I'm working on improving my Photoshop skills. I took this image about a week ago as a storm was clearing out over the eastern portion of the Palo Duro Canyon outside of the state park boundaries.
I'm most interested in comments about the processing. This is a single-exposure capture. There was a little bit of clipping on both ends of the histogram, but during RAW processing I was able to recover highlight and shadow detail using the highlight recovery and blacks sliders. In photoshop I used curves adjustment layers as well as TK's luminosity masks and cloud sharpening actions to further adjust the dynamic range.
My aim in processing is to produce an image that is believably natural and brings out the natural vibrance of the scene. I want to avoid the exaggerated look that is common in many HDR processed images. On this forum I really like Bill Dark's processing while among those who post on the Landscape forum I really like the processing style of Morris McClung, Scott Smorra, John Williams, and Eva McDermott among others. I have a ways to go to catch up with these photographers but I would like to emulate their style as I think their images capture the natural vibrance of the scenes they capture and I always feel the results are believably natural.
Honest comments and critiques are always welcome.
Specs:
D700
21 mm
f16; 1/40 sec
ISO 200
Image processed on calibrated NEC monitor
It's probably best to view this on a calibrated monitor with a color corrected web browser such as Safari or Firefox.
Posted by Darren Huski on August 7, 2012 at 7:48 AM
Brian,
I like the image a lot! I really need to get out to Palo Duro Canyon more often. I think the image looks totally natural and in no way looks processed at all.
The sky, in particular, looks very natural. The canyon depths on the lower left seem dark in a natural way. If anything, I think there is still some room to pull them up a bit.
Really nice clouds, Brian. The landscape is a bit dark for my taste, but everyone has their preferences. If you decide to print this, it is likely that there would be little detail shown in the foreground. Monitors show a lot more in the dark areas than what can be seen in print, at least from an inkjet machine.
This looks great to be a single frame. I'm not sure what you're asking about - suggestions for processing a single exposure, or multiple shots blended together. I think to get the best results in situations involving the sky, at least three exposures would be needed. Learning to blend them well comes with practice.
Discussion
2 repliesI'm working on improving my Photoshop skills. I took this image about a week ago as a storm was clearing out over the eastern portion of the Palo Duro Canyon outside of the state park boundaries.
I'm most interested in comments about the processing. This is a single-exposure capture. There was a little bit of clipping on both ends of the histogram, but during RAW processing I was able to recover highlight and shadow detail using the highlight recovery and blacks sliders. In photoshop I used curves adjustment layers as well as TK's luminosity masks and cloud sharpening actions to further adjust the dynamic range.
My aim in processing is to produce an image that is believably natural and brings out the natural vibrance of the scene. I want to avoid the exaggerated look that is common in many HDR processed images. On this forum I really like Bill Dark's processing while among those who post on the Landscape forum I really like the processing style of Morris McClung, Scott Smorra, John Williams, and Eva McDermott among others. I have a ways to go to catch up with these photographers but I would like to emulate their style as I think their images capture the natural vibrance of the scenes they capture and I always feel the results are believably natural.
Honest comments and critiques are always welcome.
Specs:
D700
21 mm
f16; 1/40 sec
ISO 200
Image processed on calibrated NEC monitor
It's probably best to view this on a calibrated monitor with a color corrected web browser such as Safari or Firefox.
I like the image a lot! I really need to get out to Palo Duro Canyon more often. I think the image looks totally natural and in no way looks processed at all.
The sky, in particular, looks very natural. The canyon depths on the lower left seem dark in a natural way. If anything, I think there is still some room to pull them up a bit.
Great shot, one to be proud of.
This looks great to be a single frame. I'm not sure what you're asking about - suggestions for processing a single exposure, or multiple shots blended together. I think to get the best results in situations involving the sky, at least three exposures would be needed. Learning to blend them well comes with practice.