Last Light

[batman44]

Colin:
Here is the original - all I did here was save it as jpeg - yes I shot in RAW.
f18 @ 30 seconds. one shot.


Here is how choppy the water was - on this shot, my camera wasn't focusing very well, water spots were on the lens - so I just shot - and this was the best one.
f4 @ 1/30. one shot again.


I used my lens hood, but after about 15 minutes the rain was coming down pretty good and I was quite cold. I just needed to leave LOL.... I hope to go back on a windy - NON Rainy day! with layers of WARM clothes too!....... And more suggestions from you????!!!!!!

[Colin Southern]

And one "Photoshop 30-Second Makeover (TM!)" Later ...

[batman44]

And one "Photoshop 30-Second Makeover (TM!)" Later ...

When are you going to retire... I have 2 couches you know! You could retire and make money teaching all this stuff while touring the USA!

Nice job as always! Care to share your secret????? I couldn't get that color no matter what I tried! I liked mine - until I saw yours! Now I hate mine and Love your version

[Colin Southern]

When are you going to retire

Not soon enough

... I have 2 couches you know!

Why Kori - that's the best offer I've had in a long time - I'm sure that we'd only need 1 couch though

You could retire and make money teaching all this stuff while touring the USA!

Hmmm - you're giving me ideas now

Care to share your secret?????

Yeah - I follow my own advice

Seriously, not too difficult ...

- Opened in RAW converter and clicked on "mist" with white balance tool to kill the strong colour cast.

- Opened in Photoshop - switched to LAB colour and added a curves layer with steepened A & B curves to coax out any colour

- Straightened & cropped

- Levels layer to get black and white clipping points right

- Bit of hand dodging / burning to improve contrast

- Bit of hand sponging to coax out some more saturation

- Sharpened

- Boarder / Title etc (thinking of the title was the hard bit!)

"Job Done"

[batman44]

Yeah - I follow my own advice

Seriously, not too difficult ..

- Opened in RAW converter and clicked on "mist" with white balance tool to kill the strong colour cast.

I understand this...thank goodness!

- Opened in Photoshop - switched to LAB colour and added a curves layer with steepened A & B curves to coax out any colour

Not a hint of what you are taking about here... curves.... augh! I thought it was going to be something I could do...that curve thing though - nope...I kill everything when I touch it!

- Straightened & cropped

- Levels layer to get black and white clipping points right

- Bit of hand dodging / burning to improve contrast

- Bit of hand sponging to coax out some more saturation

- Sharpened

- Boarder / Title etc (thinking of the title was the hard bit!)

"Job Done"

Can understand the rest of what you did.... any easy way to teach curves?
The color you have here I can't get... I know I have photoshop...blah blah...but some-anything to help me grasp it??? Most of what photoshop does is close - darn close to adobe!

I'm going to bury my head now!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Kori,

LAB colour seperates the image into 3 channels - a monochrome Luminosity channel and two colour opponent channels; (A) Magenta/Green and (B) Blue/Yellow. Normally when you mess with colour you're also messing with luminosity levels - but with LAB you can treat them seperately - which lets us do some things that are difficult if not impossible to do in RGB mode.

Basic technique is ...

- Image -> Mode -> LAB

- Add curves layer

- Switch to A channel and drag top end point left about 3 divisions (assuming a 10 division grid) (if you have only a 4 division grid then just alt-click the grid to change) then drag the bottom left end point right by EXACTLY the same amount (or you'll give it a cast).

- Repeat for B channel

- If it's a little "over-done" just reduce the layer opacity to suit

Do you have Photoshop? - thought you were a Coraldraw girl?

[batman44]

Hi Kori,

LAB colour seperates the image into 3 channels - a monochrome Luminosity channel and two colour opponent channels; (A) Magenta/Green and (B) Blue/Yellow. Normally when you mess with colour you're also messing with luminosity levels - but with LAB you can treat them seperately - which lets us do some things that are difficult if not impossible to do in RGB mode.

Basic technique is ...

- Image -> Mode -> LAB

- Add curves layer

- Switch to A channel and drag top end point left about 3 divisions (assuming a 10 division grid) (if you have only a 4 division grid then just alt-click the grid to change) then drag the bottom left end point right by EXACTLY the same amount (or you'll give it a cast).

