Low Light Photography (Part 3)

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Robin S. Kent

Moonrise, Lincoln Memorial

Photographing the moon, stars, and the Milky Way brings a different set of challenges, most often in planning where to be and when. Happily, this is no longer as hard as it used to be, because there are various apps such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) or PhotoPils that enable you to predict where the moon and other astronomical bodies will be at any given time and location.

The picture above was taken in 2001 when such things did not exist. You needed a compass and a chart with the azimuth of the moonrise. On March 9th, the moonrise was at 6:19 PM, 10 minutes after sunset.

Low Light D-09-09-05-51_52_53 (Moonrise, Washington) Moonrise over Washington DC

(Tech: Nikon D200 with 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, @ 200mm, exp: 1.8 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 200; 3 vertical images, photomerged)

Capturing a full moon rising over Washington, DC from this location near the Netherlands Carillon is a much desired goal of many local photographers. These days, when the alignment is expected to be good, you will find as many as 100 photographers at this location poised for the opportunity.

The image above, however, was photographed on Sept 5, 2009, the night after the full moon, and also back before TPE and other apps were generally available. There were less than a half dozen photographers up there that night. The next chance for an almost identical shot at this location will be on October 5, 2019.

Low Light D-11-05-28-8051_58 Iwo Jima Iwo Jima and Crescent Moon

The moon doesn’t necessarily have to be full to find an interesting angle, but it might mean that you have to get up early in the morning. This was taken at about 5:20 AM, during civil twilight when the waning moon was about 19% full.

(Tech: Nikon D200, 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 lens at 200mm; exp 0.6 sec. @ f/20, ISO 2500)

Lunar Eclipse Multiple Exposure

(Tech: October 8, 2014, Total of 18 Exposures over a 64 minute period, exposures varied depending on brightness of moon)

A lunar eclipse is a relatively rare event, but it can be photographed in a variety of ways depending on the timing and track of the moon across the sky. In this case of an early morning eclipse, I tried an application of the stacking technique I learned in a Michael Frye workshop for shooting star trails (discussed below). The next total eclipse in Washington, DC will be on the night of 20-21 January 2019. Information of the date and locations of upcoming eclipses anywhere can be found here.

Milky Way over Gaylor Lake, Yosemite National Park

When photographing Stars, one has to get away from the light pollution of city lights. Dark skies, such as Yosemite National Park, are increasingly rare. One place to find them is at the Dark Sky Association website.

This kind of photography involves a number of considerations. According to Michael Frye: “Capturing pinpoint stars requires relatively short exposures, otherwise the stars become streaks instead of points. You can get away with exposure times as long as 30 seconds with wide-angle lenses. To gather enough light to show faint stars and the Milky Way with such short exposures, you need both a wide aperture and a high ISO. The wider the aperture and the higher the ISO, the more stars will appear in your photograph. But you might not want to use the widest aperture on your lens, because all lenses are sharper when stopped down a bit. Or if you have something in the foreground you may need to stop down slightly to get sufficient depth of field. To start with, try 15 to 30 seconds at f/2.8, with the ISO at 6400. If that doesn’t show enough stars, try a wider aperture or higher ISO.”

The Milky Way is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere during January and February. For a comprehensive discussion of when and where to photograph it, check this link.

Star Trails, Sonora Pass, California

The technique for capturing star trails is similar to shooting the Milky Way in that a fast (f/2.8 or better) wide angle lens (24 mm or wider)are necessary. But instead of one relatively short exposure, this kind of image requires a series of long exposures at a relatively low ISO. The above image involved 30 separate exposures, each four minutes long with a 1 second interval between each one. The aperure was f/5.6 and the ISO was 400. An intervalometer was attached to the camera to manage the sequence of shots.

Then, during postprocessing, you can load all the images into photoshop as layers. You then click off the visibility (the little eyeball on the left of each layer) of all layers except the bottom layer. Then Cchange the blend mode on all layers to “lighten” and the star trails will appear. This action blends the layers together keeping only the lightest areas of the photo. Merge the image as a single layer.

I hope these three posts on low light photography are of some use to readers interested in taking on the low light challenge. For now, however, I will be taking a break from my blog for about 6 weeks as I get ready for an upcoming trip to the monarch butterfly preserves in the Sierra Madre Montains of central Mexico. You can get an advanced peek at what I hope to see there by checking out my post from 2016.

