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How I Did It – Part 5

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I have another RFI as we call it in the construction industry, or a Request For Information. Someone asked how I processed a particular image, so I promised a tutorial – so here go…..

In this tutorial, I’ll show every step I took to turn this:

into this:

——————————————————————————————————————————-

Obviously, this one is an HDR image. Unlike some of my other tutorials, there is really not much processing involved after photomatix. The only difference here (and it’s an important one) is the number of exposures used. For this shot, I used 5 exposures instead of my normal 3. The reason for this is the huge difference in light from the inside of the hotel room and the outside sunrise.

The 5 exposures I used were (-4, -2, 0, +2, +4)
Here are those 4 images:
(-4)

(-2)

(0)

(+2)

(+4)

You can see how the images gradually get brighter and end up encompassing the entire range of the scene. These 5 RAW images were then loaded into Photomatix. I use Photomatix for all of my HDR’s. If you are interested in buying Photomatix, use the coupon code “malcolmphoto” for a 15% discount! It’s already at a great price ($99) and even better with the discount.

Once Photomatix created the HDR image, I tonemapped using the Details Enhancer option:

On a side note – My Detail Enhancer settings are available to be viewed for EVERY photo in My HDR set on Flickr – here’s how

On the photo page, click on the top right where it tells what type of camera was used:

That will take you to the images “exif” info:

Scroll down, and you will see a section that looks like this:
These are the Photomatix settings, they are automatically embedded in the files information. Cool huh? So now you know…..

Back to the image in question, here we are starting in Photoshop CS2:

The first thing I always do it a “Levels” adjustment layer:

Then a “Curves” adjustment layer:

And then I use Imagenomic for noise:

Here is the final result:

And that’s all there is to it for this one! Piece of cake!

Now go out and shoot some HDR and let me know how they turn out!

See all my other tutorials HERE

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Thanks for looking! I hope you found this helpful. Please ask questions if you have them, I’ll try by best to answer.

Remember,
If you want to know “How I Did It” for any photo on my flickr photostream, leave me a comment on this page or send me an email. I’ll be glad to make it my next “How I Did It” entry!

Also, as I mentioned in my first How I did It post, here are some helpful links for learning more about HDR:
Stuck in Customs
HDR Exposed
HDR (a flickr group)
Tutorial Collection at My First HDR flickr group

Helpful links for learning more about Photoshop:
Photoshop Support Group
Photoshop Tutorials by Allan Gengler
Actions by Allan Gengler
CoffeeShop Actions

How I did it – Part 4

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Another Tutorial! Don’t worry, I’ll get back to the photo posts soon!

I’ve had another request for a tutorial. This time someone would like to see how I convert to black and white. Believe it or not, there are TONS of ways to convert an image to black and white. However, there is one particular method that I use often. I believe I got it from a Scott Kelby photoshop book for CS2 purchased on Ebay. It’s a very easy process that makes for a great action.

Here we go…..
Here is what we are starting with:

Now, this is an HDR image and I am already finished with my normal processing. You can check out my other tutorials to see those steps. So now I decide I’d like to see it in black and white.

First step is to convert the image to LAB mode — Image, Mode, Lab Color:

Next, in the “Layers/Channels/Paths” box, click on the “Channels” tab. You’ll see all the channels are selected, select the “Lightness” channel (which turns the others off)

With the “Lightness” channel selected, we want to convert it to grayscale — Image, Mode, Grayscale

It will ask you if you want to discard the other channels, say yes:

Now, back on the “Layers” tab, do a CTRL+J. This duplicates the layer. Put that top layer in “Multiply” blend mode and adjust the opacity to taste:

And that’s it! Black and white complete. If you write this as an action, leave the opacity at 100%, that way you can adjust it differently for each image you convert.

An alternate to changing the opacity, you could add a layer mask:

and then grab a soft black brush:

And paint the areas that you think are too dark:
(this image shows where I have painted)

Here is the final result:

Now, to answer the question that was posed regarding my First Tutorial. If you’ve read that one, you’ve seen that I often layer a black and white image on top of a color HDR image to make it dark and achieve a dramatic look. When I do that, I do not copy the layer and put it in “Multiply” blend mode. After I convert to grayscale, I copy that layer and paste it on top of my color image.

Hope this provides some useful information.

Here are some helpful links for learning more about Photoshop:

Photoshop Support Group
Photoshop Tutorials by Allan Gengler
Actions by Allan Gengler
CoffeeShop Actions