Traveling the Journey of Light | Photoblog Thoughts, feelings, and techniques behind the photography of Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

Using Photoshop to Lose Weight and Look Great!Posted by drfl on November 3rd, 2009

Back on June 6th I wrote an article entitled Photoshop Ethics in Digital Nature Photography that posed the question, “Where do we draw the line in regard to photoshop usage in nature photography”. It seems that this is a question that is plaguing other industries as well and is even prompting governments to get involved. This is not a new issue, in fact, since the invention of the camera, there has been evidence of manipulation.  A recent set of articles have been written that focus on the extreme photoshopping that has been taking place in the fashion industry, one at the New York Times and one at the New York Daily Post.

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How to Chisel More Image Detail Out Of A Photo of Mt. RushmorePosted by drfl on October 15th, 2009

There are many resources on the Internet that explain how to create a panoramic photograph utilizing mainly wide-angle lenses. In fact, I have yet to read an account of someone using anything longer than about 70mm for panos. The goal of most panos is to show an elongated landscape photograph, giving the image a width or height that is not achievable with the lenses while at the same time preventing some of the perspective issues that may arise with using an ultra wide angle.

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How to Create the “Orton” Effect - Tractor Series Part VPosted by drfl on September 18th, 2009

For the last in the 5 part series, I will demonstrate a variation of the “Orton” technique that I occasionally use. The Orton technique was popularized a few years ago and has gained momentum. Many ethereal modifications to photographs have been using different techniques centered around one goal - giving an image a slight blurry, other-wordly look.

For this image, I loaded the RAW file into Adobe Photoshop and tweaked the temperature, contrast, etc. until I had the image processed to my liking.

I then copied the background layer by right-clicking and selecting “Duplicate” and naming the layer “Blurring Layer”. This new layer will be selected. I then chose “Gaussian Blur” under the “Blur” options and picked a radius of “30″.

Going back to my layers menu, I changed the opacity of this layer until I had the effect for which I was going, on this image it happened to be 51%. For a final touch, I created a curves adjustment to add a little more contrast to the photograph, being liberal with the curve.

To recap:

1. Load the RAW file into Adobe Photoshop and set the temperature, contrast, etc.
2. Copy the background layer.
3. Use the “Gaussian Blur” filter with a radius of “30″.
4. Change the opacity of this layer until desired effect is achieved.
5. Create a curves adjustment to add a little more contrast.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 109mm, f/8, 1/500 second

How to Create the “Old Time” Effect Using Nik Silver Efex Pro - Tractor Series Part IVPosted by drfl on September 17th, 2009

Continuing in the steps of yesterday’s image, I wanted to convert a close-up of the headlight on the tractor to monochrome, but I wanted it to have a bit of a sepia, faded feeling like photographs from another era. Just as before, I loaded the RAW file using Adobe RAW and set my temperature, contrast and other settings close to how I would want the image if I was going to publish it in color. Once again, I used the grayscale option to help me to visualize how the image would like in black and white to help perfect my options.

The Large Conversion

Once I have everything set, I then activate the Nik Silver Efex filter and begin scrolling through my options on the left. About 2/3rds down the page, I find a couple of options for sepia toned images. I think that the Dark Sepia version works the best so I choose that one. It turns out a bit dark, so I use the brightness slider to increase it just a tad. I also up the contrast and structure a little bit from the defaults. While some of the pipes are falling into the darkness a bit, I don’t mind that, but I want to show a bit of detail so I did move the shadows slider up. The highlights slider I left alone.

Adding That Little Extra

Since the tractor consists mainly of reds and white, I choose a green filter which helps lighten the reds and create more a sepia tone across the whites. I didn’t like the effect full on, so I moved the intensity to 64%. Because of the quality of the lenses in the past, many of the old photos have a bit of a vignetting to them. My goal with this is to not make it too noticeable, but give the viewer a bit of a lead in into the photo. I moved the vignetting down to -7 which darkens the corners slightly, but not too noticeably.

To recap:

1. Load the RAW file into Adobe Photoshop and set the temperature, contrast, etc.
2. Use Nik Silver Efex Pro to find a sepia setting close to the desired result.
3. Tweak the Brightness/Contrast/Structure settings.
4. Modify the Shadows/Highlights settings.
5. Experiment with different colored filter effects.
6. Vignette if desired.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 40mm, f/10, 1/400 second

How to Perform a Basic Black and White Conversion Using Nik Silver Efex Pro - Tractor Series Part IIIPosted by drfl on September 16th, 2009

One of the most obvious processing treatments that can be performed on an image of an old tractor would be to convert it to various types of monochrome. Today’s image was converted to Black and White by using Nik Silver Efex Pro. Black and White conversions can be performed both in-camera and later in processing with tools such as Photoshop, but I have found that Silver Efex Pro gives me more control over how the image is converted with some great visual presets.

