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“ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E ›
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
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february
We go under the hood to take an in-depth look at layers in Photoshop
2016
PROVING GROUND
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IN-DEPTH ST E P - BY- ST E P TUTO R I A LS
P H OTOS H O P DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS
NE WS, REVIE WS A N D OTH E R COOL STUFF
creativity anywhere Adobe Creative Cloud mobile apps will help keep your creativity in sync
The Official Publication of The Official Publication of
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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FEBRUARY 2016
FEATURE
Layout: Jessica Maldonado
52
Creativity Anywhere
Lightroom Magazine
Current technology has given us the power to be creative no matter where we are. From desktop computers to laptops to tablets to smartphones, you now have the ability to capture and create in just about any environment. Bryan O’Neil Hughes, Adobe’s Head of Outreach & Collaboration, shows us how to unlock all of that creative potential using the latest and greatest Adobe mobile apps. He even gives us a sneak peek at a cool app that’s not available yet.
Bryan O’Neil Hughes
LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP Dodging, Burning, and Adjusting Individual Areas of Your Photo UNDER THE LOUPE
Leveraging Slideshows
MAXIMUM WORKFLOW Tethering in Lightroom
From the Editor
6 50
Contributing Writers
9 64
About Photoshop User Magazine
KelbyOne Community
Exposed: Industry News
10 12
PHOTOSHOP TIPS
That’s How the Cookie Crumbles
76
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
An Introduction to Astrophotography
18 131
FROM THE ADVICE DESK
20 42
BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
DYNAMIC RANGE
Commercial Sports Graphic
Mapping One Image onto Another
The Hateful Eight Poster Effect
DeVine
128
X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Video Macphun’s Aurora HDR Pro Capture One Pro 9 Exposure X by Alien Skin Software Picture Instruments Color Cone StudioMagic I and II Eddycam Fashion Strap HP Z25n Monitor
Akurat Lighting A1 On-Camera Video LED Light NEC MultiSync EA275UHD
129
Photoshop Book Reviews
Processing Realistic Starscapes Sean Arbabi teaches us how to capture starscapes, balancing the light of the stars with the ambient light in the scene. He then takes us into Lightroom to show us how to get the most out of those images, taking them from great shots to amazing shots.
But Wait—There’s More
110
PortraitPro 15 Studio Max Edition
Sean Arbabi
How-To DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
116
LIGHTROOM TIPS & TRICKS 118
DESIGN MAKEOVER
104 126 127
Reviews
Colin Falcon
Columns
LIGHTROOM Q&A
Ron Wetherell
98 124 125
Steve Damstra
Departments
89 122 123
KELBYONE.COM
30 46
PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
Layers, Part 1: Opacity
36 70
KEY CONCEPTS
These icons at the beginning of columns indicate there’s a short video on a tool or function used in that tutorial at the Key Concepts KelbyOne member webpage at http://kelbyone.com/keyconcepts. Dodge & Burn tools
Lasso tool
Layer masks
Pen tool
Smart objects
Quick Selection tool
LIGHT IT
Portable Lighting: Let’s Go
DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Whenever you see this symbol at the end of an article, it means there are either downloadable practice files or additional content for KelbyOne members at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All lighting diagrams courtesy of Sylights
Click this symbol in the magazine to return to the Table of Contents.
A FEW WORDS FROM
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SCOTT KELBY
From the Editor taff favorites and s instructor-led curriculums
We have an amazing issue for you here, but before we get to that, I want to take just a sec to tell you about some pretty exciting things we’re adding to the KelbyOne site for our members. The current workflow for our members is to log in and search for the topic they’re interested in (retouching, compositing, lighting, etc.), and they get a bunch of full-length classes and quick-tip videos to choose from. In essence, it works like a search engine for online classes, right? But when that list of results comes up, which classes should you watch first, which are the best, which best suit your needs, and so on? In 2016, we’re working to help you along, and we’ll soon be releasing the first step in that journey by sharing our own picks for classes that we think will start you off on the right foot. You’ll see this new Staff Favorites section appear in the left-side navigation on the member site, but this is just a small step leading to even bigger things that we’re working on (but just right down the road timewise), which are instructor-led curriculums. This is where our KelbyOne instructors break things down into categories, and give you a list of classes, in the order you should watch them, to get you where you want to be. For example, if you want to learn sports photography, portrait retouching, or compositing, instructors who are absolute experts in those fields will give you a complete curriculum of classes, in the proper context and order, so you can learn the techniques and concepts you need to be a success. We’re going to take things even further than that, but these are some solid first steps to help guide you through the learning process and make learning even easier. Beyond all the Photoshop and Lightroom online classes that we have, we also want to make sure that if you buy a new camera, you can count on us having an online class ready and waiting for you on how to use that camera, so you can get up to speed really fast. Also, keep an eye on the little “bell” icon at the top of your member dashboard—up there, we share new classes that have been released recently, along with any new member discounts we’ve negotiated and other stuff we hope will make your membership more valuable. There will be lots of other great stuff coming in 2016, but I wanted to share a little of our roadmap with you here (but again, this is just the beginning). Okay, onto other fun stuff: Mobile apps are just exploding into the digital imaging space, and Adobe has really hit their stride in the past year in that area with some really incredible technology (including some stuff I wish we could do on the desktop). That’s just one of the reasons we’re honored to have Adobe’s own Bryan O’Neil Hughes here in the mag with a feature on Adobe’s latest mobile apps, along with a look at what’s coming very soon. It’s really incredible what they’re bringing to mobile, so it’s worth checking out right now (it starts on page 52). Also in this issue, our good friend Mike Olivella gives a wonderful introduction to astrophotography, including discussing the equipment and techniques you’ll need to know to make amazing out-of-this-world images. If you’re a Photoshop beginner (or even a seasoned user), Scott Valentine, with part one of a two-part series on layers in Photoshop, takes us in-depth into how › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
layers work together, including layer and Fill Opacity, Blend If, Masking, and Clipping Masks. In our Lightroom “mag within a
006
mag,” Sean McCormack talks about the benefits of tethering, how to set it up in Lightroom, and some equipment that will make tethering easier (and safer). But that’s just a tiny bit of what’s in this awesome info-packed issue—our first since we’ve gone all digital (you’ll be seeing some cool new stuff coming to our digital editions as well!). There’s a lot going on, and it’s going to be a busy year of learning—we’re glad to have you here. All my best,
Scott Kelby KelbyOne President & CEO Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User
PHOTOSHOP’S MOST WANTED
FEBRUARY 2016 • Volume 19 • Number 2
EDITORIAL:
Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief Chris Main, Managing Editor
Contributing Writers
Ajna Adams • Sean Arbabi • Steve Baczewski • Corey Barker Peter Bauer • Pete Collins • RC Concepcion • Michael Corsentino Seán Duggan • Daniel East • Rod Harlan • Bryan O’Neil Hughes Jessica Maldonado • Sean McCormack • Mike Olivella • Colin Smith • Lesa Snider • Rob Sylvan • Scott Valentine • Erik Vlietinck Jake Widman
GRAPHICS:
Dave Damstra, Production Manager Jessica Maldonado, Associate Art Director Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer Angela Naymick, Graphic Designer
MARKETING:
Ajna Adams • Kleber Stephenson
WEB:
Brandon Nourse • Mario Ocon • Yojance Rabelo • Aaron Westgate
PUBLISHING:
Scott Kelby, Publisher David Moser, Executive Publisher Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P. Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager
ADVERTISING:
Kevin Agren, V.P., Sales 813-433-2370 Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-738-8513 ext. 152 Veronica (Ronni) O’Neil, Director of Circulation/Distribution 800-738-8513 ext. 235
HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:
U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922 Voice: 813-433-5000 • Fax: 813-433-5015 Customer Service:
[email protected] Letters to the Editor:
[email protected] Letters to the Lightroom Editor:
[email protected] World Wide Web Including the Photoshop Help Desk, Photo Gear Desk, and Advice Desk: http://kelbyone.com/my-account/ helpdesk/
COLOPHON:
Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 and Adobe InDesign CC 2015. Roboto was used for headlines and subheads. Frutiger LT Std for text.
This seal indicates that all content provided herein is produced by KelbyOne, LLC and follows the most stringent standards for educational resources. KelbyOne is the premier source for instructional books, DVDs, online classes, and live seminars for creative professionals.
| fuel for creativity
All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2016 KelbyOne, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the publisher. ISSN Pending.
Contributing Writers SEAN ARBABI has been a widely published commercial photographer the past 25 years. He authored The Complete Guide to Nature Photography (Crown Publishing) and recently produced a video series on the Nik Collection (Peachpit). For more info, visit www.seanarbabi.com.
STEVE BACZEWSKI is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, and consultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital fine arts photography. His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is based in Albany, California
PETER BAUER is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics consulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2010.
PETE COLLINS is an education and curriculum developer and website overseer for KelbyOne. He is one of the Photoshop Guys and co-hosts Photoshop User TV. With a fine arts background, Pete is well versed in photography, graphic design, and illustration.
RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION is director of content and education for KelbyOne. An Adobe Certified Instructor in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom, RC has 10+ years in the I.T. and ecommerce industries. RC has held training seminars in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.
MICHAEL CORSENTINO is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, Photoshop and Lightroom expert, author, columnist for Shutter Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker and international workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com.
SEÁN DUGGAN is the co-author of Photoshop Masking & Compositing, Real World Digital Photography, and The Creative Digital Darkroom. He leads workshops on digital photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom (SeanDuggan.com).
DANIEL EAST is an author, freelance writer, presenter/trainer, and consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in photography, pro-audio, and marketing. Daniel is also founder and president of The Apple Groups Team support network for user groups.
ROD HARLAN is an industry veteran with 25 years’ experience as an author, educator, photographer, multimedia artist, and Photoshop addict! He shares content at RodHarlan .com and is a trainer for Adobe, NAB, FMC, WEVA, and KelbyOne, among others.
BRYAN O’NEIL HUGHES is Adobe’s Head of Outreach & Collaboration. He spent 15 years on the Photoshop team, and then drove the expansion to mobile with Photoshop Mix & Fix. A keynote speaker, author, and 4x MAX Master, Bryan was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2011.
JESSICA MALDONADO has been art director of books at KelbyOne for more than eight years, has created video tutorials for LayersMagazine.com and reviews for Photoshop User magazine, and co-hosted Photoshop User TV in 2013.
SEAN McCORMACK is the author of Essential Development: 20 Great Techniques for Lightroom 5. Based in Galway, Ireland, he shoots subjects from musicians, models, and actors to landscapes and architecture. Learn more at http://lightroom-blog.com.
MIKE OLIVELLA has been a photographer for Florida State University Athletics, Unconquered Magazine, and a stringer for two international wire services. His sports photographs are published worldwide, and he has won numerous awards. For more, visit www.baselineshots.com.
COLIN SMITH is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer who has authored 18 books and has created a series of training videos. Colin is also the founder of the online resource PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.
LESA SNIDER is the author of Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual, Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual, several eBooks, and more than 40 video courses. She also writes a weekly column for Macworld. For more info, visit PhotoLesa.com.
ROB SYLVAN is the Lightroom Help Desk Specialist for KelbyOne, on staff at the Digital Photo Workshops, and the author of Lightroom 5: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process. You can learn more at www.lightroomers.com.
SCOTT VALENTINE is an Adobe Community Professional and Photoshop author. His latest book is The Hidden Power of Adjustment Layers (Adobe Press). Keep up with him at scoxel.com.
ERIK VLIETINCK founded IT Enquirer in 1999 (http://it-enquirer.com). A J.D. by education, Erik has been a freelance technology editor for more than 20 years. He has written for Macworld, Computer Arts, Windows NT Magazine, and many others.
JAKE WIDMAN is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. He’s been covering the intersection of computers and graphic design for about 25 years now—since back when it was called “desktop publishing” and Photoshop was just a piece of scanning software.
› › k e l b yo n e . c o m
The official publication of KelbyOne
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ABOUT PHOTOSHOP USER
Image: Adobe Stock; Illustration: Corey Barker
Photoshop User Magazine Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of KelbyOne. As a KelbyOne member, you automatically receive Photoshop User ten times a year. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo graphy tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry.
About KelbyOne KELBYONE
is the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop®, Lightroom®, and photography training, news, and education. Founded in 1998 as the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), KelbyOne has evolved from NAPP and KelbyTraining to create a singular hub for creative people to learn, grow, and inspire. From photographers to graphic designers, beginners to professionals, KelbyOne is open to everyone. There’s no faster, easier, and more affordable way to get really good at Photoshop and photography. You can join for only $19.99 per month or $199 U.S. for a full year of training. To learn more, visit www.kelbyone.com.
Member Benefits PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
Ten issues of the best Photoshop tutorial-based magazine in the industry.
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MEMBERS-ONLY WEBSITE
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Save anywhere from 2–3 times your membership cost by using our many industry-related discounts.
TECH SUPPORT
Fast, friendly Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo gear help; equipment advice; and more from certified experts.
MEMBER COMMUNITY
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NEWS & REVIEWS
Unbiased coverage on the latest equipment, plug-ins, and programs in the marketplace.
Our extensive website features time- and money-saving content.
ONLINE CLASSES & EDUCATION
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WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER
The KelbyOne Insider is your weekly connection to everything KelbyOne. It’s produced exclusively for members to keep you informed of everything new in the industry and at KelbyOne headquarters.
FIND KELBYONE MEMBERSHIP DETAILS AT kelbyone.com or call 800-201-7323 Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST.
KelbyOne Community › ›
Inspiration, information, and member musings to fuel your creative think tank BY AJNA ADAMS
The Winners of the KelbyOne photo & design contest announced The KelbyOne Photo & Design Contest was our most popular social media photo contest to date, culminating in thousands of submissions from all over the world. We featured five categories—Landscapes, Babies & Families, Illustration & Design, Pets, and Wedding & Portrait—and the response was astounding with nearly 4,000 entries! Congratulations to our hand-selected winners: Colin Falcon, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Carla McMahon, Ron Wetherell, and Jack Podlas. We’d also like to give a special congrats to our People’s Choice winner, Hanna Salin! Check out the winning images starting below and on the next three pages. Each winner received an amazing prize package. Colin Falcon was our grand prize winner, and he received a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with an EF-S 18–135mm lens, a Canon PIXMA PRO-100 printer, one year of the full Adobe Creative Cloud, a one-year KelbyOne membership, a $200 B&H Gift Card, an Airport Navigator from Think Tank Photo, and a 4-in-1 Lens from Olloclip. The other category winners each won a Canon PIXMA PRO-100, a Canon PowerShot G9 X, a one-year KelbyOne membership,
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> BABIES & FAMILIES KARLEN MKRTCHYAN | WWW.SILENTSHUTTERPHOTO.COM
one year of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan, a CityWalker 30 camera bag from Think Tank Photo, a 4-in-1 Lens from Olloclip, and a $50 B&H Gift Card. And finally, the People’s Choice winner, Hanna Salin, won a one-year KelbyOne membership, one year of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan, a Suburban Disguise camera bag from Think Tank Photo, and a 4-in-1 Lens from Olloclip.
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> LANDSCAPES
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
CARLA MCMAHON | WWW.CARLAMCMAHON.CO.ZA
COLIN FALCON | WWW.PIXVAULT.CO.UK
Social Media Moment: it’s all about instagram Right now in the world of social media, Instagram is what’s
award at Photoshop World. Mark’s background is in graphic
hot. If you’re a photographer, you need to be on Instagram.
design, and he’s a successful animator and illustrator in his
The great news is that Scott Kelby’s new course on Instagram,
day job, but his unique and creative images are what have
How to Build an Instagram Audience, has just been released on
captured the attention of everyone at KelbyOne!
KelbyOne.com! Follow Scott at Instagram.com/ScottKelby and be sure to follow us, too, at Instagram.com/KelbyOne!
The Secrets to Capturing the Best. Dog. Photos. Ever. Taken.
And while you’re at KelbyOne.com don’t forget to check out
Join the fabulous Kaylee Greer, commercial pet photogra-
all of our new courses, including the ones listed below.
pher based in Boston, as she shows you how to capture the
Fresh New Class released at kelbyone.com
best dog photographs you’ve ever taken. In this class, Kaylee works with four different dogs in different locations, ranging from the local park to the local animal shelter. You’ll learn
Here’s a roundup of some of our latest classes and tutorials
her tips and tricks for engaging with her subjects to bring out
that you won’t want to miss. Log into your member account
their unique personalities for portraits that owners will love
at www.KelbyOne.com or check out these new releases on
for a lifetime!
our app. Master FX: Real Movie Poster Effects in Adobe Photoshop Inspirational Interview with Mark Rodriguez
Ready to learn the techniques used to build a Hollywood movie
Join Mia McCormick as she sits down with multi-talented
poster? Join Corey Barker as he leads you step-by-step starting
artist Mark Rodriguez, who recently took the Best in Show
with a simple studio shot and building it into a full design.
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> WEDDING & PORTRAIT JACEK R PODLAS | HTTP://JACEKPODLAS.WIX.COM/JRP-CREATIVESTUDIO MEMBER SINCE 2015
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> PEOPLE’S CHOICE
KELBYONE PHOTO & DESIGN CONTEST >> PETS
HANNA SALIN
RON WETHERELL | WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/WETHERELLRON PHOTO FOR AD IN TALLY-HO MAGAZINE
KelbyOne Community Who's Who in the kelbyone community Antonio Martez is an award-winning fashion, beauty, and
Speaking of Photoshop World, is there a particular
lifestyle photographer represented by the international illus-
instructor to whom you would like to give a special
tration and photography artist agency, Illozoo & Pictozoo.
shout out?
Antonio has graced the pages of Jamaque, Alchemist, INDIE,
Terry White: this man is an Adobe guru! He is truly one of the
and a host of other international lifestyle and fashion maga-
most amazing people I have ever had the chance of meeting
zines and fashion houses. Antonio Martez Photography is
and conversing with. He has truly became a great friend and
based out of his White Space Studio home in the Chelsea
mentor since our meeting at Photoshop World 2015.
area, the Art Deco epicenter of New York City. Why train with KelbyOne? I feel that training with KelbyOne will assist me in becoming the best artist and creative I can be in an ever-changing market and industry. Are you working on any cool projects right now? I’m currently working on several commercial campaigns ranging from Petit Pois, a Miami-based ready-to-wear apparel company, to an editorial cover and feature story with Venue Magazine. I really look forward to the continuation on ARTIST SPOTLIGHT › › STEVE DAMSTRA
my ongoing project, “BLIND BEAUTY,” which is my take on
MEMBER SINCE 2010 | HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STEVE.DAMSTRA.9?FREF=TS
the world of beauty and how blind we have become to true
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Antonio Martez
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Antonio Martez
natural beauty.
You’re pretty new to the KelbyOne community. How did you learn about KelbyOne and what has your involvement been?
What is your greatest source of inspiration in both life
I’m six months into the KelbyOne community. I learned of
and at KelbyOne?
KelbyOne through the various videos I watched on YouTube
My greatest source of inspiration comes from what I call
of Scott Kelby and his many guests on the Grid.
“Zest of Life.” The Zest of Life for me comes from doing what I feel is my passion and purpose on a daily basis.
You went to your first-ever Photoshop World last year.
My greatest inspiration that I get from KelbyOne is that
What was your major takeaway from the event?
I can see myself being on the same platforms that many
Yes, the 2015 Photoshop World conference was the first
of those who I watch via YouTube are on. Being a part
one I attended. I was completely blown away by how acces-
of KelbyOne and having direct access to those whom
sible that many of the presenters were to assist with ques-
I watched over the years has truly made me appreciate the
tions or just for a general conversation.
KelbyOne community even more. ■
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT › › STEVE DAMSTRA MEMBER SINCE 2010 | HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STEVE.DAMSTRA.9?FREF=TS
Exp sed: Industry News › ›
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e x p o s e d: i n d u st ry n e w s
The latest news about photography gear, software, and services BY CHRIS MAIN
On February 1, Canon revealed the Mark II version of its flagship EOS-1D X camera. With a new 20.2 megapixel 35mm Full Frame Canon CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 6+ Image Processors, this new camera will be in high demand by everyone from sports photographers to wildlife shooters. The EOS-1D X Mark II has a long list of new features, many of which are firsts for EOS cameras. Continuous shooting speeds are now up to 14 frames per second (fps) with Auto Exposure (AE) and predictive Autofocus (AF) for viewfinder shooting, and up to 16 fps in Live View mode. With the Dual DIGIC 6+ Image Processors, you can capture up to 170 consecutive RAW images at 14 fps. The EOS-1D X Mark II can shoot 4K video at 60p and Full HD video at 120p with Dual Pixel CMOS AF. At 120p, videographers can produce high-quality slow motion video, and with 4K Frame Grab, photographers can create 8.8-megapixel still JPEGs from 4K video right in the camera. The camera also has a new, built-in Digital Lens Optimizer to help correct aberrations (which is kind of like having the Lens Corrections panel from Lightroom inside your camera). It also has an improved 61-point High-Density Reticular AF II system with expanded coverage. All 61 points are selectable by the user, and each point supports AF at maximum apertures up to f/8, which means precise focus even when using super-telephoto lenses with an extender—a huge benefit to wildlife photographers. It has two card slots: one that supports CF memory cards up to UDMA 7, and another that supports CFast, which is especially useful when recording 4K video. A first for the Canon EOS-1D series, the Mark II also features a 360,000-pixel RGB+IR metering sensor with enhanced precision and performance compared to its predecessor. It can also detect and compensate for flickering light sources such as sodium vapor lamps that are often used in gymnasiums. Other features include built-in GPS, an improved grip, and an enhanced AF sensitivity that works in much darker shooting conditions. The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II is scheduled to ship in April for an MSRP of $5,999 for the body only. A Premium Kit will list for $6,299 and will include a 64-GB CFast memory card and card reader. For more information, visit usa.canon.com/EOS1DXMarkII.
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The Odin II Trigger by Phottix is now available
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According to Phottix, the new Odin II Transmitter will give photographers more control than they’ve ever experienced before. With each of the five groups having its own access button, it’s easy to pick a light, make changes with the large control dial, lock in the settings, and then shoot. A large, illuminated LCD panel shows all settings at a glance, and if you switch off a group, it disappears from the screen for a streamlined viewing experience. You can pick from 32 channels; the first four channels offer three groups and are compatible with the original Odin receivers. Channels 5 through 32 use the new functionality of the Odin II receiver, including user-set digital ID for secure triggering. High Speed Sync with TTL flashes and OverDrive Sync with manual, wire-connected, studio-type flashes, enable flash photography at up to 1/8000. A built-in AF assist light helps with autofocus in low lighting. Other features include TTL power control +/– 3EV; manual power control 1/1 to 1/128; second curtain sync (Nikon, Sony only); flash zoom control; modeling light control with Indra500/360; 2.4 GHz, with a range of 332' (100m); and firmware upgradable. The Odin II for Canon will be available in various countries throughout February and March. The Odin II for Nikon will be available a few weeks later. The Odin for Sony will be introduced in late spring. For more information, visit www.phottix.com.
