When I was getting started with the digital darkroom, roughly 15 years ago, there weren’t as many tools available as there are today. Photoshop was the 900-pound gorilla and it was widely–if not quite universally–regarded as the only “serious” software package for photographic editing/enhancement. Almost literally all of the tutorials and editing tips at the time were concocted and outlined with Photoshop in mind and so, of course, I purchased a copy of the Mother of All Editing Programs and jumped in with both feet. And I floundered around for about six months before I had an epiphany, of sorts; the rest, as they say, is history. (The chronology of my digital darkroom experience is, at least arguably, an interesting one, but I’ll save it for another, later post–maybe.) To this day, Photoshop is, hands down, the least intuitive piece of software that I’ve ever used. When considering that statement keep in mind that I’ve used a number of advanced statistical packages going back deep into the DOS era. Photoshop was significantly more indecipherable than any of them.
The process of using Photoshop, in the beginning, was so opaque that it’s difficult to convey. Typically, when using software, the stumbling block that needs to be overcome is how to accomplish a specific goal that has already been identified. How difficult this is tends to be a function of how complex the software is (i.e. how many things it’s designed to do) and how intuitive the interface is (among other things). So, for instance, if I’m firing up a statistical package, I might want to carry out what is known as a discriminant analysis using a particular data set. How do I go about carrying out this particular known task? There’s a very specific way of doing so–I just have to figure out what it is (probably through some combination of checking through menu items, trial and error and accessing a Help file). But postprocessing a photograph with Photoshop? That’s an immeasurably more complex, fuzzier thing altogether.
The first problem–as compared to the statistical example outlined above–is simply determining what the task itself is. How should I edit this photograph? It’s not always so obvious, particularly when you’re new to the game. Is there a color cast that you feel should be tweaked or removed entirely? (By the way, if there is…it’s better removed in RAW conversion, assuming you’re shooting RAW, by means of a white balance adjustment.) And, hey, the image looks pretty flat. I guess it needs a saturation boost. Or does it? Perhaps a contrast adjustment would take care of the problem. In short, you need to figure out what you want to do before you go about figuring out how to do it.
Then there’s this little realization–there are multiple ways to carry out just about any kind of editing adjustment you care to apply in Photoshop. There are an innumerable number of techniques at your disposal, utilizing a variety of specific Photoshop tools and a dizzying accompaniment of blending modes, masks and plug-ins. When I was first starting out, I began to create a Word document that listed different editing techniques as I ran across them, as a reference that I could consult. I more or less stopped adding to the document after about five years, as I became sufficiently facile to remember/recognize virtually everything I felt I needed. The document was well over 100 pages in length when I stopped updating it, in part because there were so many different approaches to accomplishing the same basic task.
All of this–and other things, which I’m mercifully keeping to myself–in the early days of my digital darkroom experience meant that simply accomplishing ostensibly very basic actions with Photoshop were considered a triumph. As a result, there was little recognition of what a blunt instrument Photoshop postprocessing could be. The emphasis, naturally enough, was on carrying out global adjustments–making the entire image brighter or darker, for example, or adding contrast throughout. But, in reality, it’s seldom necessary to carry out this sort of adjustment to a decent photograph. In fact, it’s not only frequently unnecessary, it’s often a bad idea. The vast, vast majority of helpful postprocessing work is accomplished with a far subtler, more deft, touch. Truly enhancing adjustments are typically carried out in targeted fashion, via the use of layers, selections and masks. This is what makes Photoshop such a potentially powerful tool for image enhancement (and the value of these tools is what made up the substance of the the aforementioned epiphany I had, six-odd months after first getting my feet wet with Photoshop).
So let me illustrate the point with a broadly accessible example. Consider the below image of a scene at Cannon Beach near sunset. It’s essentially unoptimized and illustrates a common issue with many grand landscape scenes (and, not coincidentally, something that bedeviled all of the images accompanying this post prior to optimization)–the yawning chasm of a luminosity difference between the sky and most of the rest of the frame. The issue here is how to better balance the light and dark parts of the image without stripping it of its contrast. A standard global contrast tweak–using a curves or levels adjustment–will strengthen the contrast, but will actually make the already too-dark tones even darker. A reverse global contrast tweak using one of the standard techniques will provide better balance but will strip out the contrast. In essence, the goal is to accomplish something that’s difficult if not impossible to carry out with a global adjustment. One way to accomplish the task is to create a selection of the sky and apply a contrast adjustment to that portion of the image in isolation. Then, reverse the process and do the same thing with the other portion of the image. (Frankly, there are a number of different techniques that can be used to successfully carry out the task. The important point is that the one thing that all of these approaches have in common is that they involve local, rather than global, adjustments.) Making a contrast adjustment to the sky alone tightens things up–and makes colors appear deeper without actually touching saturation. The non-sky portion of the image is almost a mirror image; an isolated contrast adjustment here lightens this part of the image without doing any damage to the sky. The following version of the image shows the final version. Note how contrast is enhanced, with each portion of the image getting what it needs in terms of its luminosity adjustment.