- Repeat for B channel

- If it's a little "over-done" just reduce the layer opacity to suit

Do you have Photoshop? - thought you were a Coraldraw girl?

See how confused I am.... Yes, I have Corel Paint shop pro...etc.

I'm going to take my book out and see what/if I can find out what this all means, then google maybe.

If I were a drinking girl...I'd have a drink - at least then I would have an excuse for why the room is spinning right now-hot chocolate doesn't seem to be cutting it right now! LOL
Thanks for the explaination, I'm sure one day I will understand what this means!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Kori,

Unfortunately, this is the "problem" with Photoshop being the defacto standard; I'm sure that most or all of this can be done on other packages too, but the big obstacle is of course the "translation" from "Photoshop Speak".

Have you ever thought of getting an older copy of Photoshop (say CS2) or even Photoshop Elements?

[batman44]

Colin,
Oh I have thought about it many times! I'm a bit of a money pincher so that's MY hold up. Craig wouldn't care if I bought a new program...but "I" hate that I would be buying a new one when this one isn't that old. It's a battle I know! LOL... A little OCD too!

I did find out that Corel has a split channel to CMYK... it created 4 individual raster layers. Named Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black.

My curves only has a 4 division grid. No way of changing it.... no alt ctrl..nothing LOL

Well, it's a start - I'll have to play with for a bit. I can combine the 4 individual raster layers after playing with curves...and it makes a new image. Guess I'll be busy tonight! Good thing Craig and the boys are gone for the night! LOL

I'm determined to figure this out - get as close as possible!

[KentDub]

Get a trial version first I'm not sure how long they're good for, probebly one to three months. You can pickup elements pretty cheap - and there is always upgrade pricing when for when you need the full photoshop.

[Colin Southern]

Get a trial version first I'm not sure how long they're good for, probebly one to three months.

30 Days for Adobe products.

[batman44]

ALMOST got it guys!
I can't figure out how you got my sky blue though...????
But I am happy that I got Corel to do this! whooo hooo! (small things amuse me! LOL)
Another learning experience for me! Thanks Colin!!!!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Kori,

You're pretty close

The reason your sky isn't blue is because your colour temperature is too high - lower it a bit then increase the overall saturation a bit and you'll be away laughing.

[batman44]

Thanks Colin!
I'll give it a whirl! I've become obsessed with this for some reason?
Always exciting for me to learn new things!

[Colin Southern]

Looking forward to the final result!

[batman44]

Hi Kori,

You're pretty close

The reason your sky isn't blue is because your colour temperature is too high - lower it a bit then increase the overall saturation a bit and you'll be away laughing.

hmmmm
something is wrong with my sky. When I change the color temp - only spots(pixels) of blue show up. Most of the middle of the sky stays white. Now I'm stumped! Man, I was excited too. I must have done something to create that sky so un-uniform(lack of a better word)???
I'll be working on this though. Almost time for bed - my eyes are getting tired now! ha ha
Tomorrow is another day!

[taken]

yes amazing pic indeed,cz i see two wonderful pics in one shot i would love the cut it just in the center,exactly under the black horizon and make two lovely pics to enjoy over and over again........maybe hang them in two rooms.to continue the lovely effect

[Colin Southern]

i would love the cut it just in the center,exactly under the black horizon and make two lovely pics to enjoy over and over again

I'm sure that Kori wouldn't mind. Perhaps you could post both versions here?

[Colin Southern]

hmmmm
something is wrong with my sky. When I change the color temp - only spots(pixels) of blue show up. Most of the middle of the sky stays white. Now I'm stumped! Man, I was excited too. I must have done something to create that sky so un-uniform(lack of a better word)???
I'll be working on this though. Almost time for bed - my eyes are getting tired now! ha ha
Tomorrow is another day!

Hi Kori,

Which copy are you working from? Trying to change the latest version that you posted here is a lost cause -- too much data has been lost. If you go back to the original RAW - then set the colour balance so that the mist is neutral, you should get a pale blue sky. If you want to send me the RAW original I'll be able to tell you the exact colour temperature correction required.

[iPhillip]

Ahh more great stuff from Colin; you seem to have managed to get your rocks extra wet and shiny this time around =)