New High-Performance 64" fine art photographic printer from Epson Epson recently introduced the 64" SureColor P20000 printer, the successor to its Epson Stylus Pro 11880. The SureColor P20000 features an all-new, high-performance 10-channel PrecisionCore MicroTFP print head that delivers output up to 2.8x faster than previous Epson models for production-level printing without sacrificing quality. This new 2.64" print head can print at extremely high resolutions up to 2400x1200 dpi and supports variable size ink droplets as small as 3.5 picoliters for excellent print quality. Combined with the new Epson UltraChrome PRO nine-color pigment ink system, the SureColor P20000 provides exceptional color and black density. Epson UltraChrome PRO is the first pigment ink set to feature four levels of gray ink technology, including Gray, Light Gray, Dark Gray, and Black pigments to provide seamless transitions with less visible noise and reduced bronzing for better grayscale output. In addition, the SureColor P20000 uses improved Resin Encapsulation Technology for output with superior gloss uniformity, and exceptional overall contrast ratio and clarity. A new Yellow pigment formulation provides up to twice the overall print permanence and longevity when compared with previous-generation ink sets. The Epson SureColor P20000 will be available in March for $11,995 (MSRP). For additional information, visit www.proimaging .epson.com.
Nikon Introduces two new flagship cameras At CES 2016, Nikon announced a new flagship FX-format DSLR and a new flagship DX-format DSLR. (Yes, that’s two new flagship cameras.) On the FX side, the new Nikon D5 features a Nikon-developed 20.8-megapixel CMOS sensor and an all-new AF system with Nikon’s first dedicated AF processor: the Multi-CAM 20K AF sensor module. This system offers superior AF performance with 153 AF points, including 99 cross-type sensors and dedicated AF processor. The D5 is capable of capturing 12 frames per second (fps) with full AE and AF, or 14 fps with the mirror locked. The EXPEED 5 engine dramatically enhances camera performance, delivering low noise and high-speed image processing, including the power needed for 4K UHD video at 30p. The native ISO ranges from 100 to 102,400 but is expandable from 50 (Lo-1) to 3,280,000 (Hi-5), offering near-night vision capability. Other features include a new 3.2" 2359K dot XGA LCD with touchscreen functionality and a built-in 1000 Base-T 400MBps Ethernet connection for image transfer, with speeds up to 1.5x faster than the D4S. The D5 will be available in March 2016 (body only) for $6,499.95 (MSRP) in two different versions: dual XQD card slots or dual CF card slots. On the DX side, the new Nikon D500 features a new 20.9-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor capable of excellent lowlight performance, with an ISO range of 100–51,200, expandable to 50–1,640,000 equivalent. It can capture 10 frames per second (fps) with full AF and AE with a buffer that allows for up to 79 shots. Fitted with the same AF system as the Nikon D5, it includes the Multi-CAM 20K AF sensor module and 180K RGB metering system. It also has the ability to capture 4K UHD video at up to 30p, as well as Full HD video at a variety of frame rates. The D500 will be available in March 2016 (body only) for $1,999.95 (MSRP) and in a kit configuration that includes an AF-S DX NIKKOR 16–80mm f/3.5–5.6 G ED VR lens for $3,069.65 (MSRP). Nikon announced several other new products at CES as well, including the Nikon KeyMission 360 (the first in their series of action cameras), the SB-5000 Speedlight, the WT-6A Wireless Transmitter, and the WT-7A Wireless Transmitter. For more information on the two new flagship cameras, as well as the other new products, visit www.nikonusa.com. ■
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Canon Announces the EOS-1D X Mark II
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HOW TO › ›
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Step One: Start by opening the image of the main subject that you want to use, or if you’re a KelbyOne member, you can download the files with which we’re working. This subject is on a white background, which will make her a bit easier to extract. [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal
©Adobe Stock/.shock
use only.]
Step Two: We don’t need the volleyball in this image, so grab the Lasso tool (L) in the Toolbox and draw a loose selection around the ball. Press D then X to set your Foreground color to white. Then, press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill that selected area with white. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D)
Step One
to deselect.
Step Three: Because our subject is on a solid white background, let’s use my trusty channel method to extract her. Open the Channels panel (Window>Channels) and click on the Green channel, as this one is where the subject is darkest. Right-click on the channel, choose Duplicate Channel from the pop-up menu, and click OK. Step Two
Step Three
Step Four: With the duplicate channel active, click the little box to the left of its thumbnail in the Channels panel to make it visible. Click the Eye icon next to the original Green channel to hide it. Press Shift-Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace) to open the Fill tents drop-down menu and change
commercial sports graphic BY COREY BARKER
So the last thing I wanted to do was sign up for another social me-
the Mode to Overlay. Click OK. This will make the gray areas darker while leaving the background white. Do this a second time to make them even darker.
dia site, but I jumped into Pinterest because it’s a great resource for
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Down &Dirty Tricks
dialog. Choose Black from the Con-
finding inspiration and ideas. This one came from a very cool sports ad that I saw, and I thought it would be a cool technique for a high school sports photo or something similar. Once you see how it’s done, you can decide what to do with it. Have fun! Step Four
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Step Five: We want the subject to be solid black, but too many
lay and drop the layer Opacity to around 85%. Press Command-E
Overlay fills will roughen the edges. So instead, select the Brush
(PC: Ctrl-E) to merge the HDR layer into the Background layer.
tool (B) in the Toolbox and choose a round soft-edged brush. Press X until the Foreground color is black, and change the Mode
Step Ten: Use the Green copy channel in this document to make
setting in the Options Bar to Overlay. Now paint in the light areas
a selection of the subject again, and then copy it to a new layer.
to force them to black. Some areas may need several strokes
We’ve hidden the Background layer here so you can see the
to make them completely black. Again, this won’t change the
extracted subject.
white background even if you paint into those areas. If there are any areas that won’t go to solid black, change the Brush Mode
Step Eleven: Create a new document (File>New) for the final
back to Normal, decrease the size of your brush using the Left
design measuring 600x800 pixels. Go back to the subject image,
Bracket key, and paint over those areas. You’ll have to be care-
and using the Move tool, drag the extracted image to the new
ful, though, because in Normal mode, you can now paint on the
document. Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Trans-
white background.
form, hold the Shift key, and drag a corner handle to scale the subject in the composition as you see here. Click-and-drag
Step Six: Once the subject is solid black, press Command-I
inside the bounding box to reposition the subject. Press Enter
Step Five
(PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the image, making the subject white and
Step Ten
when done.
the background black. You can continue to adjust the channel if needed. Now hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key as you go
Step Twelve: Here
under the Image menu and choose Duplicate. The Option (PC:
we have a texture that
Alt) key will create the duplicate file directly, bypassing the Dupli-
we’ll add to the back-
cate Image dialog where you can rename the duplicated file.
ground. You can use this texture that’s part
Step Seven: In the duplicate file, go to Image>Adjustments>HDR
of the exercise down-
Toning. If you’re using the practice file, then drop the Saturation
load, or you can use a texture of your own. I like this one because
to –100 before adjusting the other settings to those shown here.
it has a framing element inside. To keep good detail in the texture
Click OK.
while removing the color, set the Toolbox colors to their defaults by pressing D. Then, go to Image>Adjustments>Gradient Map,
Step Eight: In the Channels panel, hold down the Command (PC:
Step Eleven
and click OK.
Ctrl) key and click on the Green copy channel thumbnail to load the shape of the subject as a selection. With the selection active,
Step Six
press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the subject to a new layer. Step Seven
Step Nine: Back in the original subject file, click on the RGB channel at the top of the Channels panel to make it active and hide the Green copy channel. In the duplicate file, switch to the Move tool (V), hold the Shift key, and click-and-drag the HDR layer back to the original subject image. Holding down the Shift key as you drag will center and align it with the original subject
022
Step Thirteen: Using the Move tool and holding the Shift key, drag this image into the new document and then use Free Transform to scale the image to fit in the composition. Also, make sure the texture layer is positioned below the subject layer in the Step Eight
Layers panel.
Step Thirteen
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©PhotoArtTextures.com
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layer. In the Layers panel, change the layer blend mode to Over-
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Step Fourteen: Drop the
Step Seventeen: Once
Opacity of the texture layer to
again, remove the color
85% and then click the Add
using the Gradient Map
Layer Mask icon (circle in a
trick we used in Step
square) at the bottom of the
Twelve, and then use
Layers panel. Choose the Gradi-
Levels (Command-L [PC:
ent tool (G) in the Toolbox, click
Ctrl-L]) to boost the dark
on the gradient preview strip
contrast until most of the
in the Options Bar, choose the
background behind the
Foreground to Transparent pre-
cracks is black. In this
set in the Gradient Editor, and
example, we dragged the shadows slider to 168. Click OK to
click OK. Also in the Options
close Levels. Step Seventeen
Bar, click on the Radial Gradient icon. Make sure the Foreground color is set to black by pressing D then X. Now draw a couple of gradients in the document to add them to the layer mask, which will hide parts of the texture
Step Eighteen: Using the
Step Fourteen
Move tool and holding the
so it doesn’t draw attention away from the subject.
Shift key, drag this texture into the main image and posi-
Step Fifteen: Now we’re
tion this layer just above the
ready to add some text. Select
text layer in the Layers panel.
the Type tool (T), click on the
Go to Edit>Transform>Rotate
Foreground color swatch near
90° Counter Clockwise. Press
the bottom of the Toolbox,
Option-Command-G (PC: Alt-
choose a red color in the Color
Ctrl-G) to clip the texture inside
Picker, and click OK. Click on
the text.
the canvas to set a new text layer. I couldn’t make out what the original poster said, so I’m going to type “SPIKE” in a font called BN Machine, but almost any thick, bold font will do. Go
Step Eighteen
to Edit>Transform and choose Rotate 90° Counter Clockwise.
Step Nineteen: In the Lay-
Then, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform
024
layer to Screen. Add a layer
the full height of the image area. Drag the text near the left
mask, and then use the Gra-
edge of the image and press Enter to commit the transforma-
dient tool like we did in Step
tion. Drag the text layer to the top of the layer stack in the
Fourteen to hide a couple of
Layers panel.
areas of the glass texture to vary the look.
Step Sixteen: We want to add a cracked texture to the text so that it looks like shattering glass. An image of broken glass cise download).
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should do the trick (this texture is also available in the exer©Adobe Stock/alexkar08
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and scale the text to fit almost
ers panel, set the broken glass
Step Fifteen
Step Sixteen
Step Nineteen
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Step Twenty: With the text layer active, click on the Add a Layer
Step Twenty-Five: Click the top layer in the Layers panel to
Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Gra-
make it active, and then click the Create a New Layer icon at
dient Overlay. Use the settings shown here to add a light effect
the bottom of the panel to create a new layer at the top of the
to the text. Be sure to click on the Gradient preview thumbnail,
layer stack. With the same brush still selected, Option-click (PC:
choose the Foreground to Background preset, click OK to close
Alt-click) on the red of the text to sample that color. Then, paint
the Gradient Editor, and then check on the Reverse box. Click-
shards of glass around the broken areas of the text. This will cre-
and-drag inside the document to position the center of the Gra-
ate the effect of fragments breaking off.
dient Overlay where the subject’s arm meets the origin of the cracks in the glass texture on the letter E. Click OK.
Step Twenty-Six: One last thing:
Step Twenty-One: We want to make the lettering look like
We want to bring most of her arm
there are shards of glass breaking off, so we’ll need to make a
in front of the text, so Command-
Step Twenty
custom brush to create the glass shard particle effect. Create a
click (PC: Ctrl-click) the layer thumb-
new document (File>New) that’s 500x500 pixels with a white
nail of the main subject layer to load
background. Grab the Lasso tool (L) in the Toolbox and draw a
her shape once again as a selection.
selection that looks like a glass shard similar to the one we have
Once you have the selection, click
here. Press D to set your Foreground color to black, and then
on the mask thumbnail on the text
press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with
layer to make it active again. Select a
black. Then, go to Edit>Define Brush Preset. Name the brush
round, hard-edged Brush and paint
when prompted and click OK.
away the text in front of the arm.
Step Twenty-Five
Step Twenty-One
Step Twenty-Two: Switch back to your working document,
Step Twenty-Two
and select the Brush tool (B). The new brush you just created should be selected, but if it’s not, go to the Brush Presets panel (Window>Brush Presets) and select it from the bottom of the list. Open the Brush panel (Window>Brush) and click on Brush Tip Shape. Set the Spacing to around 229%.
Step Twenty-Three: Next, activate Shape Dynamics. Set both the Size Jitter and Angle Jitter to 100%. Also, check on Flip X Jitter and Flip Y Jitter. Then, activate Scattering and check on Both Axes. Lastly, push the Scatter amount to around 382%.
Step Twenty-Four: If you’re using the practice files, you’ll want As a finishing touch, drop in a player’s name using the Type
to set the size of the brush to around 50 px in the Options Bar
026
Step Twenty-Three
tool. Apart from any adjustments that you might want to make, you’re pretty much done. ■
to the text layer, and make sure the Foreground color is set to black. Starting at the arm of the subject, paint around that area so it looks like pieces of broken glass are missing from the lettering. Here’s a view of the mask. You can Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on the layer mask
Final
thumbnail in the Layers panel to see it in the main window. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) again to bring back the image.
Step Twenty-Four
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(use a larger brush for higher resolution files). Add a Layer mask
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HOW TO › ›
› › DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS
Step One: For this design, we need a background image of a
©Adobe Stock/Leonid Tit
snowy wilderness scene. Here, we have a nice shot from Adobe Stock that will work, but we need to make some changes first. [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only. If you’re looking for downloads for a past issue, just hover your cursor over the circles below “View Previous Issues” to see the month and year of the various issues.]
Step Two: Remove the color from the scene by pressing Shift-
Step One
Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U). Open Levels by pressing Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L), grab the midtone slider below the histogram, and push it to the left to around the 3.5 mark. This will greatly lessen the contrast of the image. Then, go to Output Levels just below and push the shadow slider to around the 39 mark. Click OK when done.
Step Three: Select the Gradient tool (G) in the Toolbox. In the
BY COREY BARKER
Being a big Quentin Tarantino fan, I just had to have a go at his latest movie The Hateful Eight. There were a lot of poster designs done for
Step Five: Now open the main subject image, which is also part
this movie, and this exercise examines one of the coolest posters.
of the exercise download. This is a gunfighter image shot on a neutral background. We need, of course, to extract him from the background, but first we’re going to do some HDR Toning effects. Go to the Image menu, hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and choose Duplicate. The Option (PC: Alt) key will bypass the Duplicate Image dialog.
Once you have the technique down, it will be easy to repurpose it for your own designs, plus it’s a lot of fun.
Step Four
Step Five
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Down &Dirty Tricks
the hateful eight poster effect
Step Four: Now create a new document (File>New) that’s 1000x700 pixels. Using the Move tool (V) and holding the Shift key, click-and-drag the wilderness scene into this new document (the Shift key will center it in the document). Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform, hold Shift-Option (PC: ShiftAlt) and drag a corner point to scale the scene to fit in the new image window (Shift will constrain the proportions, and Option [PC: Alt] will transform it from the center). Press Enter to commit the transformation.
Step Two
©Adobe Stock/ysbrandcosijn
Options Bar, click on the preview strip, choose the Foreground to Transparent preset, and click OK to close the Gradient Editor. Also in the Options Bar, make sure the Linear Gradient icon is selected, and set the Mode to Overlay. Press D then X to set white as the Foreground color. Now drag gradients from each of the four sides about a quarter of the way into the image to create a white fade all the way around the image. Do this directly to the Background layer.
Step Six: In this duplicate image, go to Image>Adjustments>HDR Toning. Set the Saturation setting at the bottom to –55%. Then, up in the Tone and Detail section, set the Detail way up to around 140%. Drop the Exposure to about –0.50. Lastly, go to the Edge Glow section and set the Radius to 67 px and the Strength to about 1.08. Leave Smooth Edges unchecked and click OK.
Step Six
031
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Step Twelve: Now we’re going to use the same white gradient that we used earlier in Step Three except select the Radial Gradient icon and change the tool Mode in the Options Bar back to Normal. Add some gradients around the edge of the subject to create an edge light effect to help him blend into the scene better.
Step Seven: Back in the original image of the subject, grab the Quick Selection tool (W) in the Toolbox. Use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to change the brush size, then start painting over the subject to create a selection. Continue painting until the entire subject is selected, minus the background. If you happen to select some of the background, just hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and paint back over that area to remove it from the selection. Be sure to remove the small background areas between his arms and body from the selection.
Step Eight
Step Thirteen: Now we’re ready to add the brushstroke effect similar to the original poster. Here we have a group of strokes, also from Adobe Stock. These are also part of the exercise download. The color isn’t right, but that’s not important because we can change that. We just need the shape of the strokes, so remove the color by pressing Shift-Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U).
Step Eight: Click on the Refine Edge button in the Options Bar to open the Refine Edge options. Since there are no soft edges, just set the Edge Detection Radius slider to around 1.5 px. Then, set the Output To drop-down menu at the bottom to New Layer. Click OK when done. Step Nine: Go back to the HDR Toned version and use the
Step Nine
Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace) to open the Fill dialog. Set the Contents drop-down menu to Black and the Mode to Overlay. Click OK. This will force the dark gray to black and leave the background white.
Step Fourteen
Step Fifteen: Open the Channels panel (Window> Channels) and hold down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key as you click on the RGB channel thumbnail to load the white area as a selection. We need the brushstrokes selected, so go to Select>Inverse, which will flip the selection to the main objects.
Step Ten: When done, press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge the two layers into a single layer. Then, use the Move tool to drag the subject into the wilderness scene, and use Free Transform to scale him to fit in the composition, as you see here. Press Enter when done.
Step Eleven: Click the Create a New Layer icon at the bot-
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Step Thirteen
Step Fourteen: Press Shift-
Move tool to drag it to the original. Hold down the Shift key so that it lands centered and aligned with the original. Also, make sure it’s positioned above the extracted subject in the Layers panel. Press Option-Command-G (PC: Alt-Ctrl-G) to clip the HDR layer into the extracted layer. Also, change the layer blend mode to Color Dodge and the Opacity to 55%.
032
Step Twelve
©Adobe Stock/Roman Samokhin
DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›
Step Sixteen: Back in the Layers panel, create a new blank layer, click the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox, select a deep-red color like the one shown here, and click
tom of the Layers panel. Set the blend mode to Overlay and drop the layer Opacity to 75%. Also, clip this layer to the layer below, as we did in Step Nine, by pressing Option-Command-G (PC: Alt-Ctrl-G).
OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with red. Step Ten
Step Sixteen
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Step Twenty-One: Now, go under the Filter menu again and
Step Seventeen:
Using the Lasso tool (L), make a loose selection around the top two horizontal strokes. Then, copy-and-paste these selected strokes into the main layout image. Once there, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to activate Free Transform. Hold the Shift key and click-and-drag outside the bounding box to rotate the object 90°. Still holding the Shift key, drag a corner point to resize the strokes, and then click-and-drag inside the bounding box to reposition them on the left side of the subject as shown. Press Enter when done, then drag this layer below the subject layer in the Layers panel.
select Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 3 Pixels and click OK.
Step Twenty-Two: Press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the Levels dialog. Push the shadow and highlight sliders way in toward the middle as shown here to get an instant snow effect. Feel free to tweak these settings to increase or decrease the amount of snow. Click OK when done.
Step Twenty-Three: Change
Step Twenty-One
the layer blend mode to Screen, and there you have it! ■
Step Seventeen
Step Eighteen: Switch to the Move tool, hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and then click-and-drag a duplicate of the strokes to the right side of the subject. Go to Edit>Transform>Rotate 180° to rotate this duplicate layer so it looks different than the original. Press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge this duplicate layer with the original brushstroke layer below. Change the layer blend mode to Multiply to make the strokes blend with the wilderness background.
Step Twenty-Two
Step Eighteen
034
blank layer at the top of the layer stack and grab the Gradient tool again. This time change it back to a Linear Gradient and press D then X to set the Foreground color to white. Drag a gradient from the bottom edge of the image to above his belt to add a white fade.
Step Twenty: Add another blank layer at the top of the layer stack and press Shift-Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace) to open the Fill dialog. Select 50% Gray from the Contents dropdown menu, set the Mode to normal, and click OK. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Set the Amount to 400%, the Distribution to Gaussian, and check on Monochromatic. Click OK.
Step Nineteen
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Step Nineteen: Add a new
Step Twenty
Final
035
HOW TO › ›
› › DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS
Step One: First, gather your main elements. For this, we’ll be using a generic bottle and a wooden log from Adobe Stock. When you’re looking for an image to use for the vines, you may want to choose a log with nice bark texture; this will add character to the vines and emphasize their curves. Try different images to see what kind of results you get and experiment to see if you like the vines fat or skinny. [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal
©Adobe Stock/salita2010
©Adobe Stock/Vankad
use only.]
Step One
Step Two: You’ll need to remove the log from the white background. The Quick Selection tool (W) can make this quite easy, and depending on how precise you want to be, you can go the extra step and use Refine Edge to make sure everything is perfect.
Step Two
Step Three: Once you have the selection made with the marching ants dancing around the edge of the log, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) three times to copy the selection onto three new layers. In the Layers panel, click the Eye icons next to the Background layer and the two lower copied layers so that you’re only working with the top log layer. We’ll use the other layers later.
BY PETE COLLINS
You may have seen various images that have vines or branches wrapped
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Down &Dirty Tricks
devine around products from companies selling anything from fertilizer to beer. It’s a great way to frame the product and draw the eye around the composition to where you want the viewer to look. The technique used to accomplish this look is really easy to apply and has the added benefit of introducing some folks to the power of Puppet Warp.
Step Three
037
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Step Four: To transform the log into our first section of vine, go
Step Eight: Go back to your log file, hide the S shaped log layer,
to Edit>Puppet Warp. You’ll see the log with a bunch of trian-
click on one of the copied layers below it, and click where its Eye
gular segments, and anywhere you click on the log will drop a
icon used to be to make it visible again. Repeat the Puppet Warp
pin. The pins act as holding points/control points for warping the
process for this log, but this time you only need to bend it slightly
object. If you just put down one pin and then try to move things,
since it’s going behind the bottom of the bottle and then out of
the object will more than likely just spin around that pin. You
the frame. After practicing on the S shape, this should be a snap.
need at least two pins so that you can keep part of the object in place while warping the other pin. It may take a bit of playing around to get used to it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a wonderful tool. The key to Puppet Warp is to try to use as few pins as you can because each pin works in conjunction with the others and
Step Nine: Now you could create a third section of vine for the
you don’t want to add any funky edges or bends. If you mess Step Four
up, you can undo or click on any stubborn pins and press Delete
Step Eight
top section by warping the third layer so that you have three unique vines, but a shortcut is to use the same vine you created
(PC: Backspace) to remove them and try again.
in the previous step for the top and the bottom. Bring them over to your bottle image and use Free Transform to reshape, resize,
Step Five: For the log to be turned into a vine, you’ll need to
and rotate them, as necessary. Once they’re in place, mask them
stretch it and give it an S shape so it will wrap around both edges
so they appear to be coming from behind the bottle.
of the bottle (or whatever product you’re using). That way, when you mask out the top and bottom of the vine, it will look as if those sections are going behind the top and bottom of the bottle. The more severe the curves, the more pins you’ll need to strategically place along the log to help control the look. You could make the whole vine by adding just a few pins and severely stretching the log, but breaking it into sections will make shap-
Step Ten: To give more life to the vines, you may want to add a
ing it easier, and leave more bark detail. The more severe the
little greenery. This could be a patch of moss, flowers, or in this
warping the more likely those parts of the object will start to look
example, some little sprigs of a plant. Place one section so that it
funny. Press Enter to commit the Puppet Warp.
looks like it’s coming out of the vine and then make a copy and move it to another location. Transform the copy so that the two
Step Six: Once you have the first section of vine shaped how
sprigs don’t look identical, and use layer masks to hide any parts
Step Five
Step Nine
that should be behind the bottle or vine.
you want it, use the Move tool (V) to drag it over to your bottle image, and position it in front of the bottle. Line it up, resize, and rotate it by using Free Transform (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]), making sure that the ends of the vine are completely overlapping the bottle. You also want to ensure that there’s space between the bottle and the curves of the vine that are closest to the bottle.