You cn also check out my Instagram feed (@photographybykent) which will have occasional posts over the next several weeks. In the meantime,

Keep Shooting……….

Low Light Photography (Part 2)

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Robin S. Kent

As mentioned in last week’s post, possible subjects for night-time shooting include cityscapes, landscapes, a staged scenario, and astronomical phenomena. In the case of cityscapes, one does not have to live in, or travel to, well-known cities such as Washington, DC, New York City, or Paris.

Low Light (Hartford) D-14-12-04-5599_606 Hartford at Twilight

(Tech: Nikon D800E with 24-70mm f/.28 lens @ 50mm, 3 sec. @ f/16, ISO 400, photomerge)

This was taken during the Nautical Twilight phase, but by looking west, one can still see plenty of light in the sky. The location was chosen because there was good illumination from city lights over most of the scene and the Connecticut River provided a nice reflection of the city lights. Using water to reflect lights can be a very effective technique at night. As before, the glare from the brighter lights was managed by using a small aperture to produce a star effect.

Pittsburgh at Night

(Tech: Nikon D800E with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens @70mm, 1/6th sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 1600)

From this location (an overlook in the 1400 block of Grandview Avenue), the city of Pittsburgh provides a dramatic night scene with plenty of illumination. However, the moving ferry in the river required a relatively short exposure, forcing a setting at a wide aperture and high ISO.

Tactics for Adding Interest

Aside from looking for potential reflections, one can also look for illuminated fountains, use time exposures to incorporate traffic flow, or take advantage of a special event such as temporary art installations or fireworks. The city of Washington, DC has many fountains although most are shut down for the winter.

Low Light (WW II Mem) D-13-06-01-9189_209 WW II Memorial at Twilight

(Tech: Nikon D800E with 24-70mm f/.28 lens @ 24mm, 8 sec. @ f/14, ISO 400, photomerge)

The primary reason for using a photomerge in this case was to “remove” the tourists in the scene. About 17 separate exposures were made, each of a small section of the scene that did not have anyone in it at that moment. Depending on the situation, there are easier ways to do this in Photoshop, such as the Image Stacking Mode or the Scripts-Statistics process. But those techniques have difficulty with any moving object, such as a flag or moving water, that appears in every image. Low Light (Bartholdi)D-11-09-16-2649 Bartholdi Fountain at Twilight

(Tech: Nikon D800E, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 56mm; 10 sec. @ f/16, ISO 400)

This fountain, dating back to 1876, was created by August Bartholdi, a French artist who is better known for the Statue of Liberty. It is located in Bartholdi Park across Independence Avenue from the US Botanic Garden.

Fountains can be found in most cities around the world; Rome and Paris (see image below) are famous for their fountains, but Kansas City reportedly is second only to Rome in the number of municipal fountains.

Low Light (Paris Fountain) brighter D-14-06-04-8826_27 Place Concorde at Twilight, Paris

(Tech: Nikon D800E, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm; 5 sec. @ f/16, ISO 200)

Moving traffic can pose a problem for night photographers, but, by using a long exposure to create trace lines, what might be a flaw becomes a strength.

Low Light (Kutz Bridge) D-11-03-13-4100 Washington Monument and Kutz Bridge

(Tech: Nikon D800E, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 38mm; 8 sec. @ f/16, ISO 200)

When shooting at street level, the brightness of oncoming headlights can still be a problem, even with a long exposure. Here the traffic was going away from the camera so only the taillights and the blue warning lights from the police car were visible.

This technique does not have to be restricted to street vehicles. For locations near an airport, aircraft landings and take-offs can also be included as shown in the next two images.

Low Light (Final Approach) D-10-03-20-050 Final Approach Over Key Bridge

(Tech: Nikon D200, 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 42mm; 30 sec. @ f/16, ISO 100)

There are several locations where you can capture aircraft landing at National Airport. This was taken on the river’s edge about 200 feet northwest of the Thompson Boat Center.

Low Light (Kennedy Center) D-17-11-29-0794 Kennedy Center at Night

(Tech: Nikon D850, 24-70 f/2.8 lens @ 70mm; 20sec. @ f/18, ISO 100)

Special event illuminations such as the recent display by the Kennedy Center can provide unique opportunities because they usually only last for a short time. This image combines several of the tactics discussed here: a special illumination, trace lights from vehicle traffic and aircraft, and using water to add reflections.

The next and final post in this series will cover astronomical phenomena, photographing the moon, stars, and the Milky Way.

