The view from two wheels...
Jun 11, 2019 21:00:40 #
Not long ago, I acquired a slingback camera bag (for those interested, it is a Mindshift Photocross 10) that allows me to combine two activities -- bicycling and photography. I carry the bag on my back, and the bag allows easy access to the camera, or whatever else I put inside. (Trail mix is essential.) This isn't an advert for a bag, though. This post is in the post-processing section for a reason. I'll get there.
First, the ride. I went someplace I've never been. I saw signs for Carter Lake, and decided to give that a shot. I'd never been there, and the entire round trip would be less than 20 miles. Piece of cake, I thought...
As soon as I passed the ranger station, to get into the Carter Lake park, I noticed a very, very tall wall, painted to look like a road. Upon further inspection, it was determined that the painted wall actually was the road. No good could come of this. It was a perfect storm, a trifecta -- impossible hill, thin air (top of the hill was above 5800 feet), and an aging cyclist a mere three months from Medicare. Oh, and with the added weight of a camera, to boot.
I have more grit than sense, so I made it to the top. (They say his heart grew three sizes, that day.)
It was the trip down that provided the views. I didn't have to bother with pedaling, just braking. (My hat is off to the brilliant people who put pneumatic disc brakes on bicycles.) There was one view that was captivating, so I stopped to take a few shots.
Now, here comes the post processing part. You can see the complex rock formation, typical of Colorado scenes. I took a shot featuring only that rock formation, but I also took one that put the formation in context with the rest of the hills. It made much more sense to have that rock formation on the right side of the frame, rather than the left, because this was such a wicked slope that placing the formation on the left side would have yielded little more than clouds and sky, on the right, and my goal was to place the formation in the context of the hills.
When it came to post processing, I wanted the rock formation to stand out. Typically, I will apply some type of detail enhancement to the subject of the photo, which, when I'm in Photoshop, is usually based on a high pass filter. That, in itself, doesn't make the subject stand out, but it will help make it look good when it finally does stand out.
Typically, I'll create an elliptical shape around the subject, then add a curves layer. After adding that layer, I'll invert the mask, so I can darken everything outside of that elliptical shape. I use Luminosity blending, for this, to ensure that no colors are modified when I darken things. I add a Gaussian blur, to take care of the sharp edges of that elliptical shape. I'm pretty generous with that blur.
Many times, that's all I'll need to do. This time, however, the rock formation did not stand out enough. I didn't want to darken the photo any more than I'd done, already, so the only thing to do was brighten the rock formation. To do this, I simply duplicated the darkening layer. Then, I inverted the mask on the new layer, and modified the curves adjustment to brighten, rather than darken. The new, brightening layer inherited all the Gaussian blur that the original, darkening layer had.
This was pretty good, but it still needed something else, so I added a rectangular vignette -- simply darkening the edges.
The end result.
First, the ride. I went someplace I've never been. I saw signs for Carter Lake, and decided to give that a shot. I'd never been there, and the entire round trip would be less than 20 miles. Piece of cake, I thought...
As soon as I passed the ranger station, to get into the Carter Lake park, I noticed a very, very tall wall, painted to look like a road. Upon further inspection, it was determined that the painted wall actually was the road. No good could come of this. It was a perfect storm, a trifecta -- impossible hill, thin air (top of the hill was above 5800 feet), and an aging cyclist a mere three months from Medicare. Oh, and with the added weight of a camera, to boot.
I have more grit than sense, so I made it to the top. (They say his heart grew three sizes, that day.)
It was the trip down that provided the views. I didn't have to bother with pedaling, just braking. (My hat is off to the brilliant people who put pneumatic disc brakes on bicycles.) There was one view that was captivating, so I stopped to take a few shots.
Now, here comes the post processing part. You can see the complex rock formation, typical of Colorado scenes. I took a shot featuring only that rock formation, but I also took one that put the formation in context with the rest of the hills. It made much more sense to have that rock formation on the right side of the frame, rather than the left, because this was such a wicked slope that placing the formation on the left side would have yielded little more than clouds and sky, on the right, and my goal was to place the formation in the context of the hills.
When it came to post processing, I wanted the rock formation to stand out. Typically, I will apply some type of detail enhancement to the subject of the photo, which, when I'm in Photoshop, is usually based on a high pass filter. That, in itself, doesn't make the subject stand out, but it will help make it look good when it finally does stand out.
Typically, I'll create an elliptical shape around the subject, then add a curves layer. After adding that layer, I'll invert the mask, so I can darken everything outside of that elliptical shape. I use Luminosity blending, for this, to ensure that no colors are modified when I darken things. I add a Gaussian blur, to take care of the sharp edges of that elliptical shape. I'm pretty generous with that blur.
Many times, that's all I'll need to do. This time, however, the rock formation did not stand out enough. I didn't want to darken the photo any more than I'd done, already, so the only thing to do was brighten the rock formation. To do this, I simply duplicated the darkening layer. Then, I inverted the mask on the new layer, and modified the curves adjustment to brighten, rather than darken. The new, brightening layer inherited all the Gaussian blur that the original, darkening layer had.
This was pretty good, but it still needed something else, so I added a rectangular vignette -- simply darkening the edges.
The end result.
Jun 11, 2019 21:49:41 #
Jun 12, 2019 06:45:10 #
Gorgeous! I really think you need to publish a storytelling picture book, Jim, as your verbal skills equal your photographic. Many thanks for taking us along on the journey.
Jun 12, 2019 08:51:49 #
Jun 12, 2019 09:04:18 #
Linda From Maine wrote:
Gorgeous! I really think you need to publish a storytelling picture book, Jim, as your verbal skills equal your photographic. Many thanks for taking us along on the journey.
Thanks! I have dabbled in creative writing, accompanied by photos, though it has always been for family and friends. The whole story of "Anvil" was one such saga, though it was episodic, rather than a unified, single story. That series of tales also documented my photographic progress, from rookie to whatever I am, now. I'm pretty sure that an analyst would say I wrote the stories to compensate for the lameness of my early photo efforts.
Jun 12, 2019 09:31:40 #
Anvil wrote:
🤗Thanks! I have dabbled in creative writing, accompanied by photos, though it has always been for family and friends. The whole story of "Anvil" was one such saga, though it was episodic, rather than a unified, single story. That series of tales also documented my photographic progress, from rookie to whatever I am, now. I'm pretty sure that an analyst would say I wrote the stories to compensate for the lameness of my early photo efforts.
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