C&C Request how to edit photo

[Kathryn4629]

I am trying to figure out how to edit this photo in order to frame it for a gift. I have included the original and one that I have edited with photoshop. Mostly I just messed with the levels and cropped it.

What would you advise for editing?

#1 Original

#2 Edited

 

[ConverseMan]

Still waaaaay to dark. Try lightening up his face and maybe boost the color a bit to brighten up that blue on the wall - to add some color to the shot. Just make sure not to blow the sky out more.

 

[KmH]

I am trying to figure out how to edit this photo in order to frame it for a gift. I have included the original and one that I have edited with photoshop. Mostly I just messed with the levels and cropped it.

What would you advise for editing?

#1 Original

What software do you have available for image editing? I used ACR 6, CS5 and Topaz Adjust 4.

Under exposure is the worst thing you can do to a digital photograph.

 

[sobolik]

Kathryn4629's edit is wonderful. Just clone out the WD-40 can and the fuel shut off sticker to finish it off.

 

[Kathryn4629]

I use CS5 for my editing. I Really like how you did the last one. But it there a way to make the colors more vibrant, specifically the blues?

 

[oldmacman]

I am trying to figure out how to edit this photo in order to frame it for a gift. I have included the original and one that I have edited with photoshop. Mostly I just messed with the levels and cropped it.

What would you advise for editing?

#1 Original

#2 Edited

I like the asymmetry of the original image. It is nice that he has such warm skin tones against the cool greyness of the day. Lovely pic, imo. Here is my take, FWIW:

 

[clanthar]

Nice shot.

The key to editing this photo in Photoshop is to use blending modes and layer masks:

With your original open access the Layers palette and make three dupes of the background layer. Set the blending mode for the dupe above the background to Screen and turn off the other dupes. The image will lighten. Now turn off all the dupes so that you're seeing the original again. From the Select menu pick Color Range. From the drop box pick Shadows. Use the Lasso tool and shift key down to add any of his face to the selection that Photoshop missed.

Now back to Layers; turn on and select the first dupe that we already switched to Screen mode. With the selection active go to the bottom of the layer's palette and click the mask icon. Now you need to edit the mask some. Start with Photoshop's Mask palette and pick refine mask edge. Raise the radius about a 1/3 up, contract a little and add a slight feather.

Repeat the above process with the next dupe layer. You may need to paint on the mask a little to fine adjust -- I did on his hand. The real tricky part is the masking -- with this much of a change the masks have to be precise to avoid showing artifacts.

I used three dupe layers in Screen mode; the third dupe layer was at partial opacity. When that was finished I used a Soft Light blending layer to tweak the contrast up a smidge and finally I white balanced the photo to remove a slight blue cast.

Take Care,
Joe

Edit: I read back and noted your question about more vibrant colors. In this edit I adjust the colors to be accurate. If you want to alter them in Photoshop use The Hue/Saturation control under the Image--Adjustments menu. I recommend however starting from a neutral position.

 

[doziergraphic]

excellent editing job guys. good thread here.

 

[Kathryn4629]

Nice shot.

The key to editing this photo in Photoshop is to use blending modes and layer masks:

With your original open access the Layers palette and make three dupes of the background layer. Set the blending mode for the dupe above the background to Screen and turn off the other dupes. The image will lighten. Now turn off all the dupes so that you're seeing the original again. From the Select menu pick Color Range. From the drop box pick Shadows. Use the Lasso tool and shift key down to add any of his face to the selection that Photoshop missed.

Now back to Layers; turn on and select the first dupe that we already switched to Screen mode. With the selection active go to the bottom of the layer's palette and click the mask icon. Now you need to edit the mask some. Start with Photoshop's Mask palette and pick refine mask edge. Raise the radius about a 1/3 up, contract a little and add a slight feather.

Repeat the above process with the next dupe layer. You may need to paint on the mask a little to fine adjust -- I did on his hand. The real tricky part is the masking -- with this much of a change the masks have to be precise to avoid showing artifacts.

I used three dupe layers in Screen mode; the third dupe layer was at partial opacity. When that was finished I used a Soft Light blending layer to tweak the contrast up a smidge and finally I white balanced the photo to remove a slight blue cast.