In the meantime, Keep Shooting…………..

Low Light Photography (Part 1)

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Robin S. Kent

Low Light (Pilings) D-07-08-25-0028 Moon over Abandoned Pilings, Marquette, Wisconsin

Recently, I was asked by a local camera club to give a presentation on “Low Light Photography” and I thought perhaps an abbreviated version might be worthwhile on my blog.

Because the majority of my photography involves landscape scenes and urban architecture, I decided to concentrate on that area, even though low light scenarios can occur in many other situations such as when you are indoors and cannot use a flash.

Low Light (Shuttle) D-07-07-02-0057 Night at the Museum, NASA Shuttle Enterprise in the Udvar-Hazy Center

The above image is not typical of what I do, but when an opportunity arises to get inside a major museum after closing, you don’t pass it up. Especially if it’s authorized.

For me, however, twilight is a classic example of how a low light situation can present opportunities for especially dramatic images that are not possible during daylight hours.

Low Light (Mid-Hudson 01) 2137-33 Mid-Hudson Bridge, Afternoon Scouting Image

Low Light (Mid-Hudson AM) 2138-02 Mid-Hudson Bridge at Dawn, (the next morning)

We all know we that twilight is a relatively short period of time after the sun has gone below the horizon. Even though the sun has disappeared, scattered sunlight from the atmosphere continues to provide illumination.

Low Light Graphic Transition from Day to Night

But there are three different categories of twilight, based on how far the sun is below the horizon as shown in the chart above. Understanding those three categories is important because the quality of the light and therefore one’s photograph changes significantly depending on how long it’s been since sunset. It also depends on whether you are pointing your camera away from the location of the sunset/sunrise or toward it.

So let’s look at some examples.

WW I Memorial at Twilight, Washington, DC

(Tech Data: 19 Minutes after Sunset, Civil Twilight, looking Northwest 1.6 sec., @ f/16, ISO 400, Nikon D800E)

Here, during the first phase of twilight, there is still a fair amount of ambient light to show detail in the subject and the sky is taking on the classic blue of the “Magic Hour.”

Low Light (Kennedy Center) D-13-03-17-6064_70 Kennedy Center at Twilight, Washington, DC

(Tech Data: 40 Minutes after Sunset, beginning of nautical twilight, looking Southeast, 1.3 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, Nikon D800E)

Here, the sky is much darker, in part because it is a bit later than the previous image and also because the camera is pointing away from the western horizon. The image also demonstrates another technique that can porduce a more dramatic look at night: the use of a reflection in a body of water, be it river, pond, or rain puddle.

Low Light (WW II Mem) D-11-04-30 7062_63 WWW II and Washington Monument at Night

(Tech Data: 51 Minutes after Sunset, near the end of nautical twilight, looking East, 6 sec. @ f/16, ISO 400, Nikon D800E)

County Fair with Moon, Madison, Wisconsin

(Tech Data: 1 hour 51 minutes after Sunset, after end of Astronomical Twilight, looking generally East, 5 sec. @ f/16, ISO 100, Nikon D800E)

The glare (a typical problem for night shooting) was managed by using a small aperture to get the star effect which is more attractive than a blown-out spotlight or street lamp. It’s also good idea to use the lens shade when shooting cityscapes at night, to minimize glare from bright lights just outside the composition .

There are many possible subjects for night-time shooting, including cityscapes, landscapes, a staged scenario, and astronomical phenomena. We’ll go into that in Part 2 of this series.

In the meantime, I would be interested in comments from readers about low light situations you have encountered and how you resolved them. I expect to be speaking on this subject again and it would be great to bring in some additional ideas .

Until, then…Keep Shooting

Moonrise

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Robin S. Kent

I know, I know. I promised scenes from the Galapagos would be in my next post, but……

A week ago (March 12), there was a full moon, an event that happens every 29.5 days. But for photographers in Washington, DC, it was a special night because the moon would rise in a location on the horizon that was pretty close to perfect for the so-called “Holy Grail” shot. It happens, on average, every one or two years.

Full Moon March 2017

Moonrise over Washington, D.C., March 12, 2017

(Technical: Nikon D810 with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens extended to 200mm on tripod; Exposure: 1.6 sec @ f/11, ISO 400; taken )

There is a spot in Arlington, Virginia where one has an excellent view of the city of Washington with a compositionally sweet alignment of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol. The location is the base of the Netherlands Carillon, just to the south of the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Before the advent of the smart phone/tablet, anticipating this event was not easy, requiring a compass and access to some publicly available software on the website of the U.S. Naval Observatory. But now, with the availability of numerous apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) or Photo Pils, anyone can figure it out. For example, on this night, even with temperatures hovering around freezing, there were over 60 photographers there, each with at least one tripod and a big lens.

