How would I edit this...

[Doughboy]

I have been trying to practice my night shots, but i am having a problem with certain lights that stand out. I am pretty good PP most of the time but this one puzzles me. I am currently using Photoshop Elements, but will soon have Photoshop CS4

The following photo is the one that is puzzling me most. The main lights have too much of a colored halo around them and i find it steers the eye away a bit from the rest of the photo.

Also, is there a certain type of filter that I could use to cut down on the PP.




Feel free to C & C on the photo itself as well .

Thanks

[Colin Southern]

I have been trying to practice my night shots, but i am having a problem with certain lights that stand out. I am pretty good PP most of the time but this one puzzles me. I am currently using Photoshop Elements, but will soon have Photoshop CS4

The following photo is the one that is puzzling me most. The main lights have too much of a colored halo around them and i find it steers the eye away a bit from the rest of the photo.

Also, is there a certain type of filter that I could use to cut down on the PP.

Hi Bill,

What lens did you shoot this with? What aperture? Was any kind of filter attached to the lens?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Bill,

How's this



OK, to pre-empt the next question, this is what I did:
On each lamp, I used Elements Burn tool set to 50% Exposure and Mid-tones Range, then I clicked it several times on each while also varying the (whole halo) brush size and positioning for each click. To avoid too big an effect in one place.
That left some colourful halos, so I repeated the above with the Sponge tool in Desat mode similarly.

I did the above for the lights and their reflections to taste, but I was rushing; there is still rather more colour halo on the right hand one than I intended
I also now see there are some flares I should have Burned too.

Then I gave it an LCE with USM 20% at 100px, 0 th.
Finally an USM sharpen at 100%, 0.3px and 8 th.

Is that OK?

BTW, I suspect any filter at night for this kind of shot will make things worse not better, so the answer to your last question is 'no'

[arith]

Yes; filters make things worse especially for HDR but I suppose it applies here as well. It is also a good idea to use a wide angle prime with an aperture set as small as you can get it and still keep the essential detail.

I like lens flare except when it includes horrible polygonal shapes or is too strong and it isn't here. It all depends I suppose.

[Doughboy]

Colin - I used my Sigma 18-200mm lens, aperture of f/3.5. Also had a UV filter on, which I normally don;t take off the lens as I like the protection it gives.


Dave - That looks a lot more to my liking, the lights are still there but not taking away from the picture itself, which is awesome. And I think I may have even understood more then half of how you explained it. hehe. But I will give it a try myself ans thats the best way for me to learn

I am still learning, but have a lot under my belt. I have noticed I was tending to stay on Program mode on my SLR, but have been venturing out now and trying to choose the settings myself to obtain the most control I can. I will try playing with the aperture more when I try these types of shots.

Appreciate the help tho.

Any criticism on the photo itself?

And yes I am using a tripod for my nights shots too

- Bill

[Dave Humphries]

~ And I think I may have even understood more then half of how you explained it. hehe. But I will give it a try myself and thats the best way for me to learn ~

Hi Bill,

Yes, access to these tools is actually one of the less intuitive bits of Elements (or CS) I guess. They're also really tricky to describe in words how to get at, because I don't think there are any menu options to select them

The tools I was using in this case are selectable from a right click menu under the lowest icon on the right in the panel of icons that seems to dock itself on left of edit area. It doesn't help that that icon can be one of three things, depending what you last used; a grey hand (Burn), a 'dark magnifying glass' (Dodge), or a sponge (Sponge!).
Ya know how I often say to new people "there's no such thing as a daft question", well here's the proof. I have just discovered, researching this for you, that if I hit the "O" key, it selects the right icon with repeated presses. Doh, I've been using it for a year and didn't know that Now who's feeling stupid?

Anyway, now we know how to get there quick, the other settings I mention are just below the menu bar above the image. Oh and the quick way to change brush size is with the square brackets, one to make bigger and one .... you get the idea.

~ I am still learning, but have a lot under my belt. I have noticed I was tending to stay on Program mode on my SLR, but have been venturing out now and trying to choose the settings myself to obtain the most control I can. I will try playing with the aperture more when I try these types of shots.

You have, amongst many others, come a long way since you joined, and it's good to see it happen (for the mods I mean)

I only weaned myself off "P" (onto "A" usually) last summer

One other thing I didn't explain properly:
LCE = Local Contrast Enhancement, there's a tutorial on it here at CiC - if that was the bit you weren't sure of

Cheers,

[Doughboy]

Dave, thanks for the add on to that for me. I will have to add "O" to my memory of shortcuts. And yes LCE, I had no clue what it was. I will try this myself later today, going to try and get out for some photo ops if i can shortly here even tho the weather is rather wet these days.

I also recently purchased a Pen Tablet, my xmas present for myself. And I love it. Anyways, it has a very handy quick shortcut for different brush sizes as I go.

Appreciate the comment on how I have improved since I joined. Will almost be a year soon since I signed up. I have learned lots and still learning as already mentioned. And your right, there is no such thing as a bad question.

I have been wondering about a Calibrater for my monitor. Is this truly worth it, I haven;t read up on it much yet, just remembered seeing people talk about it on here while i was browsing a while back.

[Doughboy]

I just played with the option you mentioned ("O" shortcut)

I have seen this pop up before, but never tried it. All I have to say is WOW, I think its going to open so many more doors for me now. Makes some of the things I do a little simpler.

I truly do appreciate the advice even more now

[Donald]

I have been wondering about a Calibrater for my monitor. Is this truly