038
Step Eleven: Once those pieces are in place, what’s really going Step Seven: Now we need to use a layer mask to hide the ends
owing. You’ll want to add shadowing where the bottle and the
of the vine behind the bottle. Click the Add Layer Mask icon at
vine interact, along with dodging and burning any vine areas
the bottom of the Layers panel (it looks like a rectangle with a
that may be too dark or light, respectively, for the environment.
hole in the middle). Switch to the Brush tool (B), and press D
This is the art of compositing, a skill that has to be learned and
then X to set the Foreground color to black. In the Options Bar,
practiced. If you want to get better at compositing, you’ll need to
click on the brush preview thumbnail, set the Hardness to 100%,
learn where to put shadows and highlights, and then the Dodge
and then paint over the ends of the vine where they overlap the
and Burn tools (O) will become your friends. Don’t forget to add
bottle. If you mess up and mask too much of the vine, press X to
shadows where the vine would be behind the bottle, especially
switch to white, and paint back any areas that were hidden by
at the top of the neck. Notice that we also darkened the bottom of the bottle to give the appearance that you can vaguely see the
black. When you’re done, the edges of the vine and the bottle should be crisp.
Step Six
Step Seven
vine through the liquid.
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to help sell the composite is to make sure you have proper shad-
©Adobe Stock/jcsmilly
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Press Enter to commit the transformation.
Step Ten
Step Eleven
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DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›
Step Twelve: The bottle needs to be dressed with an appropriate label. Design your own or use a stock label, then place it between the bottle layer and the main vine layer in the Layers panel. A great tip to help the label look like it’s part of the bottle is to lower its Opacity in the Layers panel to between 95 and 97%. Just that little tweak will let some of the bottle’s coloring and contrast come through ever so slightly. Also, don’t forget to
Label: ©Adobe Stock/DavidArts
Step Thirteen: Find and place a suitable background image that fits with your product. If you’re using the download files, click on the lock icon next to the Background layer to convert it to a regular layer, and drag your new background image to the bottom of the layers stack. Next, select the bottle using the Quick Selection tool, make sure its layer is active in the Layers panel, and click the Add Layer mask icon to mask out the white behind
Background Image: ©Adobe Stock/GIS
add a shadow where the vine crosses the label.
Step Twelve
Step Thirteen
the bottle, revealing your new background image below. Resize and position the new background image as needed.
Step Fourteen: Depending on the scene, you could have the bottle sitting on the ground, but oftentimes you’ll want to place it on a base in front of the scene. If that’s the case, a quick solution is to grab a grungy piece of wood and transform it with Free Transform. Just Right-click inside the transform box and select the Perspective option. Now when you drag a corner handle, it will transform the object in perspective. After you transform the base, remember to add the shadows of the bottle and vine on top of the wood so that they look like they’re all together in the same scene. And there you have it, a great way to highlight a product that’s simple to do and has great impact. Understanding and practicing with the Puppet Warp feature will allow you to bend just about
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Wood Base: ©Adobe Stock/picsfive
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any object to your will. ■
Step Fourteen
› › BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
HOW TO › ›
Beginners' Workshop mapping one image onto another
Step Five: When you cycled through the different channels back in Step One, Photoshop temporarily turned off the comLESA SNIDER
posite channel (the one that shows your image in full color). So in the original document (the one you opened in Step One),
One of the slickest Photoshop tricks ever is to wrap one image around the contours of another. It’s great for creating conceptual imagery for ads or artistic purposes. To perform this feat, we’ll create a displacement map—a grayscale image that Photoshop uses to warp and bend one image to the curvature of another. Read on!
turn all the channels back on by clicking the composite channel at the top of the Channels panel (circled) or by pressing Command-2 (PC: Ctrl-2).
Step Six: Create a selection of the guy’s back. In this example, we’ll select the white background and then invert the selection
Step One: Open the image you want to map another image
to select his back. Press-and-hold the fourth icon from the top
onto and then choose Window>Channels. To make the best
of the Toolbox (circled), and from the resulting menu, click
displacement map, use the channel with the highest contrast.
the Magic Wand tool. In the Options Bar, set the Tolerance to
Click each channel to view it or, if you’re in RGB mode (and
around 20. Mouse over to the image and click once within the
you probably are), you can cycle through different channels by when you land on the one you want to use. With the highest contrast channel active (Blue here), choose Duplicate Channel from the Channels flyout menu (circled). [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
white background. Choose Select>Similar to have Photoshop ©Adobe Stock/beautyblowflow
pressing Command-3, -4, and -5 (PC: Ctrl-3, -4, and -5); stop
select more pixels that match the one you clicked. Shift-click bits of the background that aren’t yet selected (a plus sign appears beneath your cursor). Don’t worry about the guy’s hair or towel; we’ll deal with those spots later. Now invert the
Step Six
selection by choosing Select>Inverse. Step One
Step Two: In the dialog that opens, choose New from the
Step Seven: In the Options Bar, click the Refine Edge button.
Document drop-down menu (circled). In the Name field, enter
Step Seven
In the dialog that opens, set the Smooth and Feather sliders
“Map” and click OK. When you do, Photoshop opens a new
to 1 pixel (or higher if you’re working with a high-resolution
document containing the channel you picked in Step One.
Step Three: In the Map document, choose Filter>Blur>Gaussian
Step Five
image) and then set the rest to 0. From the Output To dropStep Two
down menu, choose Selection, and click OK.
Blur. In the resulting dialog, enter a value of 1–4 pixels (try 1 for low-resolution images and 4 for high-resolution images) and click OK. The goal is to blur the image so the map is
Step Eight: Save the selection by choosing Select>Save Selec-
slightly smooth.
tion. In the resulting dialog, enter “back” in the Name field (circled) and click OK. Now choose Select>Deselect to dismiss
042
Step Eight
Step Nine: Choose File>Place Embedded and in the dialog that opens, navigate to the motherboard image and click Place. To Enter. In the Layers panel, use the drop-down menu above the layer locks (circled) to change the blend mode to Multiply (when using your own imagery, experiment with other blend
Step Four: Choose File>Save As and, at the bottom of the
modes to see which one works best). Next, lower the Opacity
dialog, make sure the Format drop-down menu (PC: Type) is
setting (also circled) to approximately 50%.
set to Photoshop and that the Alpha Channels checkbox is turned on. Click Save. Close the Map document by choosing File>Close.
Step Four
Step Nine
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resize the image, Shift-drag any corner handle and then press ©Adobe Stock/Svetoslav Radkov
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the marching ants.
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#KelbyOneBooks BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP › ›
ALL OF THE HOW NONE OF THE WHY
Step Ten: With the motherboard layer active, choose Filter>Distort>Displace. In the resulting dialog, leave the factory settings as is and click OK. If you’re not sure whether the default settings have been changed in the Displace dialog,
Best-selling author Scott Kelby shows you the power of Photoshop Elements 14 and how to make it work for you!
press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key to change the Cancel button into a Reset button; click it and you’re back to the defaults. In the next dialog that opens, navigate to the Map document you saved in Step Four and click Open. If you watch your document closely when you click Open, you’ll see the motherboard shift to the contours of the back.
Step Eleven: Choose Select>Load Selection and, from the resulting dialog’s Channel drop-down menu, choose the selec-
Step Ten
tion you saved earlier (back, in this example) and click OK.
Step Twelve: With the motherboard layer active, click the circle-within-a-square icon at the bottom of the Layers panel
Step Twelve
(circled) to add a layer mask. Photoshop hides the motherboard from everywhere except the selected area.
Step Thirteen: While the mask is active, you can hide the motherboard from additional areas (the hair and towel). Press B to activate the Brush tool (circled) and press the D key on your keyboard to reset the color chips at the bottom of the Toolbox (also circled) to the default values of black and white. Press the X key to flip-flop them so black is on top. Mouse over to the image and then brush across the hair and towel. If you hide too much of the motherboard, press the X key to flip-flop the color chips so white is on top and then brush back across › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
that area. (When you’re working with layer masks, using black
044
Step Thirteen
con-ceals and white reveals.) Here’s the final result, complete with the Layers panel. As you can see, the end result is well suited for an ad for back pain due to excessive computing. Until next time, may the creative force be with you all! ■
Need to know the best ways to organize, correct, edit, sharpen, and retouch your photos in Photoshop Elements? Plus slick workarounds for common image problems, and the most requested special effects techniques? This book was designed just for you.
Final Image
Order your copy today at kelbyone.com/books
HOW TO › ›
› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
SCOTT VALENTINE
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
Just so we’re all on the same page, you can think of layers as containers that stack on top of each other. Each container (layer) holds information that’s split into two general parts: content and instructions. Content is stuff you can actually see in the layer—pieces of your image. Instructions do something with content to change it, usually by looking at content from lower layers. The classic way of looking at layers is like a stack of transparencies or glass; as you look down on the stack, you see the composite of all the individual contributions. This painting is made up of several layers that combine to give you what you see on Photoshop’s canvas.
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©Adobe Stock/msdnv
So you know about layers, right? They’re the building blocks of pretty much everything you can do in Photoshop, from organization to detail work. It’s a pretty basic idea, and it’s probably one of the first things you learned about in the world’s most popular digital image-editing application. Rather than try and hash over things you already know, I’d like to present some ways of thinking about layers that should help your understanding of what layers can really do for you. That’s fine to describe content, but instructions are a bit more challenging. Instructions in this case are mathematical functions, which take in information, do some math to it, and return a result. The math that a function performs is directed and manipulated by variables. If this sounds complicated or boring, just hang in there; it’ll make sense soon! Let’s put all of this in terms with which we’re familiar. Functions in Photoshop are things such as adjustment layers, transparency, and blending modes. Variables is another word for content, so any image you have on a layer affects how the function behaves, usually by getting combined with the content from lower layers. The simplest example would be two layers. The bottom layer could be a photograph, and the top layer might be some text. On the top text layer, the function says, “Anywhere that’s not covered up by text, show the content from below; otherwise, show the text.” The variables are the photograph and the text. When you combine them, the result is exactly what you’d expect: text over a photo.
1. Photoshop moves information up. Whatever is at the bottom is processed first, then the output is moved up as input to the next layer. 2. Each layer represents a composite of everything below it. This is pretty important because it says functions don’t combine across layers. The second point can be confusing, so think about it this way: Each layer behaves as if it’s the top layer in the stack, so if you turn off every layer above it, what you see on the canvas is what Photoshop uses as input from that layer to the layer immediately above it. There are no leftovers, only variables that weren’t affected due to transparency. Put another way, 100% transparency on a layer is a unique set of instructions that say, “Do nothing.” What do we get from these two somewhat academic observations? Mostly this: order matters. That is, if you change the order of layers, it’s likely that your results will change. The output of any given layer is the input to the next layer up, so changing the order of the layer stack will change the total output. The other idea we get is that of a virtual image. As I mentioned, the image you see on Photoshop’s canvas is the result of performing functions on variables—content and instructions being combined. The image doesn’t exist until you render it in some way. Even when you save and reload the PSD or TIFF file, the canvas is the representation of all those layers, not a single image by itself, so that means you can change the output by changing something on any of the layers. When you flatten the layers or print it, then it becomes a real image. This is less important to understand, but I felt the need to include it for completeness—and because I’m a geek.
Alpha Instructions Now that we have these fundamental ideas out of the way, let’s describe some features of content and instructions. I want to define “content” as actual pixels on a layer. In the example above, the text content is only the letters you can see. All the areas where you can see the photograph are not considered content on the text layer. Why should you care? Because layer styles such as Drop Shadows, Bevel & Emboss, and Stroke all depend on that definition. They apply to the edges of the content on the layer. Content can have opacity. Content Opacity, or how much of the current content you can see through, is a feature of each individual pixel. Check out this gradient. The
white area (100% Opacity) is content that gradually fades to transparent (0% Opacity) where you can see the checkerboard pattern. The pixels themselves carry transparency information. Even if a pixel has 0% Opacity, it’s still content on the layer.
There is a twist, however. Opacity is a special type of instruction channel called “alpha.” Photoshop applies this instruction in different ways depending on the content and any other instructions that are being used. (Note: Alpha is actually a channel, but would take more space than I have to explain properly. Calling alpha a type of instruction is a necessary simplification.) For now, you can think of alpha as a step in the stack of instructions that gets shuffled around in different situations. The practical use for this is that you can get different transparency effects by choosing different alpha tools. Now that we’re clear (get it?), let’s look at other alpha instructions:
Layer Opacity: Layer Opacity applies to all content and layer styles. As you drag the Opacity slider toward zero, everything on that layer becomes more transparent, including layer styles. Fill Opacity: A special version of Opacity is called Fill, which does the same thing as Opacity, but it’s calculated only on the content itself; it ignores layer styles. That means you can apply a Drop Shadow to some layer content, then reduce the Fill to zero and be left with only the Drop Shadow. The content vanishes. If you did that with Opacity, both the content and the Drop Shadow would vanish. Fill also applies to
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layers, part 1: opacity
While this looks like a trivial example, it’s the basis for understanding more complex techniques. Here are two key elements to think about:
Background: ©Adobe Stock/picsfive
Photoshop Proving Ground
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PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND › ›
content that already has lower Opacity, but Fill can’t add back Opacity to content. Blend If: The third kind of layer alpha, found in the Advanced Blending section of the Layer Style dialog, is called Blend If. This alpha is only applied to specific kinds of content based on the brightness value (either gray or individual color channels). Like Fill, it only considers actual content; layer styles are ignored.
Blend If also has a trick up its sleeve. It uses a comparison function (the “if” part). Blend If can use the current layer information (content and instructions combined), or it can use the output from a lower layer. In plain language, it says to “blend this layer’s content with whatever is below if some criteria are met.” The criteria are the brightness values of either layer.
When using Blend If for This Layer, layer styles aren’t affected—it behaves like a selective Fill Opacity. But when using Underlying Layer, layer styles are affected. Mask: There are two more features to talk about that concern layers and transparency: clipping and masks. Remember above when I said alpha instructions are actually channels? Well, here’s where that information starts to make sense. A mask is really an alpha channel attached to a specific layer (or group of layers). An alpha channel is a grayscale image that’s applied to another image and provides instructions about what’s transparent and what’s not. In the case of masks, Photoshop treats white as opaque, and black as transparent. This is mostly independent of other alpha instructions, and gets added on top of everything else. That means you still have access to Content Opacity, Layer Opacity, Fill, and Blend If, and then the layer mask gets added after all of that. Clipping: Clipping refers to using the content of one layer as a mask for another. A clipped layer has content and is above a target layer with content. The clipped layer’s content only shows up where the target layer content exists. Let’s go back to our first example and switch the order of the text and image layers. The text is now obscured. But if we clip (Option-Command-G [PC: Alt-Ctrl-G]) the image layer to the text (target) layer, the image content now fills the text.
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Next issue, we’ll tackle blending modes and adjustment layers in terms of how they behave in a stack. It’s gonna get geeky in here! ■
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› › PHOTOSHOP TIPS
D E PA R T M E N T › ›
Photoshop Tips
boost your productivity and creativity
COLIN SMITH
I have a grab bag full of tips for you this issue. I decided,
because brush presets override local settings. You can over-
because this tool also looks at luminosity, not just color, to
rather than have a theme, I’d do it shotgun style and provide
ride this override, though—how meta! Go to the Shape
make a selection. You can select more colors or increase
a variety of tips, so there’s something for everyone. Yup, even
Dynamics section in the Brush panel (Window>Brush) and
the Fuzziness when using Color Range, but this contami-
you. I hope you enjoy these and they serve you well.
turn off Pen Pressure in the Control drop-down menu for
nates the edges of the selection. Here’s what I do: Make
Size Jitter. To apply this setting to all brushes, click the little
the selection with Color Range, and then apply Quick Mask
Colored Layer
padlock next to Shape Dynamics and it will be locked, even
(the Q key on your keyboard). Go to the Channels panel
There are lots of times when you may need a plain colored
if you change brushes.
(Window>Channels) and look for the Quick Mask channel. Click on it and open Levels (Command-L [PC: Ctrl-L]).
layer in Photoshop, for example, to unify the color in compositing. When making a colored layer in Photoshop, don’t just
Change Brush Opacity
Drag the black and white triangles until the spots disappear,
create a new layer and fill it with a color; instead, it’s better to
To set the opacity of a brush, press a number key on your
and click OK to close the Levels dialog. When you’re done,
use a Solid Color adjustment layer, Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid
keyboard. They’re in 10% increments, so just press the 1 key
press Q again to get out of Quick Mask, and you now have
Color. For starters, it will keep the file size smaller. Also, it’s
for 10%, the 5 key for 50%, etc. For 100%, press the 0 key.
a cleaner selection.
easy to change the color: Just double-click its layer thumbnail
If you quickly type in two digits, such as 2 and then 5, you can
in the Layers panel and choose a new color from the Color
dial in an exact opacity.
flexible. One other thing is if you increase the size of your
Force that Type Tool
one by choosing the layer style at the bottom of the Layers
document, the adjustment layer will continue to fill the page.
If you work with a lot of text in Photoshop, one thing you
panel (the ƒx icon). Don’t waste your time using the Distance
might find frustrating is adding new text to a text-heavy
dow to put it exactly where you want. Try it: It’s quite fun dragging the interactive shadows on your image.
Reset Your Filter When you’re in a dialog, it’s easy to get carried away with the settings; in fact, sometimes you get so carried away that you create a huge mess and can’t get out of it without exiting and going back in again—system abort! There’s a better way. If you hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, the Cancel button will turn into a Reset button. Click Reset for a mulligan and try again.
Stealing Presets from Lightroom Did you know that you can grab your presets from Lightroom and change them into Adobe Camera Raw presets in Photoshop? Start by applying the preset to an image in Lightroom and open it as a smart object in Photoshop
page. When you click with your Type tool, instead of cre-
Since last year’s update to Photoshop CC, you can now drag-
ating new text, it selects existing text. Annoying! If you’re
and-drop multiple layers and adjustment layers between
clever, you lock the underlying text layers so they won’t be
documents in tabbed view. Select the layers you want to
selected. If you’re super-clever, you’re reading this column
copy in the Layers panel and drag them up to the tab of
and about to discover a faster fix: Hold down the Shift key
the document to which you want to copy them. When the
while clicking with the Type tool and a new text layer will be
window opens, release the mouse button, and you’ve com-
created—every time!
The cool thing is that it doesn’t matter which image you use
Sharpen the Photo, not the Noise
image for any other purpose. ■
Lock Brush Settings
Have you ever sharpened a photo just to find that all you’ve
I use a Wacom tablet
done is drawn attention to the noise? Here’s the thing:
all the time and I love
Digital noise is usually more apparent in the shadows.
it. One thing I don’t
Before you go off and create some elaborate workflow
love is when pressure
with Blend If, let’s just use the tool Adobe has provided
sensitivity is turned on
us: Smart Sharpen. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen,
for brush size when
expand the Shadows/Highlights section, and fade the
I don’t need it. You can
shadows. Voilà! Done.
(Photo>Edit In>Open as Smart Object in Photoshop). Now, in Photoshop, double-click the smart object thumbnail in the Layers panel to launch Camera Raw. Go to the Presets tab, click on the Create New Preset icon at the bottom, name the preset, and click OK. That’s all you have to do. Done! for the preset to hitch a ride, because you aren’t using the
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can click-and-drag the shadow right in the document win-
Copy Multiple Layers Across Documents
pleted the move—no U-Haul required.
050
Dragging Shadows Drop Shadows are awesome and fun. You can easily apply
Picker. The adjustment layer isn’t only faster, but it’s more
and Angle controls, though. With the layer style open, you
turn it off, but as soon as you choose another
Cleaner Selections with Color Range
brush preset that, by
Color Range (Select>Color Range) is a great tool for making
default, has pressure
selections; you just click on a color and adjust the Fuzziness
sensitivity turned on for
to clean up the selection. The only thing is that sometimes
size, it comes back on
it leaves little unselected spots on the shadows or highlights
051 ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH
EVERY APP SHOWN HERE IS FREE. Nearly all are available on
device or Web browser to access your work). If you’re an exist-
both iOS and Android, and in the case of the former, they run
ing Creative Cloud member using our desktop software, you’ll
on both the iPhone and iPad. Each app requires an Adobe ID.
find a deep level of integration between mobile and desktop
If you’re using a free membership, this enables access to your
platforms and all of the files between them.
files and projects across devices (you can sign into any mobile
Adobe Capture CC Let’s start on the phone with an app that stands nicely on its own, but is pure magic for existing desktop CC users: Adobe Capture CC. We know that the iPhone is the most-used camera in the world and a pretty amazing one at that, but what if it could see more than just photos and videos? Capture does just that, extracting harmonious color combinations, vector shapes, powerful brush tips, and color “looks” from the world around us. There’s a lot to Capture, so let’s just look at one function. The Shapes section of Capture is one of the most magical and intuitive, but there are a cou-
Bryan O’Neil Hughes
ple of tricks. Here’s how it works:
STEP ONE: Upon login, go to the Shapes section of the app and
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select or create a library for your creations to live in.
DECORATIVE BACKGROUND IMAGES © ADOBE STOCK
053
iPhone vs. the iPad
Creative Cloud App
In moving from the iPhone to the iPad, I should explain why I use each. The iPhone is with me always. While lim-
The iPad also makes a fantastic portfolio, so
ited in size, it’s the most convenient platform in terms
before we delve into editing, let’s talk briefly
of its camera and connection (social). I can (and often
about access. The Creative Cloud app allows you
do) write long emails and edit photos on it. For editing,
to access any of the files you’ve created on the
given the choice, a larger screen would afford me more
desktop, your phone, or your tablet. This is a fan-
pixels and precision. The truth is, prior to the iPad Pro,
tastic way to share finished work with a client or
I was using the iPhone for almost all of my mobile editing.
to reference desktop files on the road. The app
But with more pixels than my Retina MacBook Pro and a
gives you much more than access, though; with
stylus (Apple Pencil) that “just works,” I’m shooting on
a long-press on a thumbnail, you can rename,
the phone and editing on the iPad Pro. Nearly everything
move, delete, and share files—any of these
I’m about to show you can be done on either your iPhone
changes will be reflected anywhere you find the
or iPad (no matter what size).
files (mobile, Web, and desktop). Beyond this powerful, standalone app, Creative Cloud content can be opened in all of the Adobe Mobile apps.
Step Two
Step Four
Step Five
STEP TWO: While the default is a live camera, remember that
the content is patiently waiting in your Libraries panel.) Suddenly
you can access any imagery from your camera roll, Creative
everything—menus, fonts, signs, logos, or textures—looks a lot
Cloud account, and more by simply tapping the thumbnail in
more interesting. My favorite use of this app is converting my
the lower right.
son’s napkin sketches into scalable, archival media.
STEP THREE: The trick to creating a great vector is tapping the main image window to preview the effect, then using the slider to adjust the intensity—be careful of shadows and overlapping
054
STEP FOUR: At the Refine screen, zoom in to remove (or add) any pieces of your vector.