Other than the cold weather, conditions looked pretty good on this evening. The sky was clear and the moon would rise at 86.0 degrees azimuth on the horizon and 13 minutes after sunset. That was a bit further south than ideal, and a bit later than desired relative to the sunset. Nevertheless, it would be the best opportunity in 2017 with only one other chance (October 5) that will be in the ballpark. However, in October, the blue twilight period (Civil Twilight) will end before the moon gets sufficiently elevated.

Moonrise D-17-03-12-9670

(Technical: Nikon D810 with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens extended to 200mm on tripod; Exposure: 1.0 sec @ f/11, ISO 400; taken at 7:32 PM)

Although the official time of the moonrise was 7:27 PM, it would be a bit later before it would appear above the skyline. It was first sighted by the group at about 7:29 and the image immediately above was taken about 90 seconds later. By this time, the end of civil twilight is approaching and we would soon lose the classic blue color that is essential to this kind of image.

Moonrise D-17-03-12-9696

(Technical: Nikon D810 with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens extended to 200mm on tripod; Exposure: 2.0 sec @ f/11, ISO 400; taken at 6:36 PM)

Furthermore, the combination of a very clear sky with the rapidly fading twilight would cause the moon to become extremely bright as it rose above the dimming effects of the ground haze. The above image was taken at 6:36 PM, about 3 minutes before the end of civil twilight. Already the moon is becoming increasingly bright and the excellent details on its surface have almost vanished. Any images taken after this point would require increasingly heroic post-processing efforts.

So when you prepare for a moon shot, make sure you check more than the location. The relationship in time between the sunset and moonrise and civil twilight can have a significant impact on your results. If you are in a classic landscape situation where no artificial lighting typical of an urban scene is expected, you may want to evaluate the prospects on the night just before the actual full moon. This is especially true where a mountain may be blocking the moon at the time of the “official” moonrise.

Next (and I promise): Scenes from the Galapagos Islands.

ABFriday Forum–Week 45

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Robin S. Kent

It’s Friday, and time for all post-processing aficionados to gather around the campfire at Stacy Fischer’s Visual Venturing Emporium to swap stories about their creative wizardry. My submission to the ritual is a simple tale, an homage to Mother Nature’s renewal of life cycle, also known as spring, here in Virginia. All of the other stories are centrally located for your convenience at Stacy’s site, and the link to them is located at the end of this post.

The cherry blossoms are fading here, but the dogwood, redbud, and Virginia bluebells are emerging. And soon we will see the English bluebells, at least where they have been planted. Looking back to last year, the English bluebells were at their peak on May 8^th as I found when looking for a timely example for this week’s ABFriday Forum. As I recall, a bit of stealth was required to sneak into the backyard of a nearby house, and there was time for only a few exposures. The image chosen was opened in Adobe Camera RAW and the original version is shown below.

Original Unprocessed Image

(Technical data: Nikon D800E on tripod with 70-200mm f2.8 lens extended to 200mm; Exposure: 1/4 sec. @f/16, ISO 100)

After setting the White and Black points, some additional tweaking was necessary. Highlights were reduced (-70), Shadows opened up (+23), and I pushed harder than the usual +30 on both Clarity and Vibrance (+43 on both). The result is shown below.

After RAW Processing

From here, it seemed only two changes were needed. First, a slight increase in overall contrast,which was accomplished with the Adjustment Layer Curves option, selecting the preset “Linear Contrast” and the blend mode stayed at “Normal”. The result, shown below,slightly darkens the green foliage at the top and the rocks near the waterfall.

After Overall Curves Adjustment

But the foreground is still way too bright. So, using the polygon lasso tool, the lower half of the image was selected and a second Adjustment Layer Curves was used. The image below shows the area in red that was was masked from the effect of the adjustment. The setting on the adjustment layer is indicated with the blue (teal) arrow.

Curves Adjustment on Foreground

This seemed to be sufficient and the final result is shown below.

Final Result

Please take a look at the submissions by other participants at Stacy’s Visual Venturing Blog by clicking here.

Keep shooting….

