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Post-Processing Digital Images
A Light Tent and Masking Layers
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May 14, 2020 07:51:07   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
This was an exercise that got just a bit larger than I planned. I have a light tent that I have rarely used and a bit of spare time on my hands. The light tent came with a pair of "constant on" lights but I decided to use studio strobes instead. Additionally, I wanted to use my Hasselblad with a digital back to photograph something in the light tent. But what? Ah, I have a small metal model of a sprint car. The project is coming together nicely now.

Fig. 1
The tent was placed on a table in my studio. The strobes were placed near and aligned so the shadow of the reflector was even with the near edge of the tent. I did not want any light bleeding into the scene. I wanted the tent providing all of the light. The camera was angled such that it would be "looking" at the car from about the same angle as I would if the car was a real one. I then did a three image focus stack to better keep the entire car in focus.

Fig. 2
left is the SOOC image of the car. A bit too blue. Right shows the result of a hue adjustment so the background matched very closely the actual color.

Fig. 3
The car with colors balanced and then Zonally processed. I divided the brightness values from 0 to 254 into 5 groups and used luminosity masks to adjust the 5 different ranges of luminosity. I could have called it done at this point and slightly darkened the edges of the image and saved it. But no.

Fig. 4
I felt the upper leading surface of the tires looks rather dull and unfinished. So, I created an adjustment layer and increased the brightness of the image. I then used a mask to hide that brightness. I painted white on the mask of the areas of the tires I felt needed a bit of light. The left side of the photo shows the increased brightness. The right side shows the mask applied and 3 small areas of the mask erased by painting white on the mask over those areas. I could have dodged those areas but wanted a bit more practice with masking.

Fig. 5
I then added a layer to darken the edges and finish the photograph. But wait, something was still missing. What if I placed a helmet in the scene? That would put the finishing touch to this photograph.

Fig. 6
I got my helmet, put it in the light tent and photograph it. The lighting and angle of view would look pretty much the same as that of the photo of the car. I photographed it, cut it out, and reduced the size to close to what I'd need.

Fig. 7
The left side shows the helmet placed in the photo at a suitable location. The right side shows the result of placing a mask on the helmet layer and painting with black to make the helmet look as if it were behind the leading support of the roll cage. But there was still something missing.

Fig. 8
The reflection of the helmet on the surface of the car is missing. Copy the helmet layer, flip it vertically, reduce the opacity to resemble a reflection, and place a mask on the layer. By masking out the portion of the helmet that didn't look right, I'm left with just a bit of reflection and a much more realistic scene.

Fig. 9
The final product.
--Bob

Fig. 1 - A Depiction of The Setup
Fig. 1 - A Depiction of The Setup...
(Download)

Fig. 2 - Hue Correction
Fig. 2 - Hue Correction...
(Download)

Fig. 3 - Zone Processing
Fig. 3 - Zone Processing...
(Download)

Fig. 4 - Lighten the Tone of the Tires
Fig. 4 - Lighten the Tone of the Tires...
(Download)

Fig. 5 - Done?? Not Quite
Fig. 5 - Done?? Not Quite...
(Download)

Fig. 6 - The Helmet
Fig. 6 - The Helmet...
(Download)

Fig. 7 - Place the Helmet
Fig. 7 - Place the Helmet...
(Download)

Fig. 8 - The Reflection
Fig. 8 - The Reflection...
(Download)

Fig. 9 - The Final Photograph
Fig. 9 - The Final Photograph...
(Download)

Reply
May 14, 2020 08:03:10   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
Bob, I am simply in awe of your attention to detail + your organizational skills at putting together this thread. A fascinating step by step! Thanks so much for posting.

Reply
May 14, 2020 08:17:47   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Thank you, Linda. It was a fun project. More so after I thought it would be a good bit for your section of the site. You're very welcome.
--Bob
Linda From Maine wrote:
Bob, I am simply in awe of your attention to detail + your organizational skills at putting together this thread. A fascinating step by step! Thanks so much for posting.

Reply
 
 
May 14, 2020 08:42:45   #
jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska
 
rmalarz wrote:
This was an exercise that got just a bit larger than I planned. I have a light tent that I have rarely used and a bit of spare time on my hands. The light tent came with a pair of "constant on" lights but I decided to use studio strobes instead. Additionally, I wanted to use my Hasselblad with a digital back to photograph something in the light tent. But what? Ah, I have a small metal model of a sprint car. The project is coming together nicely now.

