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Post by Andy on Feb 22, 2016 3:13:59 GMT
I'm looking for some assistance with this shot - I'm trying to make the stone staircase ruins stand out from the foreground and background. I'm struggling with finding a solution I'm happy with. The colors in the photo are pretty consistent - the stones have moss which picks up the greens and yellows and the foreground and backgrounds have a lot of neutrals. Because of that, desaturating the foliage doesn't help. I've tried recoloring techniques in onOne and Topaz ReStyle and can't get it right. There isn't enough contrast to make it stand out in B&W. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Andy  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2016 3:31:06 GMT
Hi Andy, I used LR and not PSE; I just used the adjustment brush to desaturate everything other than the stairs, then increased the saturation of the stairs, clarity and added some more contrast. Now, I didn't do too much of a detail job, so this was just a quick and dirty way of showing how you could do this in LR.  |
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Moto
Established Forum Member
Posts: 643 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Moto on Feb 22, 2016 5:31:14 GMT
Quick n Dirty Version Adj layers: levels, brightness n contrast Unsharp Mask Background: guassian blur  |
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Post by fotofrank on Feb 22, 2016 5:55:09 GMT
 HDR Aurora Macphun  B&W Tonality Macphun |
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Post by Sydney on Feb 22, 2016 10:03:04 GMT
 I applied a 1 pixel gaussian blur to the entire image and desaturated only green and then applied a mask and painted back in the staircase so that it appears sharper than the surrounds. |
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Sue
Junior Forum Member
Learn something new every day
Posts: 132 
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Post by Sue on Feb 24, 2016 12:09:02 GMT
I like what Sydney did. Maybe brighten the stones a little more.
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Post by Andy on Feb 25, 2016 3:17:12 GMT
I appreciate the tips - the blurring does seem to make a difference. Thanks all!
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Post by Tpgettys on Feb 25, 2016 3:59:19 GMT
I appreciate the tips - the blurring does seem to make a difference. Thanks all! The ruins certainly do stand out, but there is something disturbing about the look also; it has a sort of miniaturized look to it (tilt-shift?). Why is that? |
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Post by michelb on Feb 25, 2016 15:44:10 GMT
Let the viewer do the job...  |
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Post by hmca on Feb 25, 2016 19:55:55 GMT
michelb......I like your take on this......you have used the greenery as a frame and the darkened areas gives a feeling of depth.
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Post by michelb on Feb 25, 2016 20:26:38 GMT
michelb ......I like your take on this......you have used the greenery as a frame and the darkened areas gives a feeling of depth. My idea was that other users had already used all the ideas I would have tried... which did not look very natural. So, my analysis of the image content was that the real subject had no graphical 'unity', it only had unity as a 'concept', an object with a purpose and with an history. This object had some graphical interest in its 'shape', but that shape was lost in the context: - contrasting lighting on part of the object and part of the foreground - no distinction from the colours - no distinction from the tones - no distinction from the textures. So, forgetting those bad factors to make the staircase 'standout', I noticed something interesting: the spot of light on the low part was 'catching the eyes' as well as some parts of the foreground, while most of it was in dark tones ('low key'). I remembered the way our eyes 'scan' an image from the most attractive part, and gradually move to cover most of the image. I also wondered how to make a 'low key' stand out, which is surrounding it with a dark frame. So, my view of that image is that you should be in the same condition as a viewer in front of the real scene. You eyes is caught with the bottom of the stairs and gradually can distinguish the rest of the object. That means a dark rendering, helped with the black frame. |
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Post by hmca on Feb 25, 2016 22:06:47 GMT
michelb.....thanks for explaining your thought process when working on the image.
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estherf
Junior Forum Member
YEAH! I got another 'star' and have been upgraded from new to casual!
Posts: 112
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by estherf on Mar 2, 2016 0:12:44 GMT
All I can say is WOW! Every one of these ideas impress me. The original is an outstanding image.
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Post by Andy on Mar 2, 2016 3:12:07 GMT
michelb .....thanks for explaining your thought process when working on the image. Yes, I appreciate you sharing your approach to this as well. I would never have looked at it like that. |
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