AfterBefore Friday Week 41

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Robin S. Kent

Welcome to AfterBefore Friday, the Forum hosted by Stacy Fischer which allows participants to illustrate that the work isn’t done when the shutter clicks. My submission is described below, but be sure to check out ABFriday Headquarters because in addition to this week’s submissions, you will see the unveiling of next Month’s candidate image for the OnePhoto Focus Event.

After Before

I’ve been told that using the histogram on your digital camera simplifies the work in post-processing, it’s just a matter of trusting the graph instead of your eyes. It seems this is true. For example, I found a scene this week that is not particularly noteworthy but it provided an opportunity to work on a combination of some troublesome exposure issues—a bright blue sky, a white sculpture partially illuminated by a bright sun, and a dark brick building in shadow. The subject is the Smithsonian’s recently renovated (but empty) Arts and Industries Building.

I don’t have an easy way to display the camera’s information screen here, but those who want to know more can easily do a quick search on the terms “using the camera’s histogram.” In brief, I wanted to ensure there was detail in the shadows while not blowing out the sky or the white sculpture. After some trial and error I settled on an exposure 1.3 stops darker than what the camera’s meter was telling me. The image preview on the LCD looked really dark but the histogram was saying “don’t worry, the detail is all there.” The Before image below is what came out of the camera.

Before Image

Following normal workflow sequences, I made a few changes in Adobe Camera Raw, setting the white and black points, setting the Shadows to +100 (to open up the darker areas), and setting the clarity and vibrance to the usual values of +30. The result is shown below

After Adobe Camera RAW Adjustments

Moving into Photoshop CC, only three more small adjustments were needed. The two bits of roof on the left and right edges were removed with the clone tool. Second, I selected the brick building and used a Curves Adjustment Layer (Blend Mode=Normal) to make it brighter (see white arrow). The red area in the image below illustrates the mask blocking the effects of the adjustment to the sign.

Curves Adjustment

Third, I selected the decorative tiles including the sign and used a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer to enhance their colors (see arrows). The red area in the image below illustrates the mask blocking the effects of the adjustment.

Hue/Saturation adjustment

And that was it. The brick front of the building could have easily been lightened even more but the tones were an accurate representation of the late afternoon shadows. The final image is shown below.

Final Image

Be sure to see all of the other submissions at Stacy’s Visual Venturing Blog here.

After Before Friday Week 33

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Robin S. Kent

Before After

The ABFriday Forum, managed by Stacy Fischer is an opportunity for photographers of all levels to exchange ideas of making creative adjustments in a photograph after the shutter has closed. My submission this week was taken five years ago this week in West Virginia’s Blackwater Falls State Park. The stream is Shays Run, just below Elakala Falls. And if you think it looks cold, you are right. Please visit Stacy’s Visual Venturing site to see the other submissions.

Unprocessed Raw Image

A larger version of the original unprocessed RAW image is shown above. (Technical Data: Nikon D200 with 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens extended to 135mm; exposure 0.3 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 400)

As usual, the first step in my workflow was to open the image in Adobe Camera Raw. The adjustments made are shown in the image above. The settings were as follows: Exposure: +0.20; Highlights: -2; Shadows: +58; Whites: +58; Blacks: -33; Clarity: +33; Vibrance: +23. The goal here was to bring out the white in the snow and to open up the shadows in the dark areas. But I knew a little more work would be needed in Photoshop.

Final Image

I didn’t like the brown color of the water in the image, even though it is a natural condition resulting from tannic acid of fallen hemlock and red spruce needles. You have to be there to appreciate it. I decided to go with black and white. But first, I wanted to get a little more detail in the snow in the upper left and lower right corners. This was accomplished with a Levels Adjustment Layer (Blend Mode Normal). Then I used Channel Mixer, checking the box for Monochrome and staying with the Default settings. The image was still a little flat, so I used a Curves Adjustment Layer (Blend Mode Normal) to increase the contrast.

Other than the conversion to Black and White, the adjustments are relatively modest. I felt radical surgery wasn’t needed and I’d be interested in your thoughts. And don’t forget to check the other submissions at Visual Venturing here.

After Before Friday Forum Week 30

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Robin S. Kent

Each week, Stacy Fischer of Visual Venturing sponsors the After-Before Friday Forum which provides anyone wishing to participate to exchange ideas about the creative power of post-processing. There is always something new going on and I encourage you to check out the submissions by the other participants here.