When loading the image into Photoshop, I first corrected for color, although I did not spend too much time on making sure that all my casts were gone. If I know I’m converting to black and white, I often use the “Grayscale” feature in the RAW import dialog box to get a rough understanding of what the image will closely resemble.

I then activate the Nik Silver Efex dialog and scroll through the various options on the left side until I find the look that I desire. For the basic settings, I tweak the settings on the right such as brightness, contrast, and structure. Brightness and contrast work the same as those in Photoshop, while structure adds more definition to the lines within the image. Also available, the shadow slider brightens the darker areas while the highlights slider tones done the brightest parts of the image. This can have the perceived effect of lowering the contrast of the image, so I usually keep these two settings at a minimum.

For today’s image, I choose High-Contrast Yellow filter and left the defaults on brightness, contrast, and structure. I increased the brightness in the shadow areas to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2, but kept the brightness slider at default. If you are not familiar with what colored filters do to black and white photographs I suggest checking out “Using Coloured Filters with Black and White Film” to gain an understanding. From there, I could tone my photograph or add a bit of vignetting. I will discuss both of these options in tomorrow’s edition of the tractor series.

To recap:

1. Load the RAW file into Adobe Photoshop and set the temperature, contrast, etc.
2. Use Nik Silver Efex Pro to find a black and white setting close to the desired result.
3. Tweak the Brightness/Contrast/Structure settings.
4. Modify the Shadows/Highlights settings.
5. Experiment with different colored filter effects.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 37mm, f/11, 1/60 second

How to Create More Interest in Your Composition by Hinting at Your Subject - Tractor Series Part IIPosted by drfl on September 15th, 2009

In yesterday’s post I shot through the prairie grass and focused on the tractor. In today’s image I was still shooting through the grass, but the real objective was to subtlety hint for the real subject.  The goal is to force the viewer to first examine the photograph and then look deeper for the intended subject. This creates more interest in the composition since upon first viewing, the subject may appear to be the in focus grass, but then the eye is immediately led to the bright headlight and then to the form of the tractor.

For this result, I kept the depth of field intentionally shallow at f/6.3 and focused on the grasses in the front. The objective is to use an aperture that gives us an impression of our subject while not blurring it completely. I used aperture bracketing to find the perfect balance of blur and form. Bracketing is capturing a range of images at slightly different settings in order to ensure that you have the highest selection to choose from in post-processing. With digital, this is great as additional images cost nothing. Most bracketing is done with exposure, however, I find myself bracketing aperture quite often in these types of cases. This technique can be attempted with the subject behind or in front of another object. Experiment with different positioning and apertures in order to find an effective combination.

To recap:

1. Experiment with focusing on an object either closer than your true subject or further away to subtlety blur the intended subject.
2. Bracket the aperature to achieve the desired look.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 109mm, f/6.3, 1/13 second

How to Have Fun Photographing Tractors - Tractor Series Part IPosted by drfl on September 14th, 2009

As I mentioned in the post “The Dew Drops of Summer“, my brother-in-law invited my father-in-law and me to his cabin near Cedar Rapids, Nebraska where I had the opportunity to photograph a restored 1951 Ford tractor. This week, I am presenting a 5-part photographic series of tractor images. Each day I am going to have a new tractor image and am going discuss what photographic techniques I utilized to achieve the effects in the image.

A Little Bit About the Tractor Session

I spent quite a bit of time photographing this tractor. I had asked my brother-in-law to park the tractor in some grass to which he replied “You want to park a fully restored tractor as though it had sat for years?!”. Well, yeah! I had visualized this image of the tractor in a field with some nice prairie grass. I began in the late afternoon sun and as it grew darker I asked my brother-in-law to switch on the headlights. He then suggested capturing some images of the tractor through the grass as though it was coming toward me. A marvelous idea! By trying different apertures I was able to experiment with the settings which would keep the grass in the extreme foreground out of focus, but still recognizable. I found that f/8 was the most effective at producing this result.

A Little Bit About My Camera Settings

Whenever I shoot images, I solely shoot in RAW format. There are many reasons for this, but the most basic is that I have full control over the processing of the image. When an image is created as a JPEG the camera assumes it knows what’s best and creates the image for you. Well, I’m just stubborn and I certainly don’t think the camera knows whats best for me! In each of the images of the series I used the RAW converter in Adobe Photoshop to process the photographs.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 104mm, f/8, .6 second

The GO PHOTO Principles For More Self-fulfilling PhotographyPosted by drfl on September 9th, 2009

If you would like to take a look at an on some things that I have found make my photography more meaningful, head over to Darwin Wiggett’s blog and check out The GO PHOTO Principles For More Self-fulfilling Photography.