Project 2 - My Editing Process

 

Low Shutter Speed Light Photography

1.

As with any photograph I edit, my process began in 'Adobe Lightroom.'  For this particular gallery of photographs I was not looking at the whole image as usual, but solely the model. I want most of the background to be black so this would be a factor I would address in 'Adobe Photoshop.' As well as basic image corrections, I also heightened the saturation of the reds and blues in the HSL/Colour tab, removed chromatic aberration and enabled lens corrections. In detail, I would also remove as much noise as I could without using detail using the luminance tool.

2.

I also used a mix of the clone stamp tool and the spot healing brush tool to remove objects I didn't want from my photograph. There were also occasions when I would use the polygonal lasso tool to take selections from other areas of the image and paste them over the undesirable object; making them fit using curves adjustment layers and colour balance adjustment layers.

3.

To darken the background around my subject, I would create a new curves adjustment layer, adjust the curve until I am happy with the background and then invert the layer. Using tools such as the pen tool, the eraser tool and the magic wand tool, I selected my subject and then reversed my selection so I could use the brush tool on white to draw in which areas I wanted the curves layer to apply to.

4.

In photographs where I had drawn the light in using a low shutter speed and a torch, it could prove exceptionally hard to separate the light from the background. I found that the best way to do it was to go into channels and choose whichever layer had the most contrast between the light and the background. I would then duplicate this layer and use the dodge tool and the burn tool to further increase the contrast between the light and the background. Once it was totally black and white, I could use the magic wand tool at a high tolerance with contiguous turned off to select the light. I could then move back to my RGB channel and remove the curves layer from the light.

5.

On particular photos which I wanted more colour in, I would blur my background using gaussian blur. However, on some photographs you could see above the backdrop. My solution to this was using the rectangular marquee tool to make a selection of the area I wanted to cover, and then use the eyedropper in conjunction with the gradient tool. Using a low hardness eraser with the flow decreased, I faded my new gradient seamlessly into the background.

6.

Sometimes the light that I drew into my photos with a torch would produce strange colours such as yellow and green tints in places. I found the best way to fix this was by adding a colour balance adjustment layer, increasing whichever colour the light was until the odd tint was no longer visible, and I would then inverse the layer and use a white brush to apply the coloured tone to the tinged areas to correct them.

7.

On some of these photos, the light drawing was added in in editing. For the photo above, for example, I wanted a helix shape to go around the skateboard. I chose a helix off google which I felt was suitable and positioned it to trace over it.

Using the pencil tool, I would draw my rough path for my light freehand, which I would then trace over again using the curvature pen tool; creating a path. once I was happy with my path, I could delete my freehand line.

I used a brush pack I downloaded off 'DevianArt'  and went into advanced brush settings. Choosing transfer, I changed control to pen pressure. I then selected my path and told it to stroke path, selecting simulate pressure. I then repeated the process with a softer, smaller brush to make the centre of my line brighter. These are the brushed I used:

Once I was happy with my lines, I merged the two layers together and applied a gaussian blur to reduce the sharpness of the line and make it look more realistic. After that added another two inverted colour balance adjustment layers; one red one blue. I used the quick selection tool to select the outline of my line and used a white brush tool to draw red and blue colour onto the line. Finally, I created an inverted exposure adjustment layer and once again used a white brush to add highlights onto my line. Once I was done, I changed these adjustment layers to overlay.

8.

I would also sometimes use colour balance  adjustment layers to add colour to areas that needed it.

9.

I also wanted to experiment with adding smoke into certain photographs for effect, so I downloaded a smoke brush pack off 'Brusheezy.' This was really effective when used in dark photographs like the one below.

Skateboarders of Greenhead Photography

1.

Similar to my light photography edits, I would select the sky, create a curves adjustment layer, inverse the layer and use a white brush to paint in where I want my curves layer to apply. In this instance, I would usually duplicate the photograph, overexpose it in hue/saturation until the sky is white and use magic wand tool with contiguous off to select the sky only. I would then delete the overexposed layer and use my selection as a stencil for where to paint in my curves adjustment layer.

2.

As the rotations per second of the wheels would've been much higher than my shutter speed, I realised that in certain photographs, I needed to make it look as if the wheels were spinning when they were in fact stationary. To do this, I cut out and copy the wheel using the elliptical marquee tool and feathering my selection. After pasting the wheel onto a new layer, I used the quick selection tool to reselect it. I then applied the radial blur to create the spinning effect.

3.

I wanted to increase the vibrance of the street art and graffiti on the concrete. To do this, I created an inverted vibrance adjustment layer, increased the vibrance and saturation and then used a white brush to paint in the vibrance over the graffiti.

4.

In the photograph above, I used Dan to create depth of field. However, I feIt that Dan was taking up too much of the focus in the image as I wanted the viewer to focus on the skateboarders. To darken Dan in the foreground I used the quick selection tool to get a rough selection of Dan. I smoothed the selection and then feathered it. Then, I created an inverted hue/saturation adjustment layer and pulled down the lightness. To make sure the adjustment layer on Dan faded naturally into the rest of the photo, I used a white to transparent radial gradient tool on my adjustment layer. For the remaining areas of the selection which I wanted to have highlights on, I drew it on with a soft white brush and used the blur tool. You can see all of the adjustment layers on a solid background below.

5.

On certain objects, mainly textured ones, I wanted to increase the clarity. To do this, I often used the pen tool and feathered my selection slightly (between 0.5 and 1 pixel) and then added in clarity in camera RAW as seen below.

6.

In most photographs you can also see dark spots which is probably caused by dust on the sensor. The fix for this is relatively simple as the spot healing tool is actually really affective at correcting this.

Abstract Shadow Photography

1.

Firstly, I switched the treatment over to adobe monochrome, after that I proceeded to edit all the basic settings as I would with any other photograph. After that, I applied a tone curve which highlighted only the brighter areas of the photograph. Not much editing was necessary for this collection of photographs as the effect I was seeking was mostly achieved in the composure of the photograph itself.