My submission this week is dedicated to several readers who offered some helpful suggestions to the ABFriday post last week and also in Week 28. I have incorporated those suggestions into the image from last week and that image now has a new look. All work was done with Photoshop CC. I’ll be interested in hearing reactions to the changes.

First, as a reminder, here is the starting point for the revisions. The image below was the “Final Image” in last week’s post.

Starting Image, Uncropped

Last week I asked readers about the cropping decisions on this image and I received a number of ideas, all involving removing a portion of the sky with some of those also suggesting taking a bit off the sides. One person suggested a 1X1 format, similar to the typical Instagram default size. That seemed like the most radical change and that variation is shown below.

Cropped to 1 X 1 Format

Those with excellent memory will recall that two weeks ago (ABFriday Week 28) a reader asked how the “ripped border” effect on the Week 27 image was accomplished. (That post can be found here.) I didn’t recall (5 years is a long time) but said I would attempt to find out.. After 2 weeks of fruitless searching, Janice Foreman came to my rescue with a “how-to” guide that she had found. The technique was similar enough that I was able to add a few tweaks and produce something that was pretty close to the original ripped border effect. For those who are interested, the guide Janice found can be located here.

I should note that using this tool will require some experimentation because the effect varies according to the size of the starting image. The image size used for this demonstration was 2800 X 2800 pixels at 300 ppi.

To begin, one needs to add a white border around the image. One way to do this is the following:

> Use Image->Canvas Size which opens a small dialog window (see below);

Canvas Enlargement Steps

>Choose Percent (red arrow) for both Width and Height and enter a number greater than 100 in the boxes for Width and Height (blue arrows). Make sure the Canvas extension color is white (yellow arrow);

>Click OK and a white border should appear.

> Using the Rectangular Marquee tool (feather set at 0 px), select an area just inside the image border;

> Click Select->Inverse. The result should look something like the screen capture below

Detail of Selection Area

>Click on Filter->Filter Gallery and a full screen dialog window will open. The controls are found in the upper right corner (see detail image below) and the image will appear in a large Preview section on the left (not shown).

Filter Gallery Adjustment Panel

>Select Distort->Glass from the list of effects (red arrows)

>Select Frosted as the Texture (blue arrow)

>Adjust the other controls to your taste and the effect will be shown in the Preview Window. In this case, Distortion is set at 11, Smoothness at 3, and Scaling at 131%.

>Click OK and it’s done. The Final Image is shown below.

Ripped Border Effect

The result is close, but not identical, to the effect achieved in the Week 28 image. However, the Photoshop Filter Gallery offers a wealth of options and is a great place to play during a rainy afternoon.

Once again, thanks to Stacy and all of the participants in this week’s Forum. I hope you will check out the others at Visual Venturing ABFriday Week 30.

After-Before Friday Forum Week 22

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Robin S. Kent

Original Raw Image

Stacy Fischer’s blog VisualVenturing hosts the weekly After-Before Friday Forum that provides a unique opportunity for photographers to exchange ideas about post-processing their images. There is always something new to learn from this exchange. This week’s Forum will be up later this morning and can be found here.

My submission for this week’s Forum was taken a few years ago in Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France. It was a cloudy day which can be really helpful for photographing flowers. But, as usual, the gardens were crowded with visitors so the best strategy was to search for individual blooms. This little fellow was seemingly calling out for a portrait so I gave it a try. The “Before” image above is the original RAW file with no adjustments.

A quick inspection indicates that, unless some special effects are being considered, the image does not seem to require any heroic measures. The standard workflow began with the Adobe Camera Raw dialog window. It seemed that the image needed to be a little darker overall to capture the mood of the cloudy day and also could use some added contrast. The contrast slider by itself was too harsh, so after experimenting with a combination of the Whites, Blacks, Shadows, Highlights, and Contrast controls the most appealing combination resulted in the settings shown in the screen capture below.

Adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw

The changes were as follows: Exposure decreased to – 0.40; Contrast increased to +35; Highlights decreased to -28; Shadows decreased to -3; Whites decreased to -15; Blacks increased to +11; Clarity increased to +24; Vibrance increased to +27. The resulting image is shown below.

Image After Adobe Raw Adjustments

The image was then opened in Photoshop. The only step remaining was to create a vignette to help bring the viewer’s attention to the central subject and give the image a little more depth (3-D effect?) to separate the subject from the background. There are many ways to create a vignette and these were the steps I followed (see image below).

