6 (ocean). A mathematically and aesthetically perfect composition.

So, we've solved the first problem of the crooked horizon. Another flaw of the image is the washed out colors. In order to fix this, I added a vibrance adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Vibrance) and increased the vibrance to +100. The result looks like this:



However, the contrast remains dull and the colors are still not vivid enough. Thus, I added a curve adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves) and modified the curves like this:



Simply grab the curve in the middle and drag it down until you get the desired effect.
The picture now looks like this:



Not bad, but in order to make it perfect we also have to reduce the noise (this is especially important for low-level shots at high ISO speeds). I used the NoiseNinja plug-in to do the job, which also sharpens the image a little more to give it that professional finish:



Finally, you might like to remove the distracting branches on the right side of the image. This is easily done with the clone stamp tool (hotkey: S) and the spot healing brush tool (J), so that the enhanced image looks like this:

Split Toning Tutorial - The Making of "Dog Tag"

In this tutorial I want to show you how I used split tones to create this picture:




For taking the shot I used a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM lens, a large softbox, and a small spotlight (same set-up as for "Touch"). The softbox was placed right next to me and raised to about 1.80m above the ground, while the small spotlight was placed about 50cm above the ground and used to brighten up parts of the black background, thus making it dark gray. You can see the exact arrangement here:



I used the following settings:

• RAW mode
• Focal length: 40mm
• Aperture: f/7.1
• Shutter speed: 1/250s
• ISO: 100
• White balance: 5900K

And this is the photo I took (by the way, the models are Andrea and Tara from J.I.M. Modelling Agency, Bangkok):




The best thing about this technique is that it's extremely fast and easy. The first step is double-clicking on the original raw file. By default, the Photoshop component "Camera Raw" will open the image and you'll see this screen:



The first tab, which is selected by default when you open Camera Raw, is "Basic". I changed the settings as follows:

• Tint: -1
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25

The next one is "Tone Curve":



In "paramteric" mode, I boosted the contrast with these settings:

• Highlights: +43
• Lights: +10
• Darks: -24
• Shadows: -57

In the "Detail" tab I changed the sharpening settings as follows:

• Amount: +47 (all the other settings are default settings)
  

The next step is the actual split-toning process. I selected the "Split Toning" tab and chose a green hue for the highlights and a blue hue for the shadows. All I had to do was changing the parameters to these:



Highlights:

• Hue: 101
• Saturation: 58

Shadows:

• Hue: 219
• Saturation: 35

That's it! This is how the photo looked after processing it with Camera Raw:



The only thing I did afterward was removing the noise, smoothing the skin, and increasing the sharpness and contrast a little. All of this can be done in just one step using the Photoshop plug-in NoiseNinja. I case you don't have it yet I strongly recommend you get this plug-in because it will significantly increase the quality of your images.

After all these steps, my picture looks like this now:



Much better than the original, don't you think? ;)

Psst... check out another way of processing this image: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/08/making-of-touch.html

Making of "Touch"

This article is actually a combination of two tutorials--how to set up basic lighting in the studio and how to give a portrait the glossy magazine look.

For taking the shot I used a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM lens, a large softbox, and a small spotlight (same set-up as for "Dog Tag"). The softbox was placed right next to me and raised to about 1.80m above the ground, while the small spotlight was placed about 50cm above the ground and used to brighten up parts of the black background, thus making it dark gray. You can see the exact arrangement here:



I used the following settings:

• RAW mode
• Focal length: 55mm
• Aperture: f/5
• Shutter speed: 1/250s
• ISO: 100
• White balance: 5900K

And this is the photo I took (by the way, the models are Andrea and Tara from J.I.M. Modelling Agency, Bangkok):



Now let's get rid of the faithful skin color and change it to cool white!