STEP FIVE: Shape then magically resolves a smooth, infinitely scalable, vector shape from your live camera or pre-existing photo. These vectors can be exported and shared, so that they
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content.
can be used in any of the other Adobe mobile apps, or put to great use on the desktop. (When you launch Photoshop CC, etc.,
Colors, shapes, and brushes auto-populate the Libraries panel in CC Desktop apps.
Note the varied file types, which are all accessible anywhere
055
Lightroom Mobile Lightroom Mobile has evolved from a compan-
amount of Lightroom editing power, right there
ion application to Lightroom on the desktop to
in the palm of your hand—even features such as
a potent standalone, mobile image editor. Let’s
Dehaze. Whether you’re star-ranking, cropping,
look at both workflows and what they mean to
or deep in image editing, all changes are synced
anyone working with photos.
between devices and up to date, and everything
If you’re an existing Lightroom desktop user,
is natively nondestructive so that cropped B&W
Lightroom Mobile gives you access to any of your
you made for Instagram is always an uncropped
synced desktop files by using a proxy-based system
color image under the hood.
(smaller files that pass the changes between plat-
Okay, let’s say that you’re shooting more
forms) that allows you to edit, nondestructively,
mobile than anywhere else, and you’re new to
anywhere, anytime. Not only can you rank and
Lightroom. Here are a few tricks to get you pro-
sort on the fly, but you have access to an incredible
ducing gorgeous images, quickly! The Enable Offline Editing option copies files locally. Enable Auto Add will put any mobile captures in a Lightroom Mobile collection.
iPhone 6S capture meets Lightroom Mobile—basic tonal adjustments, a slight vignette, and Dehaze.
STEP ONE: Launch Lightroom Mobile and add selected photos
of you new to Lightroom, I suggest starting with one of the many
from your camera roll. These will come in as full-resolution files,
presets and then delving into Adjust. In addition to the default
automatically sorted by date and time.
Basic tonal adjustments, touching the far left icon in Adjust will reveal more powerful controls for Curves, Vignette, B&W,
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Dehaze, and more.
see three dots to the right of the collection. Pressing those dots will reveal some powerful controls, such as Enabling Offline Edit-
STEP FOUR: One last tip: If you’ve applied settings that you like,
ing, which is a must for travelers. This is an opt-in because pho-
don’t go through all of the steps again with the next (similar)
tos take up a large amount of space, but I cannot recommend
image(s). Scroll to the far right of Adjust and apply previous. You
this enough for those of you who fly or are often disconnected.
can also long-press on an edited image to copy settings, select another image, long-press, and then paste settings!
STEP THREE: While there’s incredible depth to the app, it’s designed to be consistent and friendly with the desktop. For those Familiar controls, such as Highlights, Shadows, Clarity, and Dehaze, mean that powerful editing can be done on your phone or tablet.
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STEP TWO: After you’ve added your files to a collection, you’ll
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MIKE HILL
Photoshop Fix
Desaturate. Again, adjust the brush dynamics as they work for you; I like small, soft brushes set to low Opacity. You can always brush
The idea with Fix was to bring Photo-
over again to build up the effect, not unlike a
shop’s retouching to everyone, every-
toothbrush in this case. Notice how close I’ve
where. That was a lofty ambition, but
zoomed to get the teeth, but not the gums. If I
I think the team went above and
did misstep, I have a Restore brush and several
beyond in their delivery. Not only can
levels of Undo to lean on.
Fix do a number of things that desktop users love, but it can also do a
STEP FOUR: You can use Color for digital
number of things that are unique to it.
makeup, changing the tones in a sunset, the
This is probably the most feature-rich
color of hair, or in this case, my eyes. My tip
1.0 app that we’ve ever turned out,
here is to select a very diluted version of
so I thought I’d take you through a quick portrait retouching. I found the
the color you like and set Opacity at 50% or A nice photo by my good friend Mike Hill, but man, I need help.
model of imperfection: me.
less. With one eye colored, you can see the
Step Three
difference before and after. The Color Picker shows how the selected color can be a bit misleading—remember Undo and Restore are
STEP ONE: When it comes to any brush-based
your friends.
operation, Fix becomes more precise the closer you zoom in—a great example of more pixels
STEP FIVE: Clearly, I could spend a lot more
equaling more precision. With overlays turned
time on my tired, old, face, but the last thing
on, you can see that I’ve quickly removed a
I’ll do is apply a vignette. Note that these can
number of blemishes. Note that this tool is a
be applied off-center and you can control the
hybrid, which can also act as the Patch or Clone
shape and even color of the overlay.
Stamp tool.
STEP SIX: Here’s the finished product shown STEP TWO: Skin smoothing is unique to Fix
with some of the options I now have. Send-
and works extremely well. My tip is to reduce
ing to Photoshop will translate the image into
the Opacity to 50% or less. Fix knows the differ-
Step One
individual layers, masks, and adjustment layers,
ence between skin and detailed areas like hair,
and a full-resolution PSD file will await you in
so even if I scrub hastily, the result is applied
Photoshop CC.
Step Four
only to the skin. While slightly cartoonish when Liquify is one feature that’s much more
zoomed in close, I trust that I can still smooth
fun to try than describe! Take a picture of
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yourself or a friend, bring it into Fix’s Liquify,
STEP THREE: You’ll notice that Light is the
and click on Face. Points are auto-magically
equivalent of Dodge and Burn, but this is a
placed on eyes, nose, chin, jaw, etc. I’ll
great example of how bringing Photoshop
warn you now, this is addictive! All opera-
power to touch means not only an entirely new
tions in Fix are layers under the hood. That’s
interface, but a friendlier and more familiar
what allows you to revisit and edit each at
language—no scary, dated terms here. I don’t
any point, except for Liquify, which flattens
need to adjust local tones, but I do want to
your image. For that reason, I recommend
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a bit more aggressively.
Liquifying first.
work on my teeth. For that I’ll use Color set to Step Two
Step Six
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Photoshop Mix Similar to Fix, the idea with Mix was to bring Photoshop’s powerful selection and compositing tools to everyone in a friendly way. Mix and Fix both take full advantage of the GPU and that’s at the heart of what now allows Mix to edit multiple layers and enjoy the magic of blend modes. Let me show you my favorite use of Mix: creating a multiple-exposure effect. Step One
STEP ONE: I began by isolating this image of my wife in Mix’s Cut Out. Selections are made much like Quick Select in Photoshop: You select the area that you want and then toggle to subtract and select the area that you don’t. With an image like this, I zoomed in and worked around the edges I wanted to isolate. This gave me more precision. While working an image like this is time-consuming, the process can yield very impressive results.
Step Four
STEP TWO: Next, I press the + icon to add the image I want to blend. This technique enjoys
nondestructive, feature multiple undos, and are deeply integrated with Apple
imagery that’s out of place, so I used a rotated
Pencil. Finally, all of these apps feature tutorials and guided edits within the app.
image of trains. Rotation and transform are simple pinch-and-twist gestures. The trick now is to drag the thumbnail of my wife onto the thumbnail of the trains and choose Copy Mask on
Step Two
Adobe Post
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trimmed in the shape of my wife in this image.
Post is a very recent release and is quickly rivaling Capture as my
STEP THREE: Here we see the effect with a
favorite iPhone app. (As of this writing, Post is only available for
Softlight blend and Opacity lowered to 82%.
the iPhone.) Post allows you to create very quick, beautiful, social graphics (text on images).
STEP FOUR: My last step was to add a third image with the + icon and use a Multiply blend
STEP ONE: Choose a photo from your local Camera Roll, Lightroom, or Creative
(see next page).
Cloud. Double-click to add text. Now, click Design to toggle through presets.
Like Fix, Mix files sent to Photoshop will honor
And here’s where it becomes fun: You can now select the text and customize it.
all masks, layers, and blend modes. Tonal adjustments will even come in as Adobe Camera Raw
STEP TWO: You can toggle Palette and multi-click on each color combination,
smart objects! You may have noticed that there’s a
but be warned, this will change the color of the text (which you probably just
common design language with Mix and Fix. They
changed). For this reason, I move to the Photo control and adjust its color, skip-
also share a project-based system that lets you
ping over the middle Palette control. Once finished, click on the watermark
begin on one device and continue on another
(#AdobePost), and you’ll be prompted with the option of removing the mark by
simply by signing in. Both apps are natively
Step Three
sharing with a friend.
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Layer. Having done that, we now see the trains
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Astropad
This app is a Labs effort, meaning it hasn’t officially been released.
STEP ONE: Work the tools left to right,
I’m a big believer in rethinking things for
You wouldn’t know it to use it, though; PaintCan works great on both
zooming in for detail as you go. I often fin-
touch, and delivering apps in a native,
the iPad and iPhone. Personally, I prefer it on the phone, as the UI is
ish with a broad brush around the edges.
approachable, task-based fashion. While
more simplified, and I enjoy working with mobile captures to dramat-
I rarely use the last two brushes.
some people ask for Photoshop CC running
ically change their look. My first tip for success here is: Choose a solid
COURTESY OF ASTROPAD
Adobe PaintCan
on an iPad Pro, I think they’d quickly find
photo to start with, as the composition needs to work for it to become a
STEP TWO: The final output has a white
that driving around a thousand menu com-
good painting. Next, I suggest first running it through Lightroom Mobile
border with an app credit; both can be
mands via touch would be maddening.
to amplify the Clarity (midtone contrast) and Vibrance. From here, the
turned off in the settings control, found
There is, however, a use case that makes
steps are simple:
in the upper left-hand corner of the app.
perfect sense, and (for me) it took a stylus to take this idea from being good to great. The combination of the iPad Pro’s 5.6-million pixel screen and a pressure-sensitive
Astropad being used on the iPad with FiftyThree Pencil
Apple Pencil, both talking to a tethered Photoshop CC, well, that’s pretty awe-
So that’s a brief introduction to just some of what Adobe is doing with
some. If you’ve ever used a Cintiq, this is
mobile. We’ve built a number of other truly awesome apps: Comp for lay-
similar: The iPad becomes an input device.
out (imagine thousands of gorgeous fonts on a touch device), Photoshop
Astropad is so Photoshop-centric that it
Sketch and Illustrator Draw for raster and vector illustration, and much
comes wired with common PS controls.
more. You can learn more, and link to the free downloads by following
Designed and built by former Apple engineers, the app is very nicely done. My
These apps are by no means static; we’re constantly updating fea-
only recommendation is to tether via USB,
tures and expanding platforms. I can promise you that all of this will
rather than Wi-Fi. I find the latter to be
continue to get more and more interesting. The feedback from our
spotty and have more latency, which likely
users has always been key to providing useful technology, so whether
has more to do with the connection than
you’re looking to learn more or just share your thoughts on how we
the app. For anyone doing serious illustra-
can do better, please feel free to reach out to me.
tion or retouching in Photoshop, Astropad
Thanks for reading. I can’t wait to see what you do away from your desks! ■
BRYAN O’NEIL HUGHES (
[email protected]) is Adobe’s Head of Outreach & Collaboration, closely working with product teams, partners, influencers, and press. Bryan spent 15 years on the Photoshop team, a decade as Product Manager (CS3–CC), and then drove the expansion to mobile with Photoshop Mix and Fix. Bryan is a regular keynote speaker, author, and 4X MAX Master—his videos have enjoyed more than 12 million views. He lives with his wife and two boys in the Santa Cruz Mountains where he’s slowly restoring an old truck. Bryan was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2011. Check out his work on Instagram at bhughes222 and Behance at Behance.net/bryanoneilhughes.
ALL IMAGES BY BRYAN O’NEIL HUGHES, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
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is definitely worth a closer look.
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this link: www.adobe.com/creativecloud/catalog/mobile.html.
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DesignMakeover JAKE WIDMAN
CLIENT
CLIENT
http://appcookieco.com
http://appcookieco.com
Appalachia Cookie Company
Appalachia Cookie Company
before
that’s how the cookie crumbles
the problem
David Holloman opened his Appalachia Cookie Company (http://
“‘We talked about not just bringing
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the brand to a more current state but also to a point where he could really expand and build on the brand style and brand system.’”—Bateman
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appcookieco.com) in the mountain town of Boone, North Carolina, in late 2013. The company started with baking cookies and delivering them to students at Appalachian State University, Holloman’s alma mater. Over its first year, the company saw dramatic growth, fueled in part by celebrity chef Paula Deen deeming the product one of the 10 best cookies in the country. By the beginning of 2015, though, Appalachia Cookie Company was also outgrowing their original logo and image. The company launched with a logo “born out of necessity,” says Holloman. “We were on a deadline to get something for the marketing materials.” They wanted something that said both “cookies” and “mountains,” and they came up with a drawing of cookies with bites taken out of them to leave jagged peaks. “It captured what we wanted,” says Holloman. “It looked good for the first year.” But it didn’t suit an ambitious, growing company. Holloman wound up chatting about his brand with Charles Bateman, who at the time was working for a marketing and advertising company called High Country 365. High Country was doing printbased marketing work for Holloman, and when the two men met one night at a bar’s trivia contest, they started talking about the company’s website and, soon, about the future of the brand. “We talked about not just bringing the brand to a more current state but also to a point where he could really expand and build on the brand style and brand system,” recalls Bateman. The discussions gradually moved from just rebuilding the website to ways to update the brand into something that could work across different print media, digital media, and retail applications.
makeover submissions
We’re looking for product packaging or labels, print advertisements, websites, and magazine covers that are currently in the marketplace for future “design makeovers.” So if you or someone you know has a design that you’d like us to consider making over, or if you’re a designer and you’d like to be considered for a future “Design Makeover,” send us an email at
[email protected]. (Note: This is purely a design exercise and the designers do not work directly with the client, create functioning websites, etc.) We’ll also be covering real-world makeovers in this column, so let us know if you recently had a branding makeover or if you did a branding makeover for a client that you’d like us to consider.
DESIGN MAKEOVER
When Holloman and Bateman first started talking about a brand refresh, Bateman hadn’t actually tasted any of the cookies. “I knew that the product was out there,” he recalls, “but I’d never sampled it. I think Dave’s done a great job in building a name, and he also does a good job of marketing to the right demographic. I have three children in the school system, and they’re all very aware of the Appalachia Cookie Company.” But Bateman felt that the logo the company had launched with was “a little too cartoony.” “We didn’t feel that it evoked enough of a brand that was going to appeal to a long-term consumer,” he says. He thought the company could build a brand and a business that could not just stand on its own but be taken national—not just the business model, but the brand itself. To that end, he thought it would be possible to reinvent the cookie as a lifestyle choice rather than just a product. “I wasn’t involved in the naming of it,” Bateman continues, “but I think that intrinsically there’s some power to the word Appalachia as opposed to Appalachian. Appalachian is more of a proper name for the mountain range, whereas Appalachia evokes more of the community spirit.” As a region, Appalachia is cohesive despite spreading over a large area and multiple states, Bateman believes, and it’s known for its entrepreneurial endeavors—like the cookie company. Bateman also wanted to come up with an identity that would be Southern without being too distinctly Southern. “The recent trend in graphic design has brought in a lot of retro styling themes and some elements that might be more easily recognized as Southern,” he says. “But we wanted something that was going to be bold without being overly bold, and be Southern without being overly Southern, and be very distinctive without being weird or too one-of-a-kind. We tried to find a balance.”
about the client
APPALACHIA COOKIE COMPANY Appalachia Cookie Company describes itself on its website as “a late-night delivery service located in Boone, NC.” The company specializes in offering cookies and brownies baked to order and delivered while still hot, in particular to hungry students at Appalachian State University. The website also promises, “We know that you can’t very well have cookies without milk, that’s why we also offer cold milk delivery as well as hot chocolate and freshly roasted, high-quality, fair trade, organic coffee.... We are proud to use high-quality ingredients and, when possible, locally sourced ingredients. Listen, we understand that sometimes you just want something sweet and don’t want to leave the house. Now, you don’t have to.” The company also does catering and has a mail-order service for nationwide delivery. Its stated commitment is “not only to bake and deliver a high-quality product to our customers but also to better the community in which we operate. A healthy community means a healthy business.”
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COLUMN
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DESIGNERS
DESIGNERS
www.charlesbateman.me / http://loganhalldesign.com
www.charlesbateman.me / http://loganhalldesign.com
Charles Bateman / Logan Hall
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the process
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DESIGN MAKEOVER
To carry out the redesign, Bateman enlisted the help of graphic designer Logan Hall. Hall knew Bateman from doing an internship at High Country 365 while he was in school, and even after the internship, the company continued to give Hall design work. For the Appalachia Cookie Company logo, “I gave Logan a lot of creative freedom,” says Bateman. “I would manage some of the strategic direction and give feedback on how we would work with a specific idea, but I gave him a lot of leeway with where we could build the brand, what color palettes we should use, and how we could start to apply the system to different applications.” Hall thought there were some good aspects to the existing logo, “but we wanted a more refined approach than that,” he says, “something that hinted at the ideals of Appalachian living and a high-end gourmet food brand without specifically referencing the mountain imagery. We were also going for kind of a hip, modern look because the demographic is primarily collegeage kids.” Hall’s initial approaches retained some kind of cookie image, but he wanted to pair it with type that had a script-like or handmade feeling. Holloman turned out to be an “exacting client,” in Bateman’s words. “He wanted to see iterations, he wanted to understand how the system could work.” So Bateman and Hall collaborated on putting together “mood boards” to communicate different approaches to the logo. “We sent over probably about 10 or so preliminary ideas to let Dave decide what direction he thought was working best,” recalls Hall. Holloman would respond with “I like it” or “Keep working on it,” and the designers would move on to the next round. Eventually they came to focus on a logo that was primarily a wordmark, without a lot of additional graphics.
Charles Bateman / Logan Hall
the result
The design team presented a lot of different typeface options, recalls Bateman, including scripts, sans serifs, and slab serifs. But they finally settled on one they felt had a rustic (but not too rustic) feeling. “For Appalachia, it’s kind of based on stacking logs,” says Hall. The design starts with the font Aventura—the one designed by Jimmy Kalman. (There are multiple fonts with that name.) “And then there’s a slab serif for Cookie Company,” Hall continues. That part uses the font Serific from Fontsite.
The new logo is slowly being rolled out across the product line. “People really like it,” says Holloman. “We’re still in the process of making the switch.” “The first thing I saw the new logo on was a printed circular that Dave sent out at the beginning of the new college semester,” says Bateman. “And I’ve seen it on a table tent and a tablecloth. The website was recently finished, near the end of last year.” The website still shows a box with the old logo at the National Shipping link, but that should change soon. Bateman also found the project personally satisfying. “I like working with brands that have a vision for the future,” he says. “And if anyone has that, it’s Dave Holloman. This redesign was an example of being able to start from a small, ‘Hey, we might want to update our website’ and evolve it to, ‘Hey, we’re going to overhaul your entire brand system and bring you forward to your next growth phase.’”
about the designers CHARLES BATEMAN / LOGAN HALL Charles Bateman has more than 14 years of sales, marketing, and management experience in the marketing, advertising, and financial industries. As the director of operations for Main Street Marketing, he managed all of the firm’s print, Web, and event promotion projects. He also oversaw the building of the firm’s online media outlet, High Country 365, including its website and mobile apps. Charles is currently the principal of Bateman Consulting (www.charlesbateman.me). Logan Hall (http://loganhalldesign.com) is a freelance graphic designer based in Boone, North Carolina. He has a BFA in graphic design from Appalachian State University and specializes in branding, identity development, illustration, and motion graphics. Music is also a huge part of his life—he plays guitar, bass, and mandolin and has played in bands since he was 16. ■
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DESIGN MAKEOVER
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>>LIGHT IT
› › LIGHT IT
I
ncreased bandwidth, less expensive memory, powerful processors, a host of mature software titles, competitive data rates, and robust cloud-storage solutions have all helped usher in a mobile photography landscape that now includes file formats such as TIFF and PSD, once the sole province of the desktop. The march forward is ongoing and promises to continue unabated—great news for the photographer on the go! Lighting manufacturers have done a great job keeping pace with the never-ending quest for increased portability, bringing exciting, first-of-their-kind, lightweight, battery-operated, TTLcapable, and wireless radio-enabled strobe and handheld flash products to market. These, along with a plethora of high-quality portable lighting modifiers designed specifically for photographers on the go, represent a revolution in location lighting and its possibilities. Whether you’re shooting with handheld flash or small strobe, there are exciting developments and new products in each arena. The gear landscape is vast, so in this article I’ll focus only on the tools and techniques with which I have personal experience. I’ll explain how and why I use these tools and share my two favorite, no-fail location lighting patterns. Hopefully, you’ll gain some insight into the exciting world of portable lighting. I’ll be talking specifically about off-camera flash, otherwise known as OCF. It’s how I work 99.9% of the time and it’s what I recommend to anyone serious about lighting work. If you’re not already using OCF, start now! This topic alone could fill an entire book, but suffice it to say that getting your flash off your camera will dramatically improve your results with artificial light. Don’t be afraid, just jump in!
exposure modes, flexible groups, and super-simple interface. (If you’re interested in learning how to unleash the power of this exciting system, be sure to check out my forthcoming class on KelbyOne. Yep, a shameless plug!) I’ll cover a few of my favorite Speedlite modifiers below, but first here are my favorite ways to work with the 600EX-RT. As I mentioned above, OCF is the way to go. Once off camera, I vertically orient and manually zoom the flash head to 200mm. I do this when I’m working with bare flash. This does two things: It creates a beam of light that more closely matches the vertical shape of the human body, and it creates a tighter pool of light with a natural, in-camera fall-off. (That means less vignettes needed in post!) If you’re working with a light modifier, you’ll want to let the shape of the modifier dictate orientation, and zoom your flash head to a value that provides enough coverage for that modifier. The 600EX-RT also provides a lot of flexibility with respect to exposure modes. I’ll discuss when it’s best to use manual, TTL, or High-Speed Sync (HSS) below. If you’re a Nikon shooter or you’re using an older Canon flash and you’re interested in wireless radio-based communication between your off-camera flash(es) and your camera, look no further than the PocketWizard FlexTT5 system (http://www.pocketwizard.com). These rock-solid radio triggers are reliable and provide both manual and TTL capabilities.
HANDHELD FLASH
IN JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS, THE POWER, WORKFLOW, AND CAPA-
BILITIES OF MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY HAVE EXPERIENCED NOTHING SHORT OF A MAJOR GROWTH SPURT, GOING FROM PROMISE TO
REALITY. FROM STANDALONE MOBILE APPS TO THOSE THAT SYNC WITH THEIR DESKTOP COUNTERPARTS, MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY HAS COME OF AGE.
By Michael Corsentino
Canon’s 600EX-RT Speedlite has built-in radio-enabled wireless communication, an easy-to-understand streamlined interface, mix-andmatch exposure modes, groups, high-speed sync, and much more.
This cross-lit image perfectly illustrates the benefits of radio-enabled communication between flashes and triggers. Because radio signals are unconstrained by line-of-sight requirements, I’m able to easily hide and trigger an accent light placed behind the wall, camera right. This is something not possible with optically based systems.
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LET’S GO
Michael Corsentino
PORTABLE LIGHTING:
Let’s start with handheld flash. There are a ton of great options out there but my personal hands-down favorite is the Canon 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT Speedlite system (http://www.usa.canon.com). This first-of-its-kind radio-enabled wireless flash-and-controller combo is itself a revolution in handheld flash technology and usability via its built-in radio, powerful features, mix-and-match
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LIGHT IT › ›
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Profoto’s B1 delivers an impressive 500-Watt seconds of power and hundreds of pops at full power. This compact battery-operated mono head offers a digital interface, wireless control, and Manual, TTL, and HSS exposure modes.