Take Care,
Joe

Edit: I read back and noted your question about more vibrant colors. In this edit I adjust the colors to be accurate. If you want to alter them in Photoshop use The Hue/Saturation control under the Image--Adjustments menu. I recommend however starting from a neutral position.

Thank you so much for the detailed instructions! This is helping immensely! I am having some trouble with the with the "white balance" exactly what did you do here? I can see the difference between my edit and yours but just cant seem to fix it. Sorry for my bonehead question :blushing:

 

[KmH]

I didn't have time to elaborate on why under exposure is so bad for digital photos, but I can now.

Most of the image information is in the highlights.

Most of todays DSLR's can do 12-bit or 14-bit Raw captures and can capture at least 6 stops of light (dynamic range).

We'll use a 12-bit Raw capture and 6 stops of dynamic range as an example. 12 digital bits can define 4096 levels.

One-half those 4096 levels are contained in the brightest stop of a Raw capture, leaving 2048 levels. One-half of those 2048 levels are in the next darker stop of Raw capture, leaving 1024 levels. One-half of those 1024 levels is in the next darker stop of Raw capture leaving 512 levels, and we are half way through our 6 stops but only have 512 levels left having used 3548 levels in the brighter 3 stops of light.

There is significntly less image data in each successive darker stop of exposure. By the time we get to the last stop of dynamic range, it only contains 64 levles if data.

Next we need to consider signal-to-noise ratios. The stronger the signal (more exposure data), the less visible noise is, because noise is a weak signal. As the exposure signal level decreases with each stop of dynamic range, noise becomes more visible.

That is why noise is always more noticable in the darker parts of an image.

 

[clanthar]

I didn't have time to elaborate on why under exposure is so bad for digital photos, but I can now.

You're absolutely correct in this -- underexposure of digital photos is really bad, and you've got the reason. However there's one thing worse than underexposing a digital photo and that's overexposing it. With highlights completely blown no editing can remediate the problem. As evidenced by this photo we were at least able to help with the underexposure.

There is no substitute for getting it right.

This photo shows us a further problem. The overall tonal range of the scene was just too great. The highlights are blown and yet the subject in the photo is underexposed. This photo has both underexposure and overexposure. When the lighting is adverse like this intervention by the photographer is the best solution if possible.

Joe

 

[clanthar]

Thank you so much for the detailed instructions! This is helping immensely! I am having some trouble with the with the "white balance" exactly what did you do here? I can see the difference between my edit and yours but just cant seem to fix it. Sorry for my bonehead question :blushing:

You can try setting a grey point. Do this before you start any other editing for best results. You need to have something in the photo you know was grey. Water reflecting an overcast sky is usually pretty close. Open Levels and select the grey eyedropper. Right click (Ctrl click MAC) and from the pop up menu select 5x5 average. Then try clicking on the darkest part of the water just above the edge of the boat -- try a couple spots. This can be hit and miss. You'll have to decide if it helps and whether to keep it or not.

I color adjust images by first converting them to Lab mode. Then I bring up the Levels dialog. There's a drop menu labeled Channels. In Lab mode the image channels are Lightness, "a" and "b." The "a" channel is magenta/green and the "b" channels is yellow/blue. Color adjust by selecting either "a" or "b" channel and pulling the midpoint slider to the right or left. Leave the end point sliders alone.

Joe

 

[Kathryn4629]

Ok so I was happy with what I had done (thanks to everyones help) and then I went to merge the layers and this is what happened. Not sure what happened??

 

[CraniumDesigns]

"Under exposure is the worst thing you can do to a digital photograph."

not really. over exposure is way worse. at least u have data when it's underexposed.

 

[clanthar]

Ok so I was happy with what I had done (thanks to everyones help) and then I went to merge the layers and this is what happened. Not sure what happened??

You did great! I'm guessing those rectangles are partial selection artifacts from when you applied Layer masks. Did you make a selection using Select/Color Range? That works really well in part because the selection it creates is feathered. Combining that with hand selection using the Marquee tool could produce what you see here.

In any case, if that was your first attempt at something this complicated you did great. Go back through the process a couple more times, refine the result and practice -- you'll get better.

Joe