A few scenes from the Canyonlands a few weeks back. On day three Mark Hespenheide and I continued to take advantage of the monsoonal moisture with a short hike out to an area that was photographed by our own Stan Rose last winter. We worked the canyon rim further east from Stan’s earlier location. Although a bit hazy in the distant canyonlands, I think Mark and I were happy with our morning on the rim. Clouds sort of just floated into the scene at just the right moment. 15 min before shooting we had bluebird conditions.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 11, 2012 at 5:41 PM
What a great find! #1 is like a vortex in an alien land. 'Alien' because I've never seen this particular area before, and it's so refreshing to see a unique image from Canyonlands. Excellent light, composition and 'development'!
#2 is another unique take that I like, although I wouldn't have minded seeing that entire column of sandstone bathed in that light.
So, tell me (us) about Blend If... masks if you would.
Hi John. I have a feeling I'm not going to satisfy your curiosity about blend if considering I have basically zero experience with it. The above image was my first go at it.
As usual I’m always looking for the next best thing to make my images pop. Mark Matternich recently posted an image in the Landscape gallery where he described using the Blend If option. Others spoke to really liking the technique so I did what I always do, hit up Utube and found many helpful tutorials.
Blend If basically uses a couple sliders (top layer slider and bottom layer slider) to bring out or hide tonal values within both layers. After selecting top or bottom layer slider you set the tonal value on the slider, a number between zero (black) and 255 (white) and that lets PS know what tonal value to bring out or hide. For example, if you set the tonal value at 155 you’re telling PS to render pixels above 155 or brighter to go away or become transparent, allowing for the underlying layers tonal range to graduate into your upper layer. The range below 155 now becomes 100% opaque and stays that way. Zero to 155 is a pretty hard transition/edge so the next important step is to split the slider of choice (creating another slider inside the 156-255 zone) to create a gradient blend or transition zone inside that 156-255 range, which allows for a much smoother transition.
So what all does this mean? I created two copies of the image. My underlying image is loaded with blacks. I wanted the deep canyons on the far left to be almost black for contrast. My top layer is basically a finished copy without the blacks. I used Blend If sliders to add blacks into my finished copy within preset tonal values.
In retrospect, I'm not convinced Blend if did anything in the above image that couldn't have been replicated with basic PS tools. However, I can see where this could become a powerful tool when using filters, blurs, and color channels.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on August 11, 2012 at 8:04 PM
Your use of the canyon rim to create the "vortex" is inspired. You have great vision for wideangle compositions.
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 11, 2012 at 8:13 PM
Yeah, your "Desert Cauldron" is a super discovery! Great job, Kane!
Posted by Paul Martin on August 11, 2012 at 11:26 PM
Number 1 is one sweet shot -- excellent in every way. I also like #2 but agree with John that it feels just a little cut off at the top. Very well done.
Posted by Jack Brauer on August 12, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Discussion
10 repliesImage 1 “Desert Cauldron” three image- 24mm vertical stitch. 6 image blend
Image 2 “Monster Tower Sunrise” four image-100mm vertical stitch. 8 image blend using luminosity and blend if masks.
#2 is another unique take that I like, although I wouldn't have minded seeing that entire column of sandstone bathed in that light.
So, tell me (us) about Blend If... masks if you would.
As usual I’m always looking for the next best thing to make my images pop. Mark Matternich recently posted an image in the Landscape gallery where he described using the Blend If option. Others spoke to really liking the technique so I did what I always do, hit up Utube and found many helpful tutorials.
Blend If basically uses a couple sliders (top layer slider and bottom layer slider) to bring out or hide tonal values within both layers. After selecting top or bottom layer slider you set the tonal value on the slider, a number between zero (black) and 255 (white) and that lets PS know what tonal value to bring out or hide. For example, if you set the tonal value at 155 you’re telling PS to render pixels above 155 or brighter to go away or become transparent, allowing for the underlying layers tonal range to graduate into your upper layer. The range below 155 now becomes 100% opaque and stays that way. Zero to 155 is a pretty hard transition/edge so the next important step is to split the slider of choice (creating another slider inside the 156-255 zone) to create a gradient blend or transition zone inside that 156-255 range, which allows for a much smoother transition.
So what all does this mean? I created two copies of the image. My underlying image is loaded with blacks. I wanted the deep canyons on the far left to be almost black for contrast. My top layer is basically a finished copy without the blacks. I used Blend If sliders to add blacks into my finished copy within preset tonal values.
In retrospect, I'm not convinced Blend if did anything in the above image that couldn't have been replicated with basic PS tools. However, I can see where this could become a powerful tool when using filters, blurs, and color channels.