Profoto’s B2 packs a lot into a small package. This 250-Watt seconds battery pack and head system offers Manual, TTL, HSS exposure modes; wireless control; a digital interface; and a line of OCF light modifiers.
Elinchrom’s new ELB 400 portable battery pack and head system delivers 400-Watt seconds of power, a digital interface, wireless control, and numerous flash modes not found elsewhere, such as stroboscopic, delay, and others. With two heads available, one for action and one for slower work, and Manual and HSS exposure modes, there’s something for everyone.
Cross light: This pattern is simply two lights (or one light and the sun) facing each other along the same axis with the subject sandwiched between them. This arrangement provides a key light with directional light and an accent that adds dimension. Rotate this pattern around your subject, placing the key light on the right or left, with the accent light always on the opposite side.
Underexposing the ambient light by one or two stops and using flash to properly expose your foreground subject is a great way to create dramatic portraits.
LIGHTING PATTERNS Here are my two favorite, no-fail, mobile lighting patterns: cross light and wedge light. They’re both two-light patterns; however,
Here’s an example of cross lighting. I’m using two Canon 600EX-RT Speedlites. The accent light has a 1/2 cut of CTO (color temperature orange) gel on it to mimic the setting afternoon sun and warm up the model’s hair.
Cross lighting doesn’t always have to be created with two flashes. Here I’m using one Profoto B1 as my key light and on the opposite side I’m using the sun as my accent light to create a highlight on my model’s hair.
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The three exposure modes I use most often are Manual, TTL, and HSS, in that order. For some reason, Manual exposure mode strikes fear into the hearts of burly men. I don’t get it; it couldn’t be simpler. Do you want more light or less light? That’s Manual in a nutshell. Dial it up or dial it down—it’s that simple. Manual is best when distances between your subject and flash are
When it comes to creating dramatic portraits with moody skies and ominous clouds, HSS makes it easy. This is because HSS allows the use of shutter speeds beyond your camera’s top flash sync speed or X Sync rating, typically around 1/160–1/200. With HSS, you can use shutter speeds all the way up to 1/8000. This makes the use of flash and wide apertures in mixed-light situations easy. Remember, shutter speed controls the amount of ambient light in an exposure. The ability to dramatically reduce the ambient light allows you to underexpose the background, sky, etc., and use your flash to expose your foreground subject properly. It’s important to think about flash and ambient light as two independent light sources, each controlled separately. I typically underexpose the ambient by around 1–2 stops for
given the right conditions, you can use the sun as the accent light. Both can be used with bare flash or modifiers, or a combination of both bare and modified flash. So no excuses; get out there and try these lighting patterns. You’ll be glad you did!
Michael Corsentino
EXPOSURE MODES
HIGH-SPEED SYNC
this kind of look. Creating dramatic portraits is easy using this method. (I cover this in detail in my class on KelbyOne. Another plug!)
Michael Corsentino
Handheld flash units are great, but when you need more power, nothing beats small strobes. The last few years have seen amazing developments in this category. Profoto’s B1 an B2 (http://profoto.com/us/home) and Elinchrom’s Ranger Quadra and new ELB 400 battery packs (http://www.elinchromus.com) deliver between 5 and 10 times as much power as a Speedlite; sport powerful, lightweight lithium batteries; and provide flash counts reaching into the hundreds at full power, and thousands at lower power. Add to this powerful and easy-to-navigate digital interfaces, wireless radio controllers, and highly portable form factors, and you have a winning combo. There are some important differences between each system that are worth noting. Profoto’s B1 and B2 are TTL-capable while Elinchrom’s Quadra and ELB are not. I’ll cover exposure modes below, but this honestly isn’t a deal breaker because I find myself using Manual the majority of the time. The Quadra and ELB offer 400-Watt seconds of output over the Profoto’s B2 at 250-Watt seconds. Profoto’s B1 is a powerful contender at 500-Watt seconds and it’s a tool on which I often rely; however, it’s the heaviest and largest of the group. Each tool offers different capabilities and trade-offs; it’s up to you to make the call about which one fits your needs.
constant. TTL, on the other hand, is perfect when the distances between your subject and flash are in flux. There’s a misconception in some circles that the use of TTL forfeits the user’s creative control; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Through distance and other calculations, TTL does the heavy lifting for you, providing an exposure that’s a solid starting point. After that it’s up to you to make the exposure your own using a mixture of ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and flash exposure compensation (FEC). Keep these simple guidelines in mind in ambient light and flash scenarios: Shutter speed controls the amount of ambient light contributed to the exposure; and aperture and FEC control the amount of flash contributed to the exposure. Aperture is nuanced as it governs both ambient light and flash, so you’ll want to lean more heavily on FEC to fine-tune your flash output when using TTL.
Michael Corsentino
SMALL STROBE
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Wedge light: This pattern is created by placing two lights in a pie slice or wedge shape relative to your subject. These lights can then be rotated around your subject to introduce more or less shadows.
Michael Corsentino
one catchall modifier, make it a convertible umbrella such as the Lastolite 8-in-1 Umbrella. One quick tip with modifiers: Most softboxes and octabanks have a central hot spot. This is where the light is the strongest and arguably the least pleasing. Working with the light at the edges of these modifiers, you’ll get a much more pleasing result. This is called “feathering,” and I recommend it.
In this image, I’m using two bare Speedlites, each manually zoomed to 200mm and vertically orientated in a wedge lighting pattern to create a key light on the model’s face and an accent light on her hair.
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(http://www.lastolite.com). I use them constantly. They extend from 29–91" and have a 5/8 stud at the end.
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More often than not, one light will do the trick. Here I’m using one Profoto B1 modified with an Elinchrom 27.5” Rotalux Softbox Deep Octa. I love this highly portable modifier for its beautiful quality of light and the variety of ways it can used.
DO A LOT WITH A LITTLE I’ve covered a lot of gear, but keep in mind you don’t need a king’s ransom’s worth of equipment to get started with mobile lighting; quite the contrary, you can accomplish a ton with one light and one modifier. In fact, I recommend starting this way. Working with one light keeps things simple and allows you to really get to know each piece of equipment and what it’s capable of before you add the next. Build your lighting kit slowly and deliberately, picking up new pieces only as needed. When you do, make it your business to explore all the ways to use your new acquisition. This way you’ll be able to squeeze every last bit of utility out of each of your tools. ■
Portable light modifiers: My go-to favorite light modifier is Elinchrom’s 27.5" Rotalux Softbox Deep Octa. It’s highly portable, extremely versatile, and delivers a beautiful quality of light. Other favorites include Lastolite’s Ezybox and Strobo line, Expo Imaging’s Rogue system (http://www.expoimaging.com), and Chimera’s Octa 30" Collapsible Beauty Dish (http://chimeralighting.com) —it’s killer! You can’t beat a beauty dish when it comes to creating soft light with just the right amount of contrast; however, beauty dishes have traditionally been anything but portable. This 30" collapsible version changes all that and does double duty as an octabank when needed. If you’re just starting out and want
Combining bare and modified flash is a great way to vary the quality of light used in an image. Here I’m using a Canon 600EX-RT modified with a Chimera Octa 30” Collapsible Beauty Dish for a soft yet contrasty key light and another 600EX-RT, bare and zoomed to 200mm, to eliver a punchy accent light on my model’s hair.
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Light poles: When light stands aren’t allowed or you’re on the go, check out Lastolite’s Non-Rotating Extending Handles
solutions such as CamRanger (http://camranger.com) and Manfrotto’s Digital Director (http://www.manfrotto.com) allow you to easily use your iPad as a large field monitor for real-time proofing and camera control. [For more on shooting tethered to Lightroom, see “Maximum Workflow,” p. 104.—Ed.]
Michael Corsentino
Handheld flash meter: Don’t even get me started! The reasons why you need a handheld flash meter could fill an entire article; but trust me, despite what you may have heard, this is an indispensable tool. My meter of choice is the Sekonic L-758DR (http://www.sekonic.com).
MOBILE TETHERING Everything looks great on your camera’s small LCD screen; it’s only later when viewed on a larger monitor that unseen mistakes become painfully visible. For this reason, I’m a huge proponent of
Michael Corsentino
MUST-HAVE GEAR
Reflectors and diffusers: These are easily the least expensive but most useful pieces of gear you’re likely to get your hands on. Pick up a 30" Lastolite TriFlip 8-in-1 Reflector Kit and a 30" Silver/White Lastolite TriGrip Reflector. With these you’ll be able to diffuse sunlight, soften and broaden flash, and bounce light wherever you need it.
shooting tethered in the field and studio. Great wireless and wired
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GETTING STARTED IN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
Left: My first astro image, a full moon shot in 1980 through a telescope with a 35mm film camera. Right: A full lunar eclipse shot in 2010 with a DSLR through a 400mm lens and a teleconverter.
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Astrophotography doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Most of us can drive an hour to get away from city-light pollution and take photos of bright objects, such as the moon, simply by placing a cell phone camera on the eyepiece of a telescope.
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BY MIGUEL A. OLIVELLA, JR.
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY IS MY PHOTOGRAPHIC ESCAPE. AS A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS PHOTO
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DSLR image of the Andromeda Galaxy
FREEZE ATHLETES IN MOMENTS IN TIME. FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, MY RELAXATION HAS
Naturally, the quality of the image won’t be comparable to what’s possible with more sophisticated gear, but there’s a lot of astrophotography that can be accomplished with everyday photography equipment. Beyond that, the sky is literally the limit, depending on your interest and budget.
BEEN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY; THE YANG TO MY YIN AS I SPEND HOURS IN MY OBSERVATORY DURING NEW MOON WEEKENDS IMAGING CELESTIAL TARGETS.
KEEPING IT CHEAP AND SIMPLE Inside my dome observatory during an imaging run
Star Trails
Photographing star trails is one way to engage in astrophotography with basic photography gear. All you need is a camera body capable of long exposures (Bulb mode); a wide-angle lens; a tripod; and a moonless, clear night at a location free from as much light pollution as possible.
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GRAPHER, I’M PAID TO RUN AROUND AND
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An intervalometer is well worth the investment, but not essential. This device will automate the imaging process by allowing you to program shutter speeds, number of exposures, and exposure intervals. Once the imaging sequence begins, it does the rest. All that’s left for you to do is replace the camera’s battery if and when needed. For circular star trails, locate Polaris (the North Star) and compose the image with Polaris in the frame. All other stars will appear to revolve in a circle around Polaris.
Perseid meteor shower composite
Eiffel Tower star trails composite
I created my Eiffel Tower composite using a Nikon D600, a 15mm Sigma f/2.8 fisheye, a Phottix TR-90 Intervalometer, and a tripod. The star trails consist of twenty-four 15-minute exposures at ISO 1600, f/2.8, and then layered together. The Eiffel Tower image was shot at f/2.8, ISO 1600, and 1/40.
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The technique used to shoot star trails can also be used for capturing images of meteor showers. Because of the sporadic appearance of meteors, numerous exposures are necessary to capture enough light streaks in the sky. To create a meteor shower in one image, shoot as many images as you can, select the ones with light streaks, and then layer them together while masking out everything but the light streaks. My Perseid meteor shower composite (see next page) was created with a Nikon D800E and a NIKKOR 17–35mm f/2.8 lens piggybacked atop my Celestron NexStar 8SE computerized telescope to minimize blurry stars. Absent a motorized piggyback telescope, keep exposures to a maximum of 30 seconds. I used ISO 1600 at f/2.8 with my intervalometer set to 60-second exposures every 3 minutes for 6 hours on two successive nights. I added a few longer exposures of the sky to capture the Milky Way. The foreground image was shot during the day and then converted in Photoshop to simulate night, adding a faux-light painting effect.
The Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way is another astrophotography image that can be captured with basic photography gear. At a clear, dark site on a moonless night, locate the Milky Way in the night sky. A quick search on the Web should help you find it. The best views in the Northern Hemisphere are from February through September.
The Milky Way
Using a tripod-mounted camera, start with ISO 3200 at f/2.8 with a 25-second exposure. Next, shoot several over- and underexposed images that bracket this exposure. Images shot with a shutter speed in excess of 30 seconds will show some blurring in the stars, but no worries. Finally, in Photoshop, layer your images one on top of the other. Mask out the poorly exposed portions from each image. Do the same for any blurry stars from the slow shutter speed images. Then, merge your layers and make final processing adjustments.
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Meteor Showers
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TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Solar System Imaging: The Moon Imaging the solar system is a natural progression from wide-angle sky images, and an easy way to delve deeper into astrophotography.
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DEEP SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER For deep-sky targets, such as nebulae and galaxies, a motorized mount is a must. There are two types: Altitude-Azimuth mounts (Alt-Az) and German Equatorial mounts (GEM). The GEM is the best choice for astrophotography. Once the mount is polar-aligned, lengthy exposures can be taken without any target movement. Expect to pay $500–$1,500 for a quality GEM that can handle a DSLR with long lenses and/or many telescopes. To ensure smooth operation while imaging, the mount’s rated weight capacity must be twice the weight of the equipment you intend to use, so purchase wisely.
The Moon: Nikon D300, NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8 lens with 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 200 @ f/16 and 1/125. Background: Nikon D3S, NIKKOR 17–35mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 3200 @ f/2.8 and 25 seconds.
Saturn: Nikon D3S, Celestron NexStar 8SE telescope, and TeleVue 5x Powermate. Ninety images @ ISO 800, f/10, and 1/2.5 to 1/6. Star field: 17–35mm lens @ f/2.8, ISO 3200, f/2.8, and 25 seconds.
Because the targets are bright, exposure times are short enough to prevent blurry star images. A tripod as a base will suffice and a full-frame DSLR will yield better images than cropped sensor bodies. Added cost will come into play if you lack a long focal length lens. After setting up, find the moon in your viewfinder. Shutter speeds will typically be 1/250 for a full moon, 1/60 for a quarter moon, and 1/15 for a slivered crescent moon at ISO 400 and f/16. Once you have the moon composed in the viewfinder, shoot quickly because the moon won’t stay in your frame for long.
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Going from moon to planetary photography requires a step up in equipment. To avoid blurry, faint images of planets, you’ll need a telescope that has a focal length of 2000mm or more to achieve the necessary magnification for these targets. An investment of $500 or so in a used 8" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope (SCT) will give you the necessary focal length. Celestron and Meade have been making SCT telescopes for years and they’re plentiful on the used market. You’ll also need a T-mount attachment for your camera to connect a DSLR camera body to the back of the telescope. Finally, a Barlow lens is a must. Barlow lenses increase magnification without affecting f-stop value. They come in various magnification factors from 2–5x, and while you can scrimp on these lenses, the only ones I’d recommend are TeleVue Powermates. These are optimized for photography and are well worth the price tag of approximately $200 for a new one, less for used ones. The imaging process is the same as the one described for shooting the moon, with one exception: because of the slower shutter speeds, use a remote shutter release or the camera’s selftimer feature to trigger the shutter. You should Jupiter: Nikon D3S, Celestron NexStar 8SE telescope, and TeleVue 4x Powermate. also lock your mirror in the up position. This Ninety images @ ISO 800, f10, and 1/10th to 1/30th. will minimize camera vibration, which produces blurry images.
My imaging telescopes. Left: Celestron NexStar 8" SCT with Alt-Az go-to mount; Center: Takahashi TSA-102 4" refractor with Celestron CGEM equatorial mount; Right: Astro-Tech 12" Ritchey-Chrétien truss tube telescope with Takahashi EM-400 equatorial mount.
Learning To Walk Deciding how to shoot deep-sky targets will determine equipment selection that will, in turn, dictate the size, quality, and detail of the targets being imaged. Wide-field images can be captured with a DSLR, a modestly priced 80mm (3") refractor telescope, and a Celestron Advanced VX GEM mount (30-lb load capacity). Not counting the camera, your investment would run approximately $1,500– $2,000 by the time you add desirable accessories such as dew heaters and an autoguider. This photo (right) is an example of what’s possible with this setup, including the accessories. I shot a total of 160 images at various shutter speeds ranging from 10–45 seconds at ISO 1600, and 10 images with 1–3 minute exposures to layer in a sky
Wide-field image of the nebulae in the Orion constellation. Orion’s Belt is the diagonal line formed by the three blue stars on the left, ending with the blue star in the center nebula.
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Solar System Imaging: Planets
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saturated with stars at the end of the Photoshop process. Before wrapping up, I shot ten “flats” at each shutter speed, twelve “darks” at each shutter speed, and ten “bias” frames for the pre-Photoshop processing in software that “stacks” the images together. “Flats” are images taken by covering the end of the lens with a white T-shirt and shining a flashlight on it. They’re used by the stacking software to correct any difference in brightness in the main images. “Darks” are images taken by covering the end of the lens with the lens cap. Half of the darks are taken at the beginning and the other half at the end. Darks correct the dark signal flaws in image sensors. “Bias” frames are images taken with the fastest possible shutter speed the camera can shoot and the lens cap on. They contain only the noise generated by the camera’s electronics on the sensor. This noise is subtracted from the data in the darks to identify the true sensor noise. These extra images are time-consuming but they’ll allow you to create the best possible final image.
Sprinting For comparison, below are examples of the Horsehead Nebula and the Great Orion Nebula through my 12" Astro-Tech Ritchey-Chrétien truss tube telescope, Takahashi EM-400 mount, and a QSI 683 mono CCD camera with a full complement of filters.
Learning To Run Adding more sophisticated equipment, such as a bigger telescope and mount, will yield larger, more detailed images of your targets. For comparison, here are images of the nebulae in Orion taken through a 4" Takahashi refractor on a Celestron CGEM mount. The equipment investment is now in the $3,500 (used) to $5,000 range (new). The targets are much larger in the frame with more detail.
Horsehead and Flame Nebulae with a 12" Ritchey-Chrétien telescope
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Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in Orion
Running Man and Great Orion Nebulae
Great Orion Nebula with a 12" Ritchey-Chrétien telescope
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The telescope has a 2,432mm focal length at f/8—a bit shorter and faster with the flattener—and 12" light-gathering capability. The CCD camera has a full-frame 8.3MP sensor and a built-in cooling mechanism that will cool the sensor down to –40° Celsius to minimize noise. Finally, the Takahashi mount slews and tracks like a fine-tuned sports car. Here are more examples of what this rig can do.
Tadpole Nebula
Cone Nebula (left), Christmas Tree Nebula (to the right of the Cone), and Fox Fur Nebula (upper center)
Sombrero Galaxy
Sculptor Galaxy
Trifid Nebula
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Eagle Nebula
Whirlpool Galaxy
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Elephant Trunk Nebula
Lagoon Nebula
Moon
Veil Nebula
Astrophotography with friends: My 10' dome observatory (center) between a friend’s roll-off roof observatory (left) and another friend’s pod (right) at the Chiefland Astronomy Village in Florida.
If you’ve been looking for a way to expand your photographic horizons and if you enjoy capturing images of spectacular objects, astrophotography may be a new interest for you. You can do it alone or add a wonderful social element to the activity by doing it with friends. Either way, the images that are possible are beautiful and limited only by your interest. ■ Miguel (Mike) Antonio Olivella, Jr. is a professional photographer based in Tallahassee, Florida. Mike has been a featured photographer for Florida State University Athletics (for more than ten years), Unconquered Magazine, and a stringer for two international wire services. His sports photographs are routinely published worldwide. Mike’s wildlife, travel, landscape, and astro images have garnered numerous awards and have been exhibited in various solo and joint gallery exhibitions. You can see more of Mike’s work at www.baselineshots.com, on Google+ (Mike Olivella), or on Facebook (Miguel Antonio Olivella). ALL IMAGES BY MIQUEL A. OLIVELLA, JR.
Scott Kelby
Scott Kelby
Sean Arbabi
Sean McCormack
Rob Sylvan
Scott Kelby
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Tips Tricks
BY SCOTT KELBY
Questions Answers
Dynamic Range
BY SEAN ARBABI
processing realistic starscapes
Maximum Workflow
BY SEAN McCORMACK
tethering in lightroom
Under the Loupe
B Y R O B S Y LVA N
leveraging slideshows
Lightroom Workshop
BY SCOTT KELBY
dodging, burning, and adjusting individual areas of your photo
Lightroom Workshop
dodging, burning, and adjusting individual areas of your photo BY SCOTT KELBY
Everything you do in the Basic panel affects the entire image. If you drag the Temp slider, it changes the white balance for the entire image (it’s a “global adjustment”). But what if you want to adjust one particular area of your image (a “local” adjustment)? Then you’d use the Adjustment Brush, which lets you paint changes just where you want them, so you can do things like dodging and burning (lightening and darkening
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Excerpted from The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC Book for Digital Photographers
different parts of your photo).
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step one:
Here’s the original image—one of the amazing ceilings at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Italy. It needs a lot of work. The bright sunlight coming into the dome fooled the camera’s metering system (and, apparently, the guy holding it, as well. Ahem…) and underexposed most of the image by quite a bit. That’s the key—there are parts that are too bright, and areas I wish were brighter. This is where the Adjustment Brush, which lets you selectively dodge (make certain areas brighter) and burn (make certain areas darker), totally rocks. It was born for this stuff, but I don’t use it until I at least get my basic exposure right, so let’s do that first. In the Develop module’s Basic panel, let’s tweak the sliders to get us at least in the ballpark.
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step three: The Adjustment Brush is found in the toolbox right above the Basic panel (it’s the tool on the far right, shown circled here), or just press the letter K on your keyboard. When you choose it, an options panel pops down (seen here) and you’ll see that you can paint using nearly all the same controls you have in the Basic panel, except that Vibrance isn’t there. (Rats!) But, at least we have other cool stuff, like noise reduction and moiré removal, so it kinda makes up for not having Vibrance. Kinda. With the Adjustment Brush, you choose which adjustment you want to paint with by dragging one or more of those sliders, and then you just start painting that adjustment right on your photo.
tip: changing brush sizes To change your brush size, press the Left Bracket key to make it smaller or the Right Bracket key to make it bigger.
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Since it’s way underexposed, let’s start by dragging the Exposure slider to the right to help the overall brightness. The light coming in from the top of the dome and the windows is pretty bright, so let’s lower the highlights in those areas by dragging the Highlights slider to the left quite a bit. Finally, I’d like to see more detail in the shadow areas, so let’s open up the Shadows a nice bit, too (as shown here). Okay, it already looks a lot better, but the areas right around the dome are still pretty dark, and the gold ceiling area on the left is too bright. The ceiling area at the top center is too bright, too, and so are the columns on either side of it. As is often the case, there are some areas that need to be brighter and some that need to be darker.
step four: Since you don’t actually see the effect until you start painting on your photo, how do you know how far to move the sliders? Well, this is going to sound weird, but you don’t. You literally just make a blind guess at how much you think you might want of a particular adjustment, and then you paint over the area you want to adjust. Then, once you can see the adjustment, you go back to that slider and tweak the amount until it looks right. The good part is you get to make your final decision after you’ve painted over the area, so you can get it right on the money. For example, here I (1) got the brush, (2) dragged the Exposure slider to the right a bunch, (3) painted over the dark area on the right side of the dome to brighten it, and then (4) went back to the Exposure slider and lowered the amount until it looked right to me.