The first step is to open the raw photo in Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS3 because only CameraRaw 4.5 (which works only with CS3) supports RAW files from the 40D and I don't want to disturb my workflow by converting my RAW files with the DNG converter. Anyway, doubleclicking on the RAW file will open a screen that looks like this:


(Click to enlarge)

As you can see, the colors are different from the original shot because I changed the parameters already. The image above shows how I set the parameters in the "basic" section:

• Tint: -1
• Blacks: +5
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25

After that I moved on to the tone curve and changed its parameters to these:



The next step is changing the red primary and green primary parameters in the "camera calibration" section. Reducing the saturation of red and green is the secret key to shiny skin colors:



I didn't change anything else, so I just clicked on "open image" to -- well, open the image in Photoshop and do some final touch-ups. Here's the shot after applying the RAW settings:



To make it even shinier, I had Photoshop auto-adjust the levels by pressing Shift+Command+L (Windows users use Shift+Ctrl+L):



Then I removed the birthmarks and cleaned up minor skin irregularities with the spot healing brush tool (press J to activate this tool). Now the image looked like this:



The final step is using NoiseNinja for removing the noise, smoothing the skin, and increasing sharpness and contrast a bit more. All these things can be achieved by opening the NoiseNinja plugin (Filter -> PictureCode -> Noise Ninja), clicking on "profile image", and change the settings in the "filter" tab to these:

• Smoothness: 14
• Contrast: 15

(Click to enlarge)

If you don't have NoiseNinja I strongly recommend you get it because it will significantly increase the quality of your images, as you can see here:



That's it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial :)

Psst... check out another way of processing this image: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/08/split-toning-tutorial-making-of-dog-tag.html

Taking and Processing Infrared Photos

In this tutorial you will learn how to take and process infrared (IR) images.You probably came across some infrared photos already without noticing it and were stunned by their beauty and maybe wondering how their special appearance was achieved. Most photographers choose a blue tone for their infrared images because then they will get a winterly look but sepia tones are found as well. However, the most important characteristics of an IR shot are the white trees and plants because they reflect IR rays almost completely. Enough said now–time for some action!

1. Requirements

If you want to take infrared images you first need an IR filter and a camera that can “see” IR light. Since some cameras have a built-in filter that prevents IR rays from coming through, you have to check if your camera can see IR light by pointing a remote control to the camera (with no filter attached). If you can see the infrared LED of your remote control glow then your camera is capable of taking IR shots.

There’s a variety of IR filters available. A good standard filter is the Hoya R72 infrared filter. The “72″ indicates that it will block light of wavelengths of more than 720 nm. You can also buy a colored IR filter for better contrast in different situations but if you have Photoshop you don't really need one because all the level adjustments can be done there.

2. Taking the shot

You can hardly see anything when you look through an IR filter. Since it blocks a huge amount of light the best shots are taken in bright sunlight with the sun in your back for maximum IR reflection. But even if it’s bright, you will have to use a tripod because the exposure will be much longer than normal.

Tip: Due to the long exposure time, you should also use a remote control or the self-timer to avoid vibrations. For best results, wait until there is no wind and the leaves on the trees are not moving so that everything is sharp on the image.

I experienced that a white balance of 2500K G9 works best for my camera but different camera models might require different settings. Since the Hoya R72 IR filter is almost black it always takes some time to get a sharp image with the auto focus. Once the focus is good enough I set the camera to manual focus (to "lock" the focus) and shot several images with different exposures in RAW mode. Thus I can choose the best exposure later because the display of the camera might not show the brightness accurately. Moreover, many different exposures allow me to create an HDR image if desired.

However, if the lighting conditions are not good enough problems with the autofocus may occur. In such cases, you have to focus manually while keeping the filter attached to the lens. If you remove the filter to focus manually the photo will be slightly blurred because IR rays do not have the same focal point than visible light rays.