Fig. 1
The tent was placed on a table in my studio. The strobes were placed near and aligned so the shadow of the reflector was even with the near edge of the tent. I did not want any light bleeding into the scene. I wanted the tent providing all of the light. The camera was angled such that it would be "looking" at the car from about the same angle as I would if the car was a real one. I then did a three image focus stack to better keep the entire car in focus.

Fig. 2
left is the SOOC image of the car. A bit too blue. Right shows the result of a hue adjustment so the background matched very closely the actual color.

Fig. 3
The car with colors balanced and then Zonally processed. I divided the brightness values from 0 to 254 into 5 groups and used luminosity masks to adjust the 5 different ranges of luminosity. I could have called it done at this point and slightly darkened the edges of the image and saved it. But no.

Fig. 4
I felt the upper leading surface of the tires looks rather dull and unfinished. So, I created an adjustment layer and increased the brightness of the image. I then used a mask to hide that brightness. I painted white on the mask of the areas of the tires I felt needed a bit of light. The left side of the photo shows the increased brightness. The right side shows the mask applied and 3 small areas of the mask erased by painting white on the mask over those areas. I could have dodged those areas but wanted a bit more practice with masking.

Fig. 5
I then added a layer to darken the edges and finish the photograph. But wait, something was still missing. What if I placed a helmet in the scene? That would put the finishing touch to this photograph.

Fig. 6
I got my helmet, put it in the light tent and photograph it. The lighting and angle of view would look pretty much the same as that of the photo of the car. I photographed it, cut it out, and reduced the size to close to what I'd need.

Fig. 7
The left side shows the helmet placed in the photo at a suitable location. The right side shows the result of placing a mask on the helmet layer and painting with black to make the helmet look as if it were behind the leading support of the roll cage. But there was still something missing.

Fig. 8
The reflection of the helmet on the surface of the car is missing. Copy the helmet layer, flip it vertically, reduce the opacity to resemble a reflection, and place a mask on the layer. By masking out the portion of the helmet that didn't look right, I'm left with just a bit of reflection and a much more realistic scene.

Fig. 9
The final product.
--Bob
This was an exercise that got just a bit larger th... (show quote)

Very impressive Bob, and beautifully detailed model.

Reply
May 14, 2020 08:55:11   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Jack, thank you very much for looking in and commenting. I was impressed with the detail of the model, as well. In real life, years ago, Richard Griffen was one of my favorite drivers at a local track. The track no longer exists but still provides some very fond memories.
--Bob
jackm1943 wrote:
Very impressive Bob, and beautifully detailed model.

Reply
May 14, 2020 08:57:58   #
Jim-Pops Loc: Granbury, Texas
 
Nice work Bob. Your information will help a lot of people. For me to write out that much information as precise as you did would take me twice as long as it would to get set up, shoot and process. I haven't heard of the lights you used and looked them up. A very good price on ebay for the Interfit Colorflash 300i Monoligh $40.00 used. They have more than one for someone that might want to get into this type of photography after seeing your work.
From the picture it looks like your tripod could hold a tank.💪🏻

Reply
May 14, 2020 09:02:39   #
Jimmy T Loc: Virginia
 
rmalarz wrote:
This was an exercise that got just a bit larger than I planned. I have a light tent that I have rarely used and a bit of spare time on my hands. The light tent came with a pair of "constant on" lights but I decided to use studio strobes instead. Additionally, I wanted to use my Hasselblad with a digital back to photograph something in the light tent. But what? Ah, I have a small metal model of a sprint car. The project is coming together nicely now.

Fig. 1
The tent was placed on a table in my studio. The strobes were placed near and aligned so the shadow of the reflector was even with the near edge of the tent. I did not want any light bleeding into the scene. I wanted the tent providing all of the light. The camera was angled such that it would be "looking" at the car from about the same angle as I would if the car was a real one. I then did a three image focus stack to better keep the entire car in focus.

Fig. 2
left is the SOOC image of the car. A bit too blue. Right shows the result of a hue adjustment so the background matched very closely the actual color.

Fig. 3
The car with colors balanced and then Zonally processed. I divided the brightness values from 0 to 254 into 5 groups and used luminosity masks to adjust the 5 different ranges of luminosity. I could have called it done at this point and slightly darkened the edges of the image and saved it. But no.