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step two:
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step five:
Once you stop painting, you’ll see that a little white circle with a black dot in the center appears on your image right at the spot where you started painting. (If you don’t see the black dot, look down in the toolbar under your image and make sure Auto, Always, or Selected appears after Show Edit Pins. If you don’t see the toolbar, press T.) That’s called an Edit Pin (shown circled here in red), and it represents the change you just made to the right side of the dome. As long as you see a black dot in the center, it means that adjustment is “active,” and if you start painting again right now it just adds to what you’ve already painted. So, let’s continue painting around the rest of the dark areas surrounding the dome (as shown here, where that area is much brighter now). By the way, that little Edit Pin automatically hides as you paint.
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step six: When you’re done bright-
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ening around the dome, and you now want to adjust a different area (for example, let’s say you want to darken [burn] the gold ceiling on the left center of the image, so it’s not too bright), you can’t just drag the Exposure slider over to the left and start painting. That’s because your Edit Pin for the dome is still active. Moving the Exposure slider will make the area you painted around the dome darker. You have to tell Lightroom to “Leave what I did around the dome alone. Now, I want to paint a totally separate adjustment, somewhere else in the photo, with different settings.” You do that by clicking the New button at the top of the Adjustment Brush panel. Now, you can lower the Exposure amount and start painting over that bright middle-left ceiling area without disturbing your original brightening of the area around the dome. Each time you want to paint with a different set of adjustments (so that area is controlled separately from the last area you painted), click the New button.
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step seven: Okay, after you click the New button, go ahead and lower the Exposure amount and the Highlights amount, and start painting over that middle-left gold ceiling area, so it’s not so bright. I figured we’d take down the highlights at the same time since there’s a bright light fixture right in the center of that ceiling area. When you’re done painting, move your cursor out of the way (drag it over the panels on the right side), and now you’ll see two Edit Pins: (1) which is now just solid gray—there’s no black dot in the center because it’s not the active pin—and represents the area brightened around the dome, and (2) which represents the area you just darkened (the gold ceiling on the middle left). It has a black dot in the center of the pin because it’s still active, meaning if you move any sliders now, it will affect that gold ceiling area.
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tip: deleting edit pins To delete an Edit Pin, click on it then press the Delete (PC: Backspace) key.
step eight: If you want to go back and work on the area around the dome, all you have to do is click on that gray pin. It becomes the active area, and all the sliders automatically update to the last settings you used on that pin, so you can continue right where you left off. It’s not unusual for me to have five or six Edit Pins in a photo (occasionally more) because I needed to adjust five or six different areas. Now, what do you do if you make a mistake or paint over something that doesn’t look good? For example, look at the light fixture in the center of the gold ceiling area on the left. It looks gray, which looks weird (light isn’t usually gray). To remove the adjustment over just that light, pressand-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, which switches you to the Erase brush. Now, just paint over the light fixture and it erases the adjustment in only that area, and the light looks normal again.
Above: Darkening the gold ceiling also darkened the light fixture, making it look gray
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step nine: Before we wrap up erasing, two quick things: (1) as with the brush, you have complete control over how your Erase brush works in the very bottom section of the Adjustment Brush panel. Click on the word Erase (as shown here) and it displays the settings for the Erase brush. You can choose the Size, Feather (how soft the edges are), Flow (whether it paints a solid stroke at 100% opacity or whether you want it to build up as you paint), and you can turn on/off Auto Mask (we’ll talk about that next). (2) You have two regular brushes to choose from, as well, called “A” and “B,” and you can choose their settings. I usually make my “A” brush have a soft edge and my “B” brush have a hard edge (I lower the Feather amount to 0), so if I run into a situation where I’m painting along a wall or other area where a soft edge looks weird, I can toggle over to my “B” brush using the Backslash (/) key on my keyboard.
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step ten: I’m going to switch to a
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new image for just a moment to talk about Auto Mask (you turn this on/off near the bottom of the panel). When it’s on, it kind of senses where the edges of things are and keeps you from accidentally painting where you don’t want to. Take a look at the image on top, here. I want to darken the background, but when I paint on it near the guard’s arm, it also paints over his arm. However, look at the image at the bottom. When I turn Auto Mask on, it senses the edge and lets me paint over the background next to his arm without spilling over onto it (pretty amazing!). The trick is knowing how it works: You see that little + (plus sign) in the center of the brush? That determines what gets painted, and any area that + travels over gets painted. So, as long as that + doesn’t go over his arm, it won’t paint over it, even if the outer rim of the brush extends way over onto his arm (as shown here). As long as you keep that off the arm, it leaves that area alone.
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step eleven: Before we get back to working on our church ceiling, I wanted to mention one more thing about Auto Mask. When it’s turned on, the brush runs a bit slower, because it’s doing “math” as you paint (determining where the edges are). So, if I’m painting over a big sky or wall or other area that doesn’t need the brush doing fancy math, I turn it off so things go faster. Okay, back to our church. I think that, at this point, you’ve got the idea: In a lot of images, there are some areas you want brighter and some you want darker, and this brush not only lets you do that, but you can add any of the other sliders, as well. This is awesome because you can brighten an area and make it sharper, or darken an area and make the color more saturated, too (great for skies). Let’s go ahead and darken and brighten a few more areas here (like darkening the dome at the top center. Then, I’d brighten the area along the bottom of the image, darken the two columns up top on the sides, and even lower the Highlights in the dome itself to bring back some detail there. You can see I’ve got nine Edit Pins now).
tip: how do you know if you’ve missed a spot? Press the letter O on your keyboard to show a red mask over the area you painted on the active pin (to see it temporarily, move your cursor over the pin). If you missed an area, paint over it; if you spilled over onto something you didn’t want to, press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and paint it away.
step twelve:
Okay, now, how about a finishing move that I usually use in landscape photos to add an extra “kiss of light” to highlight areas in the image? Click the New button, make your brush pretty large, increase the Exposure to about 1.00, and then click once over highlight areas as though little beams of light are hitting them. Here’s a before/after.
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step thirteen: By the way, dodging and burning isn’t just for cathedrals and it isn’t just for travel and landscape photos. I routinely use it for portrait work, and here’s a typical example: when you’re lighting an outdoor portrait and the flash not only lights your subject, but spills over onto the ground and lights that, as well (as seen here, which looks lame because our goal is to light the subject’s face the brightest, and then have fall-off so the light gets darker and darker as it moves down your subject until it fades away. In short, it shouldn’t make it to the ground).
Above: You can see the light from the flash spilling onto the ground.
step fourteen:
When this happens, here’s a quick fix: get the Adjustment Brush, lower the Exposure amount, and paint over the ground until you don’t see the flash spilling onto it, which gives you a much more professional look.
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tip: moving your adjustment
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In Lightroom CC, you can now drag a pin to move it to a new location once you’ve copied-and-pasted the Adjustment Brush edit onto other photos, like similar ones from the same shoot. If you didn’t use a tripod, chances are either you or your subject moved a tiny bit from shot to shot. Now you can drag the adjustment a tiny bit, too! To return to the way clicking-and-dragging on a pin used to work (when you dragged over the pin, it moved all the adjustment sliders in tandem instead), just press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, then click directly on the pin and drag left or right. ■
Above: Here’s the photo after lowering the Exposure amount and painting over the ground. When it gets close to her boots, turn on Auto Mask, so it doesn’t darken them (unless you want that). If you did darken them, I would hit the New button, then don’t lower the Exposure quite as much, and then paint over just her boots separately.
ALL IMAGES BY SCOTT KELBY
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A well-done slideshow has the power to emotionally engage your audience beyond what’s possible by viewing static still photos alone. While Lightroom’s Slideshow module is by no means the most full-featured product for creating a slideshow, the fact that it’s integrated into the Lightroom workflow does give it a major advantage over competing products. With the introduction of Lightroom CC/6 we gained the ability to add multiple music tracks, a way to sync slideshow transitions to the beats in the music, a method to preview the slideshow at different aspect ratios, an automated pan-and-zoom effect to liven up the display of still photos, and a number of smaller tweaks to improve the experience. My family recently said a sad farewell to our beloved dog of (almost) 16 years. Sixteen years that spanned a significant part of my marriage and the entirety of my 14-year-old son’s life to date. As you can guess, our dog’s life was well documented, and these photos told not only his story, but the story of our growing family from our first home to our first move, to our son’s arrival, to his growth as a young man, and every trip, snowstorm, naptime, and playtime along the way. I gathered up a collection of these photos and decided to create a slideshow to share with family and friends who knew and loved
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him, and in so doing gained a new appreciation for this part of Lightroom. If you’ve written off the Slideshow module or simply not used it at all, you might want to give it another chance. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the experience.
start with a collection While not required, it can make the start of the process a lot simpler. I created a collection for this project and then set it as the Target Collection by Right-clicking the collection and choosing that option from the contextual menu. From there, you can go through your Library and add photos (and videos) to the collection by selecting them and pressing the B key (shortcut to add to Target Collection). I set the sort order of this collection to Capture Time, which made sense for this project, but you can change the sort order via the View>Sort menu (or use the Sort menu in the Library Toolbar). You can even drag-and-drop photos while in Grid view or the Filmstrip to create a custom sort. This can always be changed later, if needed. From there, click the Slideshow button in the Module picker to start creating the slideshow.
leveraging slideshows B Y R O B S Y LVA N
A slideshow can be a simple yet powerful means to display a collection of photos in a variety of ways. Lightroom CC/6 introduced some welcome new tools to the Slideshow module that really improve the final product.
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Under the Loupe
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templates are starting points The Template Browser (below) contains a number of basic Slideshow templates that can serve as a way to jump-start your project. There’s probably not one that is perfect for your needs, but all are entirely customizable, so choose one that looks the closest, and start tweaking. Before you start to modify the layout, you might consider the answers to a few questions, such as: Do you want to display text along with your photos? Do you want to include an identity plate? What do you want for a background? Will there be an intro and/ or ending screen in addition to the photos? Do you have the music tracks in a supported format? The answers to these questions will determine the choices you make in the panels on the right side of the Slideshow module.
be aware of your content
this creation a meaningful name, choose where it’s located, and configure additional options. These output module creations have unique icons displayed in the Collections panel that can be double-clicked to jump right to the module where they were created for ease of access.
metadata or can contain custom text. The key is to select (or create) the right template for your needs. Here’s how:
adding overlays
step two: Click the drop-down menu that appears to
I rarely get questions through the Help Desk (now Advice Desk on KelbyOne) about how the layout controls work in Slideshow, as they’re very what-you-see-is-what-you-get intuitive; however, there are a few things I think that are worth clarifying. The first is that in the Overlays panel you’ll find one of the very few (and very small) differences between the Mac and Windows versions of Lightroom. You’ll only find the drop shadow controls for overlays on a Mac. I don’t know why, but I do hear from Windows users wondering where those controls have gone, so I just want you to know that they don’t exist. When it comes to overlays, you can add an Identity Plate, a watermark, rating stars, and text overlays. The one type of overlay that constantly confuses people is the text overlay, so let’s take a closer look at how this works. The text overlay is driven by text templates that can pull text from each photo’s
select from a selection of pre-loaded templates, or choose Edit to open the Text Template editor. Let’s choose Edit to see how templates work.
step one: Click the ABC button in the Toolbar to access the text templates.
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Before you go too far in your customization choices, it’s a good idea to click the Create Saved Slideshow button in the upperright side of the interface. This creates a special type of collection that will remember not only all of the photos included in the slideshow, but all of your customization tweaks as well. This will open the Create Slideshow dialog where you can give
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You may have started a collection, as I did, with the intention of including all photos in the collection in the Slideshow; however, there are plenty of other scenarios where maybe you’ll start by selecting an existing collection of photos, and you only intend to use a subset of those photos in the actual slideshow. There’s an easily overlooked Use option in the Toolbar that, by default, will be set to All Filmstrip Photos. Click that Use drop-down menu or go to Play>Content, and choose from All, Selected, or Flagged Photos based on what best fits your project.
create a saved slideshow
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step three: The Text Template Editor is very similar to the Filename Template Editor in that it uses tokens to pull different types of data from the photo’s metadata, or custom text, or you can type right into the template itself. Click
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the Preset drop-down menu to look at how the preinstalled templates were made. Clear the template window and create your own template using any combination of tokens that suits your needs. Once you’ve included the desired tokens, click the Preset drop-down menu and choose Save Current Settings as New Preset, and give the template a meaningful name. For this project I’ll use a template that pulls the caption from the photo’s metadata. Note: Use the Caption or Title preset if you want to display unique text for each photo in your slideshow, then enter a caption or title via the Metadata panel in the Library module.
step four: Position the text overlay by clicking-and-dragging it to where you want it to display. A sticky anchor point will appear to lock onto various corners and midpoints on the photo or background, which determines where the text overlay will display as the slideshow progresses. I chose a midpoint on the background to keep it consistent. Resize the text overlay using the resize handles on the overlay itself. If no text appears on your slide, make sure you’ve entered the text in the photo’s metadata. The font color, opacity, and face can be configured in the Overlays panel. Deleting any overlay is as simple as selecting it and pressing the Delete key.
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add music Music is key to creating an emotional connection with your audience. We now have the ability to add up to 10 tracks, though one or two will probably suffice for most projects. The first step is to make sure you have the music in one of the supported file formats (.mp3, .m4a, or .m4b), and the rights to include said music based on where you’re going to display the slideshow. There are a number of affordable outlets for licensing music files such as Triple Scoop Music and Song Freedom (to name a couple), but do your research before sharing your slideshow with the public. Click the switch on the new Music panel to enable audio to be included. Once enabled, click the plus sign (+) in the panel to navigate to the music files and select them. The Music panel will display the duration of each track as well as the total for all tracks. You can re-order the tracks within the panel by dragging and dropping them into the desired order. Select a track and click the minus sign (–) to remove it from the project.
control playback
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The Playback panel got the most attention in this latest version. Some of the sliders were given more intuitive names, which is great. The most notable new features are the ability to Sync Slides to Music and the Pan and Zoom function. You can check Sync Slides to Music if you want the slide transitions to be based on the beats in the music instead of a set time interval. Note: When checked, any included video files will only display the poster frame in order to keep in time with the transitions, so not a good option if you want video clips to play. The Fit to Music function (see above right) has been improved, and does a better job of actually fitting the slideshow to the music duration. Set the Crossfades time first, then click the Fit to Music button to set the Slide Length. If your slideshow does include video, you’ll want to experiment with the Audio Balance slider to find the right mix of audio from the video clip and your music soundtrack. The new Pan and Zoom function, more commonly known as the Ken Burns effect, can add a little (or a lot of) motion to your stills as the slides transition through. This setting requires experimentation to decide if it’s right for your slideshow, but
my experience says less is more as you cannot set it per slide. You can use the Draft or Standard setting on the new Quality drop-down menu at the bottom of the panel as you’re experimenting with settings to speed up playback. When the slideshow is ready, you can play it from inside Lightroom with music or you can output it as a video, PDF, or a series of JPG slides. Video is the only export option that includes the music. I find exporting as a video gives me more playback options even if I’m going to run the slideshow from the same computer. It’s nice to have choices. ■
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The name “tether” conjures up images of ropes and lines with a water skier. It’s not too far from the truth with Lightroom tether. You take a compatible camera, connect a suitable wire between it and the computer, and turn on tethering. As you shoot, each photo will be imported into Lightroom and appear onscreen.
why tether? Why would you even want to tether? An image may look great on the back of your camera, but tethering allows you to see the full-resolution RAW file on a large screen, so it’s easier to see focus issues, motion blur, or composition errors that could ruin the shot. If you look at behind-the-scenes shots or videos of any medium to large production shoot, you’ll see someone manning a laptop or computer, checking the files coming in, and providing feedback. You’ll often see the client standing at the computer too, so there’s no guessing if they’re happy with the results. Just because you see tethering used in larger shoots, though, shouldn’t stop you from using it for smaller
Another great, must-have gadget from Tether Tools is the JerkStopper. The JerkStopper attaches to the camera’s strap holder and to the TetherPro cable, allowing you to create slack on the cable between the JerkStopper and the camera’s USB connector. This means that if someone trips on the cable, it will pull the camera rather than break the USB connection.
productions. Here’s how to get tethering.
practical tether First, get a suitable cable for your camera. For a full list of compatible cameras, go to http://helpx.adobe.com/
tethering in lightroom BY SEAN McCORMACK
“Maximum Workflow” continues to look at hardware and software to help your workflow in Lightroom, and in this issue, we’re going to discuss
third parties offer software for Pentax, Samsung, Olympus, and Fuji (X-T1 only). By way of example, I’m tethering with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, which has a USB Mini-B socket, so a USB to USB Mini-B cable is required. While you can get long, basic USB cables from just about anywhere, I highly recommend a TetherPro cable from Tether Tools for the following reasons. First, you’ll avoid a trip hazard—because of its color. Many years ago while using a standard black cable on location, I managed to catch the cable and send a 5D Mark II flying to the ground.
tethering, which is the process of connecting your
I saved the camera with my foot, but the USB cable broke
camera to a computer in order to view images as
the USB connection inside the camera during the fall. The
they’re shot. It can be cumbersome to set up, so
on set that you’re connected, helping you to avoid tripping
bright orange of a TetherPro cable acts as a visual reminder
it’s not as frequently used as it could be, but we’re
on the cable. Second, TetherPro cables are thicker than nor-
here to show you how to get it up and running in
And third, they’re available in long lengths, which you gen-
Lightroom, and some items that make it easier.
mal USB cables, making them hardier with a better signal. erally need for tethering.
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Maximum Workflow
lightroom/kb/tethered-camera-support.html. Additionally,
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Looking for an all-in-one solution? Tether Tools make
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step one: Go to File>Tethered Capture, and click Start
step two: This opens the Tethered Capture Settings dia-
this extends the dialog to include a list of available collections.
Tethered Capture.
log. Each tethered shoot is referred to as a “Session.” Give
As this is a fresh catalog in this example, only the Quick Col-
you can mount your computer right beside your camera on
the session a name. You can opt to turn on Segment Photos
lection is available.
your tripod for immediate feedback. It’s more than usable
by Shots, which will open an additional dialog after closing
on location as well.
the current dialog where you can name the shots.
table mounts to go on lighting stands or tripods. This means
step five: To make a new collection, click the Create Collection button. Give the collection a suitable name, and click
lightroom tether
Create. This new collection will be added to the list as the
You can start Lightroom tethering with or without a camera
chosen collection. It also appears in the Collections panel.
attached. While most cameras will tether without a memory
You can opt to put it inside a collection set, but you’ll need
card, some (like my 5D Mark III) need a card in the camera. If
to have the collection set created in advance (one of Light-
in doubt, use a card, and it can also act as a backup, which is
room’s foibles). You can also make this new collection the
always a good idea. If you have images on the card already,
Target Collection.
start Lightroom tether before attaching the camera to prevent Lightroom from opening the Import dialog.
step three: Naming allows you to choose from the standard filename templates, as well as allowing you to edit your own naming templates. You can have the Session Name used as part of the file naming, though you should use a uniform
step six: Finally, you can add a Metadata preset contain-
naming system on all your files.
ing information relevant to the shoot, such as copyright in-
step four: Destination allows you to select a location for
images using Keywords in the Information section. Click OK
the files on any connected drive. Click the Choose button to
formation, etc., as well as apply generic tags that suit all the to start tethering.
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change it. Next is Add to Collection, a newer feature. Clicking
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If you’re in Loupe view, each image will display, replacing the previous one. A good tip is to press F to turn on Full Screen view, especially for clients. The image fills the screen and hides Lightroom completely. Press F again to return to normal viewing. Here’s a quick look at the Grid from a recent shoot where I was using tether so students from a makeup class could see photos of their models.
step seven:
If you selected to Segment Photos by
Shots, then you’ll see the Initial Shot Name dialog. Type a name to begin.
these settings to each consecutive image that comes into Lightroom. 4. T he Close dialog button will quit tethering. 5. This is the Session Name from the Tethered Capture Settings. If you had Segment Photos by Shots selected, this name would also appear here. 6. Click the Shutter button to take a shot remotely. 7. The Settings button opens the Tethered Capture Settings dialog.
The tether modal dialog will appear. Let’s look at its parts: Now you’re ready to begin. (It takes far less time to get going era Detected if it can’t find one. 2. This displays the current camera settings. You can only view them; you can’t change them in Lightroom. They › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
can, however, be changed on camera.
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3. Here you can change the Develop Settings by choosing a preset. Alternatively, you can edit the first image that comes in and then choose Same as Previous to copy
than it did to read this far.) Start shooting. As you shoot, you’ll see “Transferring Files from Camera” appear in the Module Picker at the top left of Lightroom.
troubleshooting Tether in Lightroom is great, but sometimes it can just stop for no reason. Once upon a time, the camera going to sleep would break tether and only restarting Lightroom and reconnecting the camera would work. If it stops for you, here are a few things to try. If a step doesn’t work, try the next one! One of those steps will usually get tethering going again. 1. First, turn the camera off and on again. 2. Next, disconnect and reconnect the camera. 3. Restart tethering. 4. Restart Lightroom, start tether, then connect the camera. 5. Finally, if all else fails, restart your computer, restart Lightroom, start tether, then connect the camera again. Tethering is a really useful tool and a great timesaver for knowing you have the shot. Tools such as those from Tether Tools also make the process far easier. ■
ALL IMAGES BY SEAN McCORMACK
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1. This shows the currently connected camera, or No Cam-
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Dynamic Range
SEAN ARBABI
processing realistic starscapes
It never gets old staring up at the night sky. The mind wanders, the imagination runs wild, and the shifting stellar canopy that never seems to change feels like an old friend joining you through life’s journey. Constellations were the first calendar tracking of the seasons, as well as a latitude indicator for travelers navigating north and south on our planet. For every outdoor photographer comes a challenge to capture this often awe-inspiring event that occurs with every turn of our globe.
If you prefer to add detail and color, moonlight can illuminate your landscapes; however, as a light source, it can also potentially obstruct stars. Clear skies are another option, although some clouds can add a dynamic touch depending on the scene. Finally, understanding where the Milky Way is located and which way the stars move depending on the direction you face—north, east, south, or west—can also assist your nocturnal compositions. From Dark Skies to The Photographer’s Ephemeris, there are sites and apps to assist with all of these decisions, helping you determine optimal shoot dates and locations.
Step Two: Documenting scenes of nature can be tough, but fumbling around in the dark to catch a night scene in all its glory is yet another challenge. Make sure to include a headlamp for hands-free camera operating, and an extra flashlight as a backup or to paint the landscape with a touch of artificial light for additional detail. Also essential are a remote shutter release and tripod, a sturdy easy-to-use model to keep your camera locked in position for long exposures. Creating a pleasing composition is another hurdle to overcome, so previsualizing your final scene can give you an idea of what lens you choose, direction to face, and what you may or may not wish to include in the shot. Reviewing your scenes on your LCD screen after the capture can help you straighten horizons or force you to recompose to include important elements. Focusing is yet another issue to tackle since the accuracy of the infinity mark on most lenses is off just enough to blur stars, and autofocus fails in such low-light levels. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness for a few minutes, enable manual focus,
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This issue, “Dynamic Range” focuses on creating stunning nightscapes with the goal of realism for the final image file. This not only comes from your experience of how these scenes appear through a pair of human eyes, but also how contrast, exposure, light, and detail manifest during these hours of darkness. We’ll discuss how knowledge of the night sky can give you a solid starting point, some of the challenges you may face documenting a extremely low-lit scene, and how to process your image file to maximize the detail and tones captured.
use the infinity mark on your lens as a starting point, then look through your viewfinder to fine-tune focus. The LCD can then come into play to determine how accurate you are with sharpness by reviewing the image and zooming into specific star clusters. Live View may also help here, digitally zooming into a few stars for tack sharpness through manual focus, avoiding any bokeh effect. A tripod, remote, and LCD preview for sharpness were all used for this image of Half Dome on a moonless night, captured with a 70mm lens, f/2.8 for 8 seconds using ISO 6400.