3. Processing the image in Photoshop

Please note: This is only one way to process an IR image. Another way can be found here: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/06/infrared-photography-tutorial.html

Your infrared image will probably have a red/magenta hue. Additionally, it may be very noisy depending on your exposure settings and camera quality. However, the noise can be fixed easily with Photoshop and also the hue is no problem. Here’s my original image:

The first step is to open the channel mixer (image > adjustments > channel mixer). Choose “Red” as the output channel and move the source channel slider of red to 0% and the slider of blue to 100%. Then choose “Blue” from the output channel menu and slide red to 100% and blue to 0%. You should get something like this:

Now it’s time to adjust the levels. Click on image > adjustments > levels (or press [Ctrl+L] and click on the “auto” button. Here’s the result of this action:

Additionally, you can adjust the levels manually. Choose the red channel in the drop-down menu and move the black slider a bit to the right (where the red slider is):

Then choose the green channel and move the sliders as indicated below:

Now it’s time to change the hue. Click on image > adjustments > hue/saturation (or press [Ctrl+U]) and check the “colorize” box on the right. Move the sliders of hue and saturation until you get a result that you like. Mine looks like this:

For reducing the noise I recommend Photoshop plugins specially designed for this job because the Photoshop noise reduction feature (despecle) is unsatisfactory. With plugins such as Noise Ninja or Neat Image you will get much better results. For the final step I also applied a bleaching filter (Red Paw Media Bleach Bypass Pro; free BleachBypass) before reducing the noise so that I got even more contrast. In the end my picture looks like this:

Infrared Photography Tutorial

In this article I will disclose my technique of post-processing infrared images.

Rivers, lakes and trees are great spots for infrared images. Fortunately, there's a river flowing right through our village, so I don't have to walk too far to find a place like this:




The clouds and their reflections on the water looked perfect to me, so I put my camera (a Sony Alpha) on the tripod, screwed the Hoya R72 IR filter on the lens and shot away.

Tip: Due to the long exposure time, you should use a remote control or the self-timer to avoid vibrations. For best results, wait until there is no wind and the leaves on the trees are not moving.

I experienced that a white balance of 2500K G9 works best for my camera but different camera models might require different settings. Since the Hoya R72 IR filter is almost black it always takes some time to get a sharp image with the auto focus. Once the focus is good enough I set the camera to manual focus (to "lock" the focus) and shot several images with different exposures in RAW mode. Thus I can choose the best exposure later because the display of the camera might not show the brightness accurately. Moreover, many different exposures allow me to create an HDR image if desired.

When I was back home I chose this image for post-production:




The exposure seemed just right; nothing is over- or underexposed. I imported the RAW file to Photoshop without adjusting anything at first.

Then I cropped the image at the bottom to get a width/height ratio of about 1.6:1, which equals roughly the golden mean and is more eye-pleasing:




After that I had Photoshop adjust the levels automatically by pressing Shift+Ctrl+L:




Then I used the channel mixer (Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer) to get a blue hue. I chose "Red" as the output channel and moved the source channel slider of red to 0% and the slider of blue to 100%. Then I chose "Blue" from the output channel menu and slided red to 100% and blue to 0%. Afterwards the image looked like this:




Now that doesn't look too bad, does it? But still there's a lot to be done. I found the saturation a bit too much so I decreased it with the PowerRetouche Saturation plug-in (setting -90/photographic):




In order to increase the contrast by making the trees a bit whiter (they still have a magenta hue) and the sky darker I applied a red filter with the PowerRetouche Studio Black and White plug-in. The result looks like this:




Alternatively, you can experiment with the Photoshop photo filters (Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter).

However, there's still too much magenta in the trees. So I set the saturation (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation) of magentas to -75, of reds to -70 and of blues to -50 in order to make them look more natural:




For the last step I used the dodge tool (O) and set a few highlights on the trees to make them look more plastic and whiter. With the elliptic marquee tool (feather: 100 pixels) I selected some trees to increase the contrast and to bring out the branches more. Before submitting the image to deviantART I resized it, sharpened it, and added a border so that it looks good on a computer screen.




You can view the final version here:




Wallpapers:

1280x1024:


1024x768:



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me. Another IR tutorial can be found here: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/07/taking-and-processing-infrared-photos.html