Don't Underestimate Very Basic Digital Darkroom Adjustments

Ya know, when Shadows/Highlights was introduced in Photoshop, I thought it was a sissy adjustment. That was before I tried it. Now, I use it quite often, because it really is quite cool - allowing you to control the shadows and highlights in a scene almost independently.

Here you see the effect. In the adjusted photo, taken at Woodstock in 1969, you can better see the faces of the hippies.

Tip:
You can actually use Shadows/Highlights like an adjustment layer:
- In the Layers panel, click on the Background Layer;
- Hold down the Command key;
- In the Layers panel, click on the Background Layer and scroll down to: Convert to Smart Object;
- Now, go to Image > Mode > Adjustments and select Shadows/Highlights;
- After you make your adjustment, you'll see that you can now use Shadow/Highlights like an Adjustment Layer.

Try this adjustment, you'll like it.

Hey, if you have any old photos, give them a scan at ScanCafe. You can win some free scans by entering my current ScanCafe photo contest.

Explore the light,
Rick
P.S. Any resemblance to anyone you may be familiar with is a coincidence. :-)

Make Your Subject Stand Out

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When I am looking through the viewfinder (even when I am being attacked by a deadly animal) I am always thinking about the end result. I ask myself, "How can the image be enhanced in the digital darkroom?"

One idea is to make the subject stand out in the scene. Options include:
• Darkening the area around the subject;
• Sharpening the subject and blurring the background;
• Cropping the image.

For a quick how-to lesson on how I enhanced my photo of a snake, click here.

Explore the Light,
Rick
P.S. Bonus tip: Pay attention to what is going on around you when you are shooting!

The 12 Quotes of Christmas

Hey Gang,

I am working on an inspiration book (Life Lessons We Can Learn From Mother Nature) that features meaningful quotes matched with some of my favorite nature photographs. Here are my top 12 favorite quotes. Think about 1 a day for the next 12 days.

Happy Holidays,
Rick

1
Every animal knows more than you do.
Hindu proverb

2
You don't drown by falling in water; you only drown if you stay there.
Zig Ziglar

3
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Abraham Lincoln

4
There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.
Richard Buckminster Fuller

5
Fear an ignorant man more than a lion.

6
You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks.
Eskimo proverb

7
The only Zen you find at the top of a mountain is the Zen you bring there.
Robert Pirsig

8
Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
John Lennon

9
Never mistake motion for action.
Ernest Hemingway

10
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

11
No flower booms for a thousand days.
Chinese Proverb

12
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
Rabindranath Tagore

This post sponsored by ExpoImaging.

ScanCafe Takes a Dive!

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Hey Gang,

UPS just dropped off my recent 35mm scans from ScanCafe. The scans were made from my most valuable underwater slides. (For 20 years, I photographed in most of the world's oceans; I even dived in Lake Baikal, Siberia.)

I popped the CD into my computer and true to form, the scans looked exactly like my slides – the good ones and even the ones that were poorly exposed. I'll blame those photo faux pas images on the nitrogen build-up in my brain :-)

Anyway, the image on the left brings back a great memory from Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman. But as you can see, the original slide is more than a stop underexposed. HDR to rescue.

"What?" you ask. "How did you created an HDR image from a 20-year-old slide?" Easy, in Photoshop, I went to Mode and changed the 8 bit image to a 16 bit image, and then used Photomatix to create a pseudo HDR image . . . in less time than it takes to make a safety stop before surfacing.

If you have some photographs that you or your parents took during the days of "Sea Hunt," don't lock them away in Davy Jones' locker. Send them to ScanCafe and set your sails for the creative horizons that await you in the digital darkroom.

Hey, if anyone out there would like to see more posts about underwater photography, give me the OK sign.

And speaking of HDR and ScanCafe, click here to win some free scans.

Explore the Light,
Rick
P.S. You can get a discount on Photomatix and other plug-ins on the Plug-in Experience.