Step Three: When operating in extreme low-light situations such as star-filled skies, meters begin to fail; therefore, critical exposure settings and camera functions must be considered to capture the detail needed for postprocessing. Shooting in RAW should be a given because of the amount of detail and latitude the format offers. Using a solid DSLR or mirrorless camera system with manual controls is another good tool to have. The better your image sensor is with ISO, the less noise and more detail captured. Exposure charts combined with past trial-and-error experience can give you the proper settings needed since some shutter speeds may take as little as 8 seconds, or run for hours in bulb mode. A larger aperture setting, low f-stop number, is preferred since the amount of light is so low; exposures can lengthen greatly if you attempt to capture more depth-offield through a smaller aperture. ISO, the measurement of your image sensor’s sensitivity to light, for the most part should be set above 1000 but below 6400 since noise build-up can create a nightmare with star detail. Higher ISOs also keep stars from becoming trails, due to the rotation of the earth, by ensuring shorter exposures.
Step One: Before you become a photographic night owl, planning your outing can give you a good head start. Travel to an area far away from any major city, often referred to as a green zone. Artificial city light can flood skies, casting an orange glow of light pollution, diminishing the visibility of starlight and Milky Way detail. A moonless night is another option to consider for better star detail, as seen in this 13-second exposure of Yosemite Falls.
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The continued advancement of image sensors has taken nighttime photography to a whole new level, diminishing digital noise and upping light sensitivity, while vastly improving the dynamic range: the stops of light a digital image sensor can cover, from the brightest highlights to the deepest shadows. These innovations have given stargazing image-makers extra latitude to create some wild scenes of the dark expanse.
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Step One
Step Two
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tions panel of the Develop module: turn on Enable Profile Corrections to correct for lens vignetting or distortion, and Remove Chromatic Aberration, which is often seen in the stars in the corners of the composition. [KelbyOne members may download the file used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
One general guideline to avoid star blur is known as “the 500 rule.” Simply divide 500 by the focal length of your lens, and that equals the longest exposure, in seconds, you can use before the stars start to trail in your shot. For example, using a 20mm lens on a full-frame camera, divide 500 by 20, giving you 25 seconds, the longest time you can expose before the stars appear to move. If you plan to capture star trails through a long exposure, a lower ISO gives you much less noise, and the light absorbed by the lengthy time exposure can capture the detail needed. Wide-angle lenses work best to cover larger portions of the sky, but any lens can be used; just recognize that the longer the lens, the more opportunity for camera shake, as well as a smaller aperture that’s tougher to see through, requiring careful focus and a higher ISO setting. Faster lenses, ones with larger maximum apertures, are also a benefit since the wider openings make it easier to see through the viewfinder, allow more light to hit your sensor, and give you the option to use lower ISOs for less noise. To balance artificial light with ambient starlight, the artificial light you provide, or that’s provided through another source, must match closely to the extremely dim ambient light level of the stars. Go outside that limited range and your exposure is lost due to the difference between an extremely bright artificial light and low-level starlight combined, hence an unrealistic final scene or a ton of post work to recover the image. Waiting for the campfire to lower to a flicker was the key to this image, while artificial light from a headlamp was used to add a touch of detail to the glacial erratic sitting below a star-filled sky. The RAW file was exposed at f/4 for 15 seconds using ISO 1600 with an 18mm lens.
Step Five: Next, use the sliders in the Basic panel of the Develop module to recover highlights and open shadow detail. For this specific image, an extra step is taken by creating a Mask Overlay using the Adjustment Brush (K) to recover highlight detail and correct white balance in the tent, while not affecting the pinpoints of light in the sky. In this example, I’ve turned on Show Selected Mask Overlay so you can see where I’ve painted with the Adjustment Brush. The letter O will turn the overlay on and off.
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Step Six: The second Mask Overlay using the Adjustment Brush (K) covers the upper part of the scene to color-correct the sky. Click the word “New” at the top of the Adjustment Brush panel to add a new pin to your image. That way you won’t affect the Adjustment Brush settings that you just applied to the tent. If your image only contains a silhouetted landscape with the stars above, this step isn’t necessary. A Fluorescent white balance is often a good place to start, neutralizing greenish skies while offering a cooler sky tone. You can also adjust the white balance manually in the sky using the Temp and Tint sliders in the Basic panel. Skies are rarely green (not including the northern lights) and, if you’re a good distance from any metropolitan area, shouldn’t appear as any other hue besides a deep blue, falling off to a slight orange near the horizon. It’s how we see most night skies, outside of a stark black tone. Therefore, balancing your sky to match this tone helps assist the lifelike aspect for the final scene.
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file to work with, various postprocessing techniques in Lightroom CC can help you stretch the capabilities of your image sensor, pulling out extra detail while correcting other imperfections. Using presets to fix night scenes may not be the best option, as every situation and exposure requires specific recovery and adjustments. Take this Yosemite image of a tent below the Milky Way. The balance of the tent glow and the nighttime sky are a bit high in contrast, but not enough to lose detail in either area. Initial adjustments are done in the Lens Correc-
Step Five
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Step Four: Once you have a solid RAW
Step Four Step Six
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Step Seven: To maintain realism, there should be a balance between what we can see with the naked eye and what an image sensor can record; however, at night when the sensor can retain so much more detail, collecting the light over a longer exposure, some artistic license can be taken to enhance certain areas. The goal is to bring out important detail while maintaining a strong sense of a nighttime feel through dark tones, solid contrast, and a proper exposure. Adding contrast to the night sky brings out the detail in the disk-shaped glowing band of the Milky Way. You can either use the Lights slider in the Tone Curve panel of the Develop module, or make adjustments by adding another Mask Overlay with the Adjustment Brush using the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, and Whites sliders in the Adjustment Brush panel.
Step Ten: Once your image has the look and feel you desire, move into Photoshop (Command-E [PC: Ctrl-E]) to make any final touch-ups and save a PSD or TIFF version of the final mas-
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
ter file. Be subtle in your approach and remember, photography, as an art, can be creative and subjective, but when the aim is for a natural feel, nonfiction is better than fantasy. ■
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Step Nine: Once you’ve made all your major adjustments, use Lightroom CC’s new-andimproved Noise Reduction sliders in the Detail panel of the Develop module. Reducing digital noise created from higher ISOs removes the gritty look of the final scene, but use these sliders cautiously so you don’t remove many of the stars in the sky. Zoom in to 1:1 or 2:1 in the Navigator panel at the top left, adjust the sliders, then turn the Detail settings on and off with the toggle switch at the top left of the panel to compare the before and after.
Step Nine: Before removing noise
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Step Eight: In any night scene, you should maintain a deep black area, what we use to call D-max in film and print processing. The Histogram can be a good tool to check this. Just recognize that you’ll have quite a bit of clipping, loss of detail in the shadow areas, and this is okay. We’re working with a night scene and if you attempt to show all detail in all areas, this can result in a bizarre unrealistic-looking starscape. Knowing when and where to enhance and brighten detail is a critical step toward this realistic approach.
Step Nine: After removing noise Final
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Questions Answers
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SCOTT KELBY
When I’m painting over large areas with the Adjustment Brush, sometimes the brush really lags. Is there any way to speed this up?
A lot of times when I shoot products on a white background, the white areas have a bluish tint to them. What’s an easy way to get rid of this?
Here’s one thing that can make a big speed difference: Turn off the Auto Mask checkbox in the Adjustment Brush (K) panel. When you’re painting over a large area with Auto Mask turned on, it’s trying to detect the edges of things, so it’s doing all this behindthe-scenes math, and that slows the brush down (and gives you little gaps sometimes as well). So turn it off when you’re well away from areas you don’t want to paint over, and this will really speed things up a lot. What I do is keep Auto Mask off nearly all the time, and only turn it on when my brush gets near the edge of an area I don’t want to accidentally paint over. Give that a try—I think you’ll see an immediate speed boost.
As long as the rest of the image doesn’t have a lot of blue in it, you can try this technique I use when I run into this situation: Go to the HSL panel, click on the Saturation tab, and click on the Targeted Adjustment Tool (TAT) in the top-left corner of the panel. Then, click-and-drag downward on the white background to remove the bluish tint. It will automatically select the right sliders to reduce that blue tint.
In the Print module, in the Print Job panel, how come when I drag the Brightness or Contrast slider, I don’t see anything change?
Lightroom has a Quick Collection that lets you add any image to it by clicking on the image and pressing the letter B. Some folks use this as a temporary collection while sorting images, but if you’d prefer that a different collection be used when you press the letter B, you can set any collection to be your Target Collection (instead of the Quick Collection). Just Rightclick on the collection that you want to use in the Collections panel and select Set as Target Collection. Once you do that, clicking on an image and pressing B will send your image to the collection you targeted, instead of to the Quick Collection.
It’s because it’s not actually changing the brightness or contrast of the image file itself —it just applies those adjustments to the version of the image it sends to the printer, so that’s where you see the brightness or contrast changes appear. It takes a test print or two to find out the right amount of Brightness and Contrast to match what you see onscreen to what comes out of your printer.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
Here’s how I use a Target Collection: When I’m doing a studio shoot, I create a new collection, set it as my target collection, and sync that collection to Lightroom Mobile on my iPad. Then, I hand my iPad to the art director or client on the set, and when I take an image during the shoot that I want the client to see, I press the letter B, and the image goes into that collection and over to the client on the iPad. That way, they only see the images I want them to see, and not ones where my subject didn’t have a great expression, or where I messed up the composition, or when the flash didn’t fire, etc.
ment. If you look near the top-right corner of the Adjustment Brush panel, you’ll see a little black disclosure triangle (boring official name) that’s aiming down, which indicates it’s already displaying (or disclosing) all those sliders. Click on that disclosure triangle, and it tucks all those sliders away, but it reveals something new: an Amount slider that lets you adjust the overall amount of all the sliders at the same time. Dragging it to the left will proportionally reduce all of the applied settings at once.
I keep hearing about new features being added to Lightroom Mobile (like Split Toning and Tone Curve), but I can’t seem to find them. Where are they hiding? In Lightroom Mobile, tap on the Adjust icon, then tap once on the little lens opening icon on the far left of the screen, and a pop-up menu of Develop module features will appear. That’s where you’ll find Split Toning, Tone Curve, and more.
Sometimes the area that the Spot Removal tool (Q) picks to sample is way off, and the results look terrible. I know I can drag the sample circle to a new location and it will sample from there instead, but is there a better way to do this, or is it just one of those things you have to do manually?
What is a Target Collection and why would I use it?
There’s a way to have Lightroom automatically pick a different sample spot for you—just press the Forward Slash key on your keyboard and it picks a new spot. You can press it multiple times until you see a result that looks better than the original one it chose.
If I’ve used the Adjustment Brush on an image, and I’ve applied a number of different sliders (for example, Contrast, Highlights, Whites, Blacks, and Clarity), and later decide that the entire adjustment was a bit too strong, is there a way I can reduce all those sliders by the same percentage amount, or do I have to drag them one by one? Actually, there’s a way you can move them all in tandem so it’s more like turning down the intensity of your entire adjust-
Is there a way to pick which image appears as the one that’s visible in an image stack? Absolutely. Start by clicking the two lines next to the image thumbnail in Grid view (G) to expand the stack so you can see all the images under that one thumbnail. Now, move your cursor over the image you’d like to have as the cover thumbnail for the stack and its number in the stack appears up in the top-left corner; for example, if you have 16 images in your stack, and you moved your cursor over the ninth image in the stack, you’d see a white box appear that says “9 of 16.” Click once directly on that number and that image now becomes the thumbnail for the stack when it’s collapsed. ■
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TipsTricks One of the cool things about Lightroom and Photoshop is that, since they’re both Adobe products, they “play well together.” Because of this, it’s easy to take a file from Lightroom into Photoshop for additional editing. In this month’s column, we’ll take a closer look at the details of the back and forth between Lightroom and Photoshop.
SEÁN DUGGAN
into Photoshop, the title tab for the file may still show the file extension as the RAW file from where it originated, but at this point it’s no longer a RAW file.
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When you open a RAW file from Lightroom to Photoshop using the Photo>Edit In>Edit in Adobe Photoshop command (Command-E [PC: Ctrl-E]), Lightroom will apply any adjustments you’ve added in the Develop module and process the RAW file into Photoshop. Note that when the file is opened
Once you’ve taken a file from Lightroom to Photoshop and back, you’re faced with a fork-in-the-road situation. Will further editing only be done in Photoshop, or will it be a combination of both newer Lightroom edits and additional Photoshop edits? The main thing to understand is that there are some limitations to how the Photoshop edits (especially layers) and any new Lightroom edits can work together.
reopening a psd, tiff, or jpeg file into photoshop
The file will appear in Photoshop in the resolution, bit depth, and color space you’ve specified in the External Editing Preferences (Lightroom [PC: Edit]>Preferences). When you save the file in Photoshop (using the normal File>Save menu command, or the Command-S [PC: Ctrl-S] shortcut), it will be saved in the file format specified in this dialog, and placed back into the same folder as the original RAW file. (There’s also an option in the External Editing Preferences to stack this edited file with the original.)
alternate paths into photoshop
to photoshop and back with raw files
There are also options for Merge to Panorama in Photoshop and Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop. Lightroom CC also offers its own commands for panoramas and HDR that don’t require Photoshop, and you can find those under Photo>Photo Merge.
the further edits fork in the road
why make the trip to photoshop? Lightroom is a very capable program in terms of applying “global” adjustments that affect the overall image, as well as targeted “local” modifications that affect only specific parts of a photo. These changes are nondestructive and can be modified or undone at any time, which is one of the great things about working in Lightroom. In my own workflow, a trip to Photoshop might be triggered because I need a much more precise and specific local edit than I can create with Lightroom’s local adjustment tools, or perhaps I need to apply more intricate and complex retouching, or I might want to use the photo as part of a multi-image composite. For some people who are new to Lightroom, but already well acquainted with Photoshop, a trip into that program may occur simply because they’re more familiar with Photoshop. My approach is to do as much as I can to the file in Lightroom and then bring it into Photoshop for those adjustments or modifications that I just can’t do in Lightroom, such as the precise layer mask seen here.
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Depending on what you want to do with your file, there are a few other choices available in the Photo>Edit In menu. Open as Smart Object in Photoshop will do just that, extending all the nondestructive flexibility of smart objects (far too numerous to list here) to the file when it arrives in Photoshop. If it’s a RAW file, you’ll be able to re-edit any Lightroom Develop adjustments by double-clicking the smart object layer thumbnail and opening the embedded RAW file into Adobe Camera Raw. Open as Layers in Photoshop is one of my favorite commands and is for opening multiple files as layers into one document. This is ideal for when you want to create a multiimage composite and have Lightroom and Photoshop do the basic layer setup for you.
When you choose to open a non-RAW file (i.e., a TIFF, PSD, or JPEG) into Photoshop using the Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) shortcut, a dialog appears that asks you what you want to edit, and it presents you with three possible options. These options include an explanation, but some new users are still perplexed by the choices, so let’s take a look at these and deconstruct exactly what happens.
• Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments: As advertised, this will create a new file and apply any Lightroom adjustments. So, if you’ve already brought a file into Photoshop, added layers, saved it back to Lightroom, and now you’ve applied some more Lightroom adjustments, here’s what you’ll get: A file in Photoshop where your previous layers have been flattened, but the new Lightroom adjustments have been applied. The loss of my Photoshop layers is what makes this option a non-starter for me most of the time, but it might be useful if you’re opening a JPEG from your smart phone and want to apply any Lightroom adjustments and do further work in Photoshop. • Edit a Copy: This creates a copy of the original file, but Lightroom adjustments will not be visible in Photoshop. If it’s a layered PSD file, then your layers will be preserved and editable. If you choose to save the metadata to the file (Command-S [PC: Ctrl-S]) before bringing the file into Photoshop, you can make new edits in Photoshop and when you save and close the file, the version that comes back into Lightroom will still have the Develop module adjustments that weren’t visible in Photoshop.
• Edit Original: The term “original” here is quite problematic. Most people think it refers to the original file that the camera created, but this isn’t necessarily the case, especially with a RAW file. It refers to the original file that was created during the first trip into Photoshop, or to an original JPEG (possibly a camera original, but possibly not), TIFF, or PSD file. All layers will be preserved and, as long as metadata is saved to the file before making the trip into Photoshop, any Lightroom edits will be reapplied once the file arrives back in Lightroom.
the curse of the multiplying files Since each of the first two options in this dialog create a copy of the file, using them too many times with the same file is a sure way to end up with lots of files that all look very similar, and it can be easy to lose track of just which file is which. Because the default behavior for Lightroom is to append “-Edit” onto the original filename, if you see files that are named something like “Img_2384-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit-EditEdit-Edit.tiff,” then you know that you’ve probably invoked that command many times on the same original file.
changing the way externally edited files are named In the aforementioned External Editing Preferences, the last option in the dialog lets you modify how the filenames are appended for files that are edited in external applications. For instance, I use the naming convention of “-M” to indicate a “master file,” which is how I think of the layered files I create from a RAW original.
creating alternate edit in photoshop presets In the center section of the External Editing Preferences is where you can specify an external editor in addition to Photoshop. This is also the place where you set up some plug-ins. I’ve used this section to set up an alternate Photoshop editing preset that I use for JPEG files from my iPhone. My default edit in the Photoshop configuration opens the images as 16-bit ProPhoto RGB files, which isn’t really appropriate for 8-bit JPEGs from a camera phone. So I’ve created a special preset for those files that, when used, will open them as 8-bit Adobe RGB files. Once you’ve chosen your application and file settings in the Additional External Editor section, select Save Current Settings as New Preset from the Preset drop-down menu, name it in the New Preset dialog that appears, and click Create. This preset will now appear in the Photo>Edit In menu. ■
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Product Reviews
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X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Video
P ortraitPro 15 Studio Max Edition
Four Reference Color Targets in a Clamshell Review by Erik Vlietinck
Review by Jessica Maldonado
An experienced Photoshop user can take hours of meticulous attention to professionally retouch a portrait from start to finish. But how often do we have the luxury of giving our full attention to every image—especially for a large project or if we’re on a tight deadline? I reviewed and recommended PortraitPro back in version 12, and now I have the pleasure of working with the PortraitPro 15 Studio Max edition. It’s just as good as before, but with several new features that are just plain fun to use. (In fact, I found it hard to stop playing with it long enough to write this review!)
Before
PortraitPro instantly detects the faces in each image opened, and it’s an easy process to make any tweaks: Just drag around the
After with Makeup
outlines to match the face in your image. Out-of-the-box “after”
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ready to go in less than one minute. My lingering issue with the
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even wider range of looks. All the skin sections let you view and edit the skin area easily (think Quick Mask or Refine Edge).
automatic results is that they include Face Sculpt. While a few por-
Additional sections include Eye Controls and Mouth & Nose
traits will require adjustment, and some clients may even request
Controls, which give you sliders for each eye, the top and bottom
one (a smaller nose, perhaps), it irks me that it’s part of the default—
lip, and teeth. You can brighten, sharpen, whiten, adjust eye and
even for children! But, it’s one click to remove, and easy to save a
lip color, and even add contact lenses (I found this handy in a stock
custom preset that doesn’t include Face Sculpt (especially handy for
image where the iris texture was lost to noise).
batch work). And, speaking of batch adjustments, they’re impres-
New to this version are Makeup Controls. Although these may
sively fast, although they occasionally return some funkiness, so
not always be necessary, they’re totally fun to use, and they might
I’d recommend taking a peek at each image in your batch before
come in handy if a photo shoot lacks a makeup artist or the mod-
closing out of PortraitPro, then you can tweak the face-detection
el’s makeup has worn away. (As with every section/slider, how-
outlines, where necessary, to avoid these aberrations.
ever, too much can look fake.) I especially like the mascara and
At the top of the control panel on the interface is a list of Pre-
false eyelashes, which remind me of brushes that Corey Barker
sets, including a few that add makeup (new this version). No pre-
created for Scott Kelby’s book, Professional Portrait Retouching
set is perfect, but these make for good starting points. Everything
Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop. I’d love to see
is easily fine-tuned with sliders in each section, so it can’t hurt to
PortraitPro partner with a cosmetics company for real-world color
flick through the presets rather than start from scratch. Again,
palettes, but for now it’s great to be able to sample color from
with a couple of clicks, you can save your favorite results as cus-
your photo or choose from the spectrum. This is powerful retouching software at a very reasonable price.
tom presets. The Skin Smoothing Controls give great results, with separate
The Studio and Studio Max editions can be used alone or as a
sliders for the left and right under-eye areas, around the mouth,
Photoshop or Lightroom plug-in, handle RAW files directly, and
etc. There’s a long menu of skin texture fills, so skin will still look
support different color spaces. PortraitPro 15 Studio Max edi-
like skin, not just blurred or noisy. For larger blemishes that the
tion takes what can be a tedious, repetitive task, and gives good
controls can’t fix, there’s the Touch Up Brush (cousin to Photo-
results quickly, so you can move on to other work—if you can tear
shop’s Healing brush) for targeted zapping. Below that are the
yourself away from playing with it! ■
Skin Lighting Controls, where you can move the light source, adjust shadows, even add Left or Right Kick lights. If you go crazy in this section, you can create artifacts outside the face area, but you can resolve that by backing off on the adjustments. Down in the Skin Coloring Controls, there’s a new menu of skin settings, ranging from Illuminating Dew to Icy Frosting to help you get an
Company: Anthropics Technology Ltd.
Price: $239.90
Web: www.portraitprofessional.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Myriad features make retouching fast and enjoyable
Not: Hair-coloring features and presets could be improved
In December, X-Rite released its ColorChecker Video range of products, including the ColorChecker Passport Video, which uses a clamshell design with four targets rolled into one. It integrates with Color Finale, a professional color grading plug-in for Final Cut Pro X by Denver Riddle. The ColorChecker Passport Video has a white balance target, a 40 IRE midtone gray patch, a color target, and a focus target. The color target has six chips specifically designed to align with the color axis on a vectorscope. The workflow is simple. Before you start your actual take or shot, you place the ColorChecker for a couple of seconds somewhere in the frame facing the camera, making sure the reflective black patch doesn’t reflect into the lens. When everything’s been done correctly, you can shoot your clip as usual. In postproduction you can now correct colors using the card as a reference tool. The card makes the correction process a lot easier because you’re dealing with primary colors. The whole process becomes really efficient when it’s integrated with your video editor, such as with the Color Finale plugin for Final Cut Pro X. In color grading apps, such as Adobe’s SpeedGrade, you miss out on this user-friendly integration. Even
then, it’s easier to get colors right using the target and the software’s vectorscope. For DaVinci Resolve (Blackmagic Design), a Color Match feature will soon integrate with the ColorChecker, while other apps will integrate the ColorChecker in their correction workflow as well. The white balance and 40 IRE patches allow you to improve the color preview on your camera’s display so your histograms are more reliable. The focus target helps with edge focusing; however, users of cheaper lenses will benefit less with this target than others because of moiré problems. The company also offers a large ColorChecker Video for studio work. ■ Company: X-Rite, Inc.