Fig. 4
I felt the upper leading surface of the tires looks rather dull and unfinished. So, I created an adjustment layer and increased the brightness of the image. I then used a mask to hide that brightness. I painted white on the mask of the areas of the tires I felt needed a bit of light. The left side of the photo shows the increased brightness. The right side shows the mask applied and 3 small areas of the mask erased by painting white on the mask over those areas. I could have dodged those areas but wanted a bit more practice with masking.

Fig. 5
I then added a layer to darken the edges and finish the photograph. But wait, something was still missing. What if I placed a helmet in the scene? That would put the finishing touch to this photograph.

Fig. 6
I got my helmet, put it in the light tent and photograph it. The lighting and angle of view would look pretty much the same as that of the photo of the car. I photographed it, cut it out, and reduced the size to close to what I'd need.

Fig. 7
The left side shows the helmet placed in the photo at a suitable location. The right side shows the result of placing a mask on the helmet layer and painting with black to make the helmet look as if it were behind the leading support of the roll cage. But there was still something missing.

Fig. 8
The reflection of the helmet on the surface of the car is missing. Copy the helmet layer, flip it vertically, reduce the opacity to resemble a reflection, and place a mask on the layer. By masking out the portion of the helmet that didn't look right, I'm left with just a bit of reflection and a much more realistic scene.

Fig. 9
The final product.
--Bob
This was an exercise that got just a bit larger th... (show quote)


Wow!!
Thanks for the tutorial step-by-step on how-to-do-it!
Smile,
JimmyT Sends
Bravo Zulu

Reply
 
 
May 14, 2020 09:25:08   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Jim. Those strobes aren't made anymore. I got them some years ago and for a good price. The only reason I was using them was the Hasselblad. I don't have a setup that would allow me to use the SB strobes I have for the Nikons.

The tripod is an old Gitzo. It was primarily purchased to use with my 4x5. However, it works well with all the other cameras too. Another advantage is that it keeps me in shape. Carrying that along with the 4x5, lenses, and film holders requires some semblance of fitness. Thanks for looking in, Jim. That is appreciated.
--Bob
Jim-Pops wrote:
Nice work Bob. Your information will help a lot of people. For me to write out that much information as precise as you did would take me twice as long as it would to get set up, shoot and process. I haven't heard of the lights you used and looked them up. A very good price on ebay for the Interfit Colorflash 300i Monoligh $40.00 used. They have more than one for someone that might want to get into this type of photography after seeing your work.
From the picture it looks like your try-pod could hold a tank.💪🏻
Nice work Bob. Your information will help a lot of... (show quote)

Reply
May 14, 2020 09:25:43   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
You're welcome, Jimmy. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
--Bob
Jimmy T wrote:
Wow!!
Thanks for the tutorial step-by-step on how-to-do-it!
Smile,
JimmyT Sends
Bravo Zulu

Reply
May 14, 2020 12:24:40   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Just a bit of an addition. Here's a photograph of the actual car on a track.
http://www.thepistonguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The-Piston-Guy-Customer-4.jpg

The paint scheme and advertisers might be slightly different as some things change on these cars from season to season.
--Bob

Reply
May 14, 2020 13:06:34   #
AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire
 
Excellent! I know such a shoot and PP is possible - we've all seen such images in commercial and product work.

But going over it step by step, and providing images for comparison, is extremely helpful!

Thanks!
Andy

Reply
 
 
May 14, 2020 13:29:30   #
UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT
 
This is an outstanding tutorial that goes into my photography file - THANKS, Bob!

Reply
May 14, 2020 13:33:43   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Andy, this project migrated from just doing a light tent photo for the sake of using some lighting equipment and a relatively new camera back for me. I could have been happy with the initial results but that wasn't to be. It blossomed, as pointed out.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
--Bob
AndyH wrote:
Excellent! I know such a shoot and PP is possible - we've all seen such images in commercial and product work.

But going over it step by step, and providing images for comparison, is extremely helpful!

Thanks!
Andy

Reply
May 14, 2020 13:34:41   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Thanks, Mike. I hope some of it is useful. It was a good bit of fun from my side.
--Bob
UTMike wrote:
This is an outstanding tutorial that goes into my photography file - THANKS, Bob!

Reply
May 15, 2020 07:18:28   #
yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey
 
Very well done Bob - thanks for sharing!

Reply
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