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jennifer armstrong
{K:6688} 1/29/2005
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john - thanks again! i am in the midst of getting a website designed & made so i'm stuck in scanning & sizing mode these days - seems ages since i've actually gone out & shot anything. But i have kept note of all the sites you listed for me & i will be sure to check them out when life returns to an easier-going pace & i have some extra time to breath! I truly appreciate your help - i have SO much to learn & i really am interested in heading into the world of stock photography so will need to get my skill & knowledge level up to par. Everything in it's time, i suppose. Thank you , again. All the best - jennifer
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John Lamb
{K:9687} 1/28/2005
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Thanks Jennifer. Happy to pass on any helpful hints & tips I can, even though I consider myself a novice when it come to Photoshop. I think if you are wanting to get the best out of your digital negs then shooting in raw and processing with a quality converter is a must. I like Photoshop CS because it is the industry standard. I did try Picture Window and understand it's later incarnations are good.
There are numerous web sites that have some good info on digital processing and photography in general. A couple I like are www.fredmiranda.com and www.luminous-landscape.com www.computer-darkroom.com is good for photoshop skills. Any articles or books by Bruce Fraser are worth looking at. Bruce has a few articles on www.creativepro.com. The web is such a great learning resource.
Regards John
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jennifer armstrong
{K:6688} 1/28/2005
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john, thank you so much for your indepth reply to my question regarding lighting. It's interesting because your work has such a clean, sharp look to it that i just assumed you shot them that way & didn't do much work in ps! They absolutely don't look 'worked-on', which is a great thing. I don't have ps cs, but may find that i need to get it. Once i get my website up & running, i hope to start finding some stock agencies that may be interested in carrying some of my images. So, the files will have to be large & really clean & sharp for that - well sharp unless they're purposefully soft, which i tend to do from time to time! I have copied your instructions into an email & sent it to myself & into my ps instructions folder - where i have all the helpful hints i've been told over these last months. I really appreciate your taking the time to share this with me - even just learing what you do once you're in ps is really helpful. All the best to you - jennifer
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greg collins
{K:12273} 1/28/2005
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Nice sunset. Love the texture of the sand.
Greg
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John Lamb
{K:9687} 1/26/2005
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Hi Jennifer, thanks for you encouraging comments.
I always use a tripod for shots like this so use ISO 200 and also shoot in aperture priority.
The exposure info for this pic is 1/6 second @ F11. I had in camera noise reduction turned off. I was using a 2 stop Cokin ND Grad and exposing for the highlights. I always shoot in raw format.
I open the image in Photoshop CS using the raw converter. When checking the exposure in CS hold the alt key and move the exposure slider to see any clipping in the Channels. This image required -1.50 exposure to retain max detail in the highlights.
Holding the alt key again when moving the shadows slider. This will show any clipping in the shadow areas.
The next step is to adjust the brightness slider to suit. Checking any clipping with the alt/exposure slider again. For this image the brightness was increased to 130.
Click ok and the image open in PS. I then do a local contrast increase with a filter/sharpen/unsharp mask. The amount is set to 20% and the radius set to 50 pixels. This is a starting point and I then back off these values to suit the image.
The next step is to run Neatimage to minimise any noise. From there its just duplicating the layer and changing the blend mode to screen to lighten and using a mask layer to tweak. I also use the shadow recovery action by Fred Miranda if required.
Adjustment layers to hue/saturation and selective colour are added and tweaked to suit.
This may be complicated to follow but after doing this a couple of times it becomes second nature and is quite quick. The joy of shooting in raw format and keeping the original file intact is that as your PS knowledge improves you can go back and reprocess the file for a better result.
The days of taking the photos, sending the film to the lab, picking up the processed slides and turning on the slide projector to see the results. Good, bad or indifferent are over. I am learning more about colour, light, and exposure in the digital world than I ever did in the analogue.
Regards John
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jennifer armstrong
{K:6688} 1/26/2005
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wow, stunning shot, John. Beautifully captured & composed. Glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying your new lens - isn't it just so fun to play & experiment with new equiptment? If this shot is indicitive of the results you're getting with it, then it's doing very well for you. One question - do you use a gradient filter at all at this time of day when you're shooting right into the sun? I find with my old manual focus nikkor 24mm on my D70, that in order to not overexpose the highlight areas, i have to shoot so shut down that i then have to really bring up those shadow areas in ps & they tend to get grainy. I don't see any sign of that in this shot - it seems beautifully exposed & i wondered how you managed that? Also, what iso are you shooting at here? That may be my problem as well as i have mine set on auto iso & i bet it pumps it right up to 1600 or something during my evening shots, which would create the grainly look as well. I just wonder how you are so successfully avoiding all of that. Thanks - jennifer
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Chris Spracklen
{K:32552} 1/25/2005
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A paltry 8 comments for such a terrific shot! Ridiculous!
Marvellous work, John!
Best regards, Chris
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Dave Arnold
{K:55680} 1/25/2005
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Very awesome shot, John. I absolutley love the foreground especially.
Great job, all the best
Dave
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saleha jamal
{K:40} 1/25/2005
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wat a beautiful cativating scene........nice shot
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- -
{K:-46} 1/25/2005
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Beautiful colours. Simple and nice, the birds were hanging out in the right place. Nice
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Roger Skinner
{K:81846} 1/25/2005
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typically superb John Lamb shot!
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Craig Beckman
{K:422} 1/25/2005
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very nice composition, the peaks in the sand really cast things in motion. great shot.
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Tim Schumm
{K:29196} 1/25/2005
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Stunning image John, i am amazed that it worked so well with very little blow out and also full color all around without weird pixialiation and artifacts.
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NN
{K:26787} 1/25/2005
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Very beautiful textures in the foreground! Fantastic lighting/mood ...
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Alastair Bell
{K:29571} 1/25/2005
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Excellent shot John - beautiful colours and lovely compostion. I particularly like the way the textures of the sand have been brought out... Always nice to see pictures of the homeland too! Well done!
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