Price: $149
Web: http://xritephoto.com/video-targets
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Form factor; lightweight; 4-in-1
Not:
Macphun’s Aurora HDR Pro Advanced Color Control and Color Toning Review by Steve Baczewski
Early HDR software gave photographers a process to combine bracketed exposures of a scene and maximize the dynamic range otherwise too wide to be captured by a single exposure. Sadly, the results were often garish, lacking subtlety, and left a vacuum for a more photorealistic look. A collaborative effort between Macphun and HDR maven Trey Ratcliff, Aurora HDR Pro has arguably the most powerful comprehensive toolset on the market, providing users with a creative license to roam from the otherworldly to photorealistic. This Mac-only Pro version works as a standalone and as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, and Elements. Much of the Aurora interface will look familiar. The slider names are appropriately descriptive; however, some sliders have levels of complexity with fine distinctions, so I’d suggest users might benefit by reading the manual and watching website video tutorials, including an hour-long video with Trey Ratcliff. Aurora Pro supports all the popular proprietary RAW formats, and you can drag-and-drop files on Aurora’s splash screen or export them from your image editor. Initial processing includes options for ghost reduction, alignment, and chromatic aberration. Five 42-megapixel Sony RAW files took two minutes to
process. There are 38 wide-ranging presets for use as a point of departure, but Aurora’s power is in its vast toolset. Edits can be done globally or selectively. Key features include luminosity masks, advanced tone mapping, a sophisticated layers section, blend modes, masking, brushes, and image detail enhancement. A histogram tracks your every move. Although I found using the split screen before-and-after mode very practical, I hope the next version of this software will include a history feature or an option to save snapshots for versions worth further exploration. While you can dial it way up stylistically, Aurora HDR Pro is great with creating a balanced, natural HDR look. If you create HDR images, Aurora Pro is well worth looking into. ■ Company: Macphun Software
Price: $99
Web: www.macphun.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Multiple export options including social media
Not: No history or snapshot feature
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Make Portrait Retouching Easy and Even Fun!
results are pretty good, so you potentially have a retouched image
GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
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REVIEWS
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GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
Exposure X by Alien Skin Software Film Emulation and Effects Plug-in Review by Daniel M. Eastr
The Best Keeps Getting Better! Review by Michael Corsentino
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Capture One Pro 9, Phase One’s new full-version update to their flagship RAW conversion and image-editing software, continues its history as an imaging tool worthy of love, something users have come to expect. I use this software every day and am a big fan of its elegant design, powerful toolset, and best-in-class RAW conversions. This is mature software, so the majority of enhancements, additions, and updates in any new version aren’t earth shattering, reinvent-the-wheel revelations, but rather those that build steadily upon and improve Capture One Pro’s already solid foundation. This isn’t to say that there aren’t a slew of exciting new tools and compelling reasons to upgrade to version 9, because there are. Here’s a look at some of what’s new and improved.
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Keywords: Two new tools have been added to Capture One Pro 9: the Keyword tool, which enables the addition/removal of keywords to individual or multiple images; and the Keyword Library tool, which can be used to create and manage multiple keyword lists or import them from other sources. Improved Contrast Engine: The Exposure Contrast slider can now add contrast, while at the same time preserving hue, saturation, and lightness values. Curves has a new Luma mode that constrains contrast changes to Luminance only, also preserving hue and saturation values. Making contrast (and its impact on color) independent goes a long way toward better, more accurate color fidelity. Local Adjustments and Masking: Masking Brush Settings now include Flow and Airbrush sliders, both welcome additions. Flow and Airbrush controls are especially useful when it comes to creating complex masks and dodging and burning. Straight Line Masking lets you create a mask outline by first clicking to define the desired square, rectangle, or similar straight-line shape, and then filling it to complete the masked area. Updated Color Editor Interface: The Color Editor is now a tool palette that can be undocked from others and resized, when
needed, for improved visual feedback when selecting color ranges. With the Create Masked Layer from Selection option, you can now use color range selections to create Local Adjustments Masks. This very powerful feature makes all the tools in the Local Adjustments toolset available for use with masked color range selections. Rescaling Engine: Capture One Pro 9’s Rescaling Engine for reducing or enlarging images from their original dimensions has been completely overhauled, allowing users to preserve the quality and sharpness of their images regardless of output size. Tethered Shooting Battery Power Status Indicator: A batterypower status icon has been added to Capture One Pro’s Tethered Shooting toolbar, thus helping to prevent unwanted interruptions from loss of power. Import DNG Catalogs: For those considering, or now in transition from Lightroom to Capture One Pro, there’s good news! Lightroom catalogs containing DNG file-format images can now be imported easily into Capture One Pro. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the Capture One Pro 9 pool yet, now might just be the perfect time to download the free 30-day trial. Just sayin’. ■ Company: Phase One
Price: $299 (Upgrade: $99); $15/month single-user subscription
Web: www.phaseone.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Keyword tools; revised contrast engine; color editor masks
Not:
the original offers countless options for your final output’s look. Even after years of working with all of the previous versions, Exposure X is so much fun to use that I want to go back to some older images just to see what they might look like with these new filters, effects, and controls. Exposure X is all of the things that made every preceding version a photographer’s favorite, but it adds even more options, control, and speed, thus providing the potential for more timeless images in the creative photography market. ■ Company: Alien Skin Software, LLC
Price: $149 (Upgrade: $99)
Web: www.alienskin.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Faster; new features; file management
Not:
Picture Instruments Color Cone Color Correcting in the HCL Color Scheme Review by Erik Vlietinck
Color Cone is a new app that enables you to correct colors and create color lookup tables (LUTs). The app is based on a terrific concept, but its design could be better. Color Cone consists of one window with four segments. The preview window shows your image and the adjustments made to it, while the other three segments deal with the adjustments themselves. Color Cone renders colors in the HCL scheme using eyedropper samples on the interface. The eye catcher is the dual cone in the center of the right panel; however, the cone cannot be rotated or otherwise manipulated. You can manipulate the samples, but that quickly becomes unwieldy when there are a lot of them. Although the app has a clumsy design, the workflow is simple: You use the eyedropper to select a color you want to adjust in your image, fine-tune the selection, and a mask shows your selection. Lastly, you adjust the color using the Target controls. When you’re done, you can either save the adjustments as a preset, or as a 3D LUT in any of half-a-dozen LUT file formats for use in other apps such as Photoshop. Unfortunately, the process is only straightforward if correcting images with easily discernible colors. For example: When
colors bleed through to the background, you’ll need so many samples to get it right that it makes selecting them incredibly hard. It’s especially difficult when they’re close together, as you have to “scroll” through all of them to find the one you need. That’s inefficient because there are no layers or even a list to pick from directly. In addition, the app doesn’t support RAW images, which in my opinion doesn’t make sense. Color Cone is really a brilliant idea that in practice leaves much to be desired. ■ Company: Picture Instruments, UG
Price: $189
Web: www.pictureinstruments.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Concept; HCL scheme; 3D LUT export feature
Not: Interface; no RAW support; no numeric feedback on sliders
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Capture One Pro 9
It’s always a huge plus when a developer strives to improve upon one of their flagship products, and it’s especially true when they’re listening to their end users along with their own research and development. As they always do, Alien Skin Software steps up their game with a major update to their popular Exposure plug-in/ standalone software with version X. There’s a lot to love, but let’s focus on what’s new and improved. My personal favorite is seamless access to photo files: Exposure X lets you preview, view, select, and organize your images, saving a lot of time. You can work at will with a folder of images from within the launched software. While there’s no specific button to apply your effect(s), a simple export shortcut does the trick (for Mac users, it’s Command-E). Another great feature is that you can make edits in other software and immediately see those results in your previews—and the previews are really fast. The one stumbling block (and it’s not a big one) is that the preview window doesn’t seem to use the same color profile as the image once you’re back in Photoshop (or your preferred editing software); but it’s just a preview. The controls are more accurate, have more abilities, and effects can be stacked in a nondestructive layer, so blending effects with
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REVIEWS
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GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
Eddycam Fashion Strap When a Camera Strap Isn’t Just a Camera Strap Review by Michael Corsentino
One-Click Compositing Suite for Photoshop
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Review by Rod Harlan
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StudioMagic I & II is a full-fledged, robust, compositing suite built into Photoshop panels. For novice Photoshop users, StudioMagic will allow them to push the limits of their creativity beyond the level of their Photoshop skills. For advanced users and working professionals, it will save time and money by greatly accelerating their visual effects workflow. The StudioMagic Designer Set caught my attention as much for what it’s not than for what it is. It’s not a collection of actions or a big pile of filters to further clutter up your Photoshop panels. It is a very clever group of lengthy Photoshop scripts tied to one-click buttons on grouped Photoshop panels, which all work together to make dramatic images as quickly and easily as possible. Basically, StudioMagic harnesses the power of Photoshop under its hood, and reduces many of its most complicated tasks to a few simple mouse clicks, so that anyone can create the look of Photoshop masters in a fraction of the time. It starts with StudioMagic I Pro-Panel that includes CutOut, ShadowCaster, and LightBrush, the foundational tools needed to ready your subjects for compositing. CutOut takes the guesswork out of Photoshop’s Refine Edge command by using industry-tested professional defaults, simple sliders, and checkboxes. CutOut can cut out and replace skies or remove subjects from backgrounds in seconds, even with detailed edges or flying hair. ShadowCaster is the logical extension of CutOut. It easily creates an accurate shadow so your subject is believable and anchored in its new scene. Change a shadow’s direction, opacity, and softness to match scene lighting, or create shadows based on time of day, and then copy the same shadow settings to multiple subjects in the same scene. LightBrush takes flat-looking images and adds focus and drama by painting with light (which is really just a layer mask). If you make a mistake, just click a key, and paint back the light you removed. StudioMagic II includes the following five major compositing toolsets for enhancing your images or working with StudioMagic virtual sets: Enviro turns a summer landscape into a snowy blizzard, creates a drenching rainstorm, or fills a field with thick morning
fog. You can even change daytime to sunset! The Enviro toolset includes: Season Shifter, Let it Snow, Rain Maker, Fogged In, and Sunset. LightingEffex creates that magical moment when light breaks through the clouds or a sudden beam streams through a window. The LightingEffex toolset includes: Color Match, LightRays, LightBeams, LightBursts, and Edge Light. Reflections is one of the most powerful scripts. In just a matter of seconds, it creates slick mirrored effects and controllable water ripples that usually take much longer to produce. The Reflections toolset includes: Water Reflect and Mirror Image. Compositor places a selection of commonly used photographic enhancements at your fingertips so you can add them to an image with a click of the mouse. The Compositor toolset includes: Cloud Creator, Moon Clock, Over the Rainbow, Starry Night, Lightning Strikes, and Birds & Flocks. HyperZap is a module inspired by contemporary sports images, magazine covers, and movie posters. It’s the closest thing that this package has to a filter set, but it delivers an image style that’s both contemporary and commercial. The HyperZap toolset includes: Grunge Boost and Color Pop Effects. All in all, the StudioMagic I & II Designer Set, bundled with 12 Virtual Studio Sets, is a good deal at $249, both for Photo shop novices who want to produce better work than their current skillset, and for advanced users who want to save hours producing these same effects from scratch. And if you use the special Photoshop User magazine promo code “PUser-2016,” you can save 20% through March 30! And if you’re a KelbyOne member, be sure to visit the Discounts section at KelbyOne.com for even more savings on LayerCake products. ■ Company: LayerCake Inc.
Price: $249 Designer Set
Web: www.layercakeelements.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Simple buttons/sliders work fast; excellent results
Not:
I’ve been using my Eddycam strap for several weeks now with my Fuji X-T1, and I can tell you firsthand that these straps live up to their hype. They’re well built, very comfortable, and great looking too. Keep in mind the strap I tested, as well as a large part of the Eddycam line, is best suited for lighter cameras, such as mirrorless, rather than larger DSLR bodies. With more than 100 versions in 8 colors and 17 different color combinations, each available in three widths, lengths, and configurations, Eddycam Fashion straps have a lot to offer. ■ Company: Eddycam
Price: From $135
Web: www.digitalback.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Five-year warranty; beautiful design; high-quality components
Not: Best suited for lighter cameras
HP Z25n Monitor Narrow Bezel, 25" IPS Display Review by Daniel M. East
As the displays for design and photo professionals improve their technologies and overall quality, one might imagine that a new, slim-profile, energy-efficient model from HP would be just what the doctor ordered for your latest upgrade. Unfortunately, in a market that now boasts 4K displays from brands such as Dell and Acer for around the same price, the HP Z25n has a bit of catching up to do. On the plus side, the screen has a 2560x1440 resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio that is clear from all angles of viewing, but it stops short of the 3840x2160 4K resolution that’s quickly becoming the standard—for now. While the screen quality is good— the images are very sharp, clean, and clear—there is variation in the appearance edge-to-edge. Contrast and saturation are neutral but they’re not consistent. With a 1000:1 static contrast ratio, there is less “true black” where one might want it. The deepest black tones seem slightly artificial relative to the very good white balance. The picture-in-picture capability is nice in theory but, in this size, a second display might offer better options. The Z25n has a full complement of ports for HDMI, DVI-D, DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and four USB 3.0 connec-
tions in its roughly 16 lb. structure. It also has a very stable feel to its pivot positions for both horizontal and vertical viewing. In spite of its nice design, the Z25n is pricey compared to similar products from its competitors, and it lacks the control over color that is so critical to this industry. Overall, this is a good monitor that simply needs to step ahead of the competition instead of running behind. ■ Company: HP
Price: $429
Web: www8.hp.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: Sharp image; lots of connectivity options; slim design
Not: Lacks color control; contrast varies edge-to-edge
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StudioMagic I and II
There are those who would argue that a car is just a car. As long as it gets you from point A to point B, what’s the difference? While this is basically true, there’s a clear difference between a Porsche and a minivan, not just in price but also capability. The same can be said of camera straps; but considering that they’re all that stands between your much-loved camera and Newton’s law of gravity, having a strap that’s up to the task is critical. If you can also find one that’s sexy, even better! German-based Eddycam is the Porsche of camera straps, producing handcrafted elk skin camera straps in a variety of colors and styles. Their marketing materials say their straps were developed with the individualist in mind, coming with small scratches and imperfections inherent in the rugged frontier environment where they’re sourced. Eddycam prides itself on using high-quality components, craftsmanship, and paying attention to detail, such as quintuple-stitched webbing and special 4700-N tensile-strength thread; non-breakable stainless-steel adjustment clips; and sturdy polypro pylene connecting elements. Made from elk skins up to 2.4 mm thick, Eddycam straps provide stability, elasticity, and comfort using the proprietary treatment process at Eddycam’s Finnish tannery.
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REVIEWS
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BOOK REVIEWS
PETER BAUER
A kurat Lighting A1 On-Camera Video LED Light Highest Color Rendering Index with V-WHITE Violet Chip Technology Review by Erik Vlietinck
The barndoors and diffuser option are meant to control the light. Using magnets on the front bezel, they’re extremely easy to attach and detach from the unit. The diffuser glass sits loosely between the unit and the barndoors and does double duty as a protection for the LEDs. You don’t lose f-stops when using it. The A1 comes with a jointed mounting system that gives you more accurate targeting of the light. It lets you aim the A1 only in the horizontal and vertical plane. This system is also made of metal and can be replaced if desired. ■ Company: Akurat Lighting, Sp. z o.o.
Price: $449.95 (Barndoors: $79.95)
Web: www.akuratlighting.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Hot: CRI values; luminous output; size; quality of build
Not:
NEC MultiSync EA275UHD 27" 4K LCD Desktop Monitor
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6
Review by Daniel M. East
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As the design and digital imaging industries continue to move into 4K as the standard for displays, the product choices are becoming more competitive. As one of the leaders in this migration, NEC delivers an excellent option for those who want to balance form and function with a price-point that won’t break the bank: Enter the MultiSync EA275UHD 4K monitor. While your best view with this display is head-on, the nearly 180° of clear viewing is impressive. In fact, it’s one of the first things you may notice before calibration. Like its larger sibling, the PA322UHD, the EA275UHD has touch controls and a clarity that cannot be ignored. This is an excellent display with natural, neutral contrast, plus excellent light and “human” sensors to accommodate nearly any ambient lighting situation. The EA275UHD has an ECO mode that saves more than 50% of power consumption on an already lower power drain monitor. Further, it’s Energy Star, TCO, and RoHS environmentally compliant. The closest competitor to the EA275UHD is the Dell 27 Ultra HD, which is $100 less, but its image quality isn’t as balanced, nor does it have the viewing angles or vertical viewing capabilities of the NEC. The sound quality of the internal speakers is the only
Photoshop Masking & Compositing, Second Edition
Achieving Your Potential As a Photographer: A Photographer’s Creative Companion and Workbook
While there’s no doubt that this book is worth sixty bucks,
This book is also less expensive at www.barnesandnoble.com
there’s no need to pay that much. You can purchase the paper-
and www.amazon.com, and is also available as an eBook on
By Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan, and James Porto
By Harold Davis
back directly from www.peachpit.com for $47.99 or from
Amazon and the Apple iBooks Store (but at the list price). Much
www.barnesandnoble.com for $44.99. Peachpit.com also offers
of the book is designed around the workbook. The author dis-
digital versions in the formats EPUB, MOBI, and PDF (reviewed
plays many of his own photos, often with information about
here) for $38.39. The Barnes & Noble Nook version runs $30.49.
how he took the photo and what decisions he made in the
Okay, now let’s talk about the five-star rating: If you do anything
process. Other images are for illustrative purposes. This book
more than red-eye correction and color balance to an image,
is intended for photographers who want to spend disciplined
buy this book. You’ll learn to make selections that isolate part
time and effort in order to improve their work. The introduc-
of an image that needs a specific adjustment, how to combine
tion explains the author’s intent. Some of the chapters provide
multiple images into a single piece of art, and do those things
very specific information about a technique or process, while
that separate common photography from great compositions.
others (such as the “Artisanal Print Making” chapter) offer only
With red-eye correction, you’re isolating one part of the image
some generalities. Likewise, some of the exercises in the work-
(or two) for adjustment. Imagine being able to do that to any-
book have very specific instructions and goals; others (like the
thing or any part of an image!
exercise on printing) aren’t related to the chapter content.
stumbling point for this display (as it is for so many manufacturers). The “barky” 500Hz–2Khz sound is barely listenable and harsh to the ears so, in this case, the real purpose of this monitor is sight over sound. When it’s time for an upgrade to a new monitor that provides more features than its competitors’ at a midline price, the NEC 27" EA275UHD is worth your consideration. While it may not be as inexpensive as some of their competitors’ models, the overall image quality, features, and functions of this monitor make it an excellent choice and a standout in this category. ■ Company: NEC Display Solutions
Price: $799
Web: www.necdisplay.com
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Publisher: New Riders
Pages: 487
Publisher: Focal Press
Pages: 257 (including 48 page workbook)
Hot: Image quality; text clarity; viewing angles; fast startup
Website: www.peachpit.com
Website: www.focalpress.com
Not: Speaker quality
Price: $59.99 Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Price: $34.95
Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
› › k e l b yo n e . c o m
With dual color balance using two sets of diodes and the ability to mix color temperatures in various combinations, the A1 manages to achieve the highest CRI values in the industry with an Ra of 98 and an R9 of 97. The A1 throws about 1100 lux on your subject. The A1 is small enough to fit comfortably on top of a video camera, be it a professional ENG camera or a Sony A7. Made out of aluminum, it weighs next to nothing. Optional barndoors use strong magnets for mounting and include a separate diffusion glass. The A1 can be powered by any type of battery used in the video industry. I chose to have the Sony NP-F adapter fitted. Equipped with an NP-F970 battery, the light has about 4–6 hours runtime. You can also power the A1 with an optional power adapter, or by using your own 6–14 Volt DC adapter. I tested the A1’s luminous output and its color accuracy with a spectrophotometer. The A1’s claims are no exaggeration, with only slight differences between what’s on the control knob and the measured temperature, even when using the mixed color output settings.
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Photoshop
From The Advice Desk
February 2016
O F
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A D V E R T I S E R S
For advertising information, please contact Kevin Agren, V.P. Sales, at 813-433-2370. email:
[email protected] 4 Over, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC www.4over.com
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*Advertiser offers discount to KelbyOne members. Visit http://kelbyone.com/discount for more information. While every attempt has been made to make this listing as complete as possible, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Answers to Photoshop and gear-related questions
I’m a little confused about the difference between the Image>Adjustments commands and using adjustment layers. And now we have Camera Raw and a Camera Raw Filter inside Photoshop. What’s the difference?—Kathleen
To: Kathleen From: KelbyOne Advice Desk The key is flexibility, the possibility of going back to a layered PSD or TIFF file and making changes to the changes you already made. If you use an Image>Adjustments command, the pixels are changed forever. If you use an adjustment layer, you can re-open the adjustment’s dialog and apply different settings. This might happen if you change your mind about how the image should look, or it may be because you want to create a custom copy of a particular image because this print will be hung in an area with unusual lighting. If, for example, you have a client who will be hanging your print under fluorescent lighting and you want it to look as good as it does under daylight, you may need to add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (or make changes to an existing adjustment layer), play around with the settings, and create small sample prints until you get exactly what you want. If the print will be hanging in a very brightly lit room, you may need to work with a Curves adjustment layer to get the exact look you want. Remember, one of your most important advertising tools is the people seeing your work. If it doesn’t look good because of the lighting in the room, you may be missing a sale (or several). I like to see where my prints will hang (or at least a photo of the area) and a paint chip of the wall color so I can judge the lighting before making a print for that specific spot. I also like to know the distance from which people will first see the image so that I can sharpen appropriately. Unfortunately, the various sharpening filters aren’t available as
adjustment layers, so each print is a separate file. When working with adjustment layers, you have a couple of options so that you don’t end up with several copies of the same file. You can, for example, add a single Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and use the Note tool (nested in the Toolbox with the Eyedropper tool [I]) to keep track of what settings you used for each print. Alternatively, use a series of Hue/Saturation adjustment layers, each appropriately named, and have only one of the adjustment layers visible at the time you make that specific print. The Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop is simply a filter that offers you most of the capabilities of the Camera Raw plug-in. But, it’s a filter and the changes it makes to an image are permanent—if you re-open the filter, all the sliders are set back to their defaults. And keep in mind that using the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop doesn’t convert your image into a RAW file. The Camera Raw plug-in, which is used with RAW image files, is used prior to opening the image into Photoshop. You do have the option of opening images from Camera Raw into Photoshop as smart objects rather than as image files. Doing so enables you to go back to the Camera Raw plug-in to make changes by doubleclicking the smart object layer thumbnail in Photoshop’s Layers panel. Filters applied to a smart object are applied as smart filters so, much like an adjustment layer, you can double-click the filter in the Layers panel to re-open it and make changes. Flexibility!
The KelbyOne Member ADVICE DESK
Are you taking advantage of the Advice Desk at the KelbyOne member website? This is the place where you can get all of your Photoshop and Lightroom questions answered by our Advice Desk experts. Not only that, you can get photo and computer gear help and advice, as well. What are you waiting for? Visit the Advice Desk section under My Account on the KelbyOne member site today! ■
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Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of KelbyOne. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry. As a KelbyOne member, you automatically receive Photoshop User delivered digitally ten times a year.
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