I used the Elliptical Marquee tool to select an oval shape around the central flower, making sure the “Feather” was set for a high number (usually above 50 pixels). But since the area to be darkened is everything outside the oval selection, the next step was to click on SelectàInverse. (See yellow arrow) I next opened a Curves Adjustment Layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to 50%, and changed the layer name to “Vignette.” (See red arrows). The curves histogram was not changed from the default setting. Depending on the effect you are looking for, there is a lot of flexibility by using the controls for feather in the selection and the amount of opacity in the layer.

The final result is shown in the image below. As you can see, the difference with the vignette is quite subtle. Thoughts from readers would be welcome.

Final Image with Vignette Added

Once again thanks to Stacy Fisher for keeping the Forum on track. The other submissions can be found at her Visual Venturing post here. Please check them out. And don’t miss this Forum next week; there will be a “twist” to the proceedings. Stacy has sworn us all to secrecy, but it should be fun.

After-Before Friday Forum

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Robin S. Kent

ABFriday Forum Week 09

This is my submission for this week’s After-Before Friday Forum. The Forum is managed by Stacy Fischer of Visual Venturing and is enables participants and readers to exchange ideas about bringing their vision of an image into reality. The submissions for this week can be seen at this link to her site later today.

Normally, taking this photograph from this location is not permitted. It shows the Reading Room in the Library of Congress and was taken from a balcony overlooking the room. The Reading Room is probably the most spectacular space in the Library and the balcony provides the best overall view of it. And the only view for most people because access is restricted to researchers with a Library-issued ID card. Photography is prohibited here (so as not to disturb the readers below) many other parts can be toured and photographed during open hours. Details can be found at the Library’s website.

The reason that I was not hauled off in handcuffs for taking this photograph is that twice each year, the Library has an “Open House” and visitors are allowed into the Reading Room and pictures can be taken there and from the balcony. These two days are usually on the weekend of the President’s Day and Columbus Day holidays.

So with only two chances per year, one doesn’t want to mess up. The “After” image here was processed first in Adobe Camera Raw and then final changes were made in Photoshop CS6. The original RAW image, before any changes were made, is shown below. In this case, the main challenges were the lack of a tripod and the strong contrast in lighting: the overall room was relatively dim while the mid-morning light coming through the stained glass windows above was extremely bright. Consequently, I chose a relatively high ISO and underexposed the scene by 1 stop. (Nikon D800E with 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens; exposure: 1/60^th sec. @ f/4, ISO 800, EV= -1.0)

Original RAW Image

The first set of changes were made in Adobe Camera RAW, where the dark shadows were opened up and the very strong highlights were dialed back. The results at this stage are shown below. As you can see, the difference is not enormous, but more detail is apparent.

Image after changes in Adobe Camera Raw

The specific changes in ACR for the above image were:

Highlights: decreased to -43 (to reduce the brightness in the skylights, allowing more detail to show)

Shadows: increased to +28 (to show more detail in the dark areas of the lower section of the room

Clarity: increased to +26 (in my usual range of +20-30)

Vibrance: increased to +23 (to add some warmth)

The next step was to transfer the image to Photoshop. At the time, I was using the CS6 version and the first step was to correct the tilt with the crop tool. Next, some adjustments were still needed in the brightness levels of certain sections of the image. The area below the skylights was selected and a Curves adjustment layer was applied (Blend Mode = luminosity). The screen shot below shows that a moderate increase was applied. (The left side of the library image is cropped out in the screen shots to make the Photoshop details a little easier to see.)

First Curves Layer Adjustment Applied

Next, the blown out window in the upper right corner still needed improvement and after selecting this section, another Curves adjustment layer was applied (Blend Mode = luminosity). The image below shows the amount which was a fairly strong pullback. It brought some improvement but it’s not perfect; I think more work may be needed here.

Second Curves Layer Adjustment Applied

Finally, the ceiling dome is still a little flat, even after the dash of Vibrance applied during the ACR processing. This was remedied with a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer Blend Mode = saturation) as shown in the image below. The overall saturation was increased a moderate amount to +25, giving a more accurate rendition to the color of the dome and surrounding walls.

Hue/Saturation Layer Adjustment Applied

The final version of the complete image is shown below. Comments and questions are welcome and I will do my best to reply. Thanks again to Stacy Fischer for managing this forum and also to the other photographers who participate. I have learned a lot from all of their examples.

Final Image

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