Obviously this is a somewhat exaggerated example, but it’s being used to clearly demonstrate a point–the power of local, rather than global, adjustments. Often times, the appropriate postprocessing enhancements are made on a much smaller scale than what I’ve shown here. Regardless, the postprocessing capacity of optimizing well-executed images is frequently realized by making changes below the global level.
Beautiful!
By: faridanaz on March 31, 2015
at 11:30 am
Thanks!
By: kerryl29 on March 31, 2015
at 11:31 am
All of the tutorials still go with Photoshop. I use I use Corel Paintshop Pro 5. Works great. Also have Photomatix.
By: derossettphoto on March 31, 2015
at 11:53 am
Most of the tutorials I see these days are most heavily focused on Lightroom. PSP is a highly robust (and considerably less expensive) alternative to Photoshop.
By: kerryl29 on March 31, 2015
at 2:37 pm
As always, insightful comments accompanied by stunning photographs. I have definitely jumped on the “local” bandwagon as I learn more about the tools. It has changed the way I approach post processing. In the end, I find the results more satisfying than relying only on global adjustments.
By: EllenK on March 31, 2015
at 12:40 pm
Thanks, Ellen. As you proceed, I think you’ll definitely find that local adjustments are the best way to think about image editing the vast majority of the time.
By: kerryl29 on March 31, 2015
at 2:41 pm
Your photographs are stunning. I gasped at the wonder of “Coneflower Morning.” Although I have minimal experience with Photoshop, I find that Lightroom works well for optimizing images, and it has effective local adjustments for those of us who aren’t skilled with Photoshop. Even so, non-Photoshop user that I am, I found your blog post very interesting. Thank you.
By: carolyn220 on April 1, 2015
at 4:12 pm
Thanks very much for taking the time to leave a comment and the kind words.
Lightroom didn’t exist (by a long shot) when I first set foot (metaphorically speaking) in the digital darkroom, but is a perfectly adequate tool for many. For me, however, there are a number of features that I routinely use that LR doesn’t have, so I still use Photoshop for all my postprocessing.
By: kerryl29 on April 1, 2015
at 8:07 pm
Due in large part to seeing your wonderful images, just over a month ago, I took the plunge and began using Lightroom to edit my images, otherwise, much of this post would have been Greek to me. 😉
Now, I understand what you’re saying here, I’m learning the same thing myself, maybe some day I’ll tackle Photoshop as well. Please keep the great photos and information coming!
By: quietsolopursuits on April 3, 2015
at 12:50 pm
Thanks very much and I’m pleased to hear that you’re finding some of this to be of practical use. Best of luck getting up to speed with LR (which I understand is more intuitive as an editing tool than PS)!
By: kerryl29 on April 3, 2015
at 4:11 pm
You made your point in the examples. especially bringing out the luminosity in the reflections on the beach. Wow!
By: My Heartsong on April 3, 2015
at 3:12 pm
Thanks!
By: kerryl29 on April 3, 2015
at 4:12 pm
Beautiful photos!
By: rolandlegge on April 6, 2015
at 10:09 pm
Thank you!
By: kerryl29 on April 6, 2015
at 10:30 pm
Wow
By: kelseykeithborja on April 9, 2015
at 10:19 am
Thanks!
By: kerryl29 on April 9, 2015
at 11:28 am
[…] Continue Reading… […]
By: Truly enhancing adjustments are typically carried out in targeted fashion, via the use of layers, selections and masks. This is what makes Photoshop such a potentially powerful tool for image enhancement on April 9, 2015
at 4:13 pm
OMG! *-* this photos are amazing! Soo beautiful! 🙂 I really like them! Now I will follow you because I want to see more photos like these! 🙂 Kr, Islay
By: islayontt on April 12, 2015
at 12:28 pm
Thanks very much!
By: kerryl29 on April 12, 2015
at 1:09 pm
this is nice and awesome!!!
By: elyaslinley on April 23, 2015
at 5:57 am
Thanks for the kind words.
By: kerryl29 on April 23, 2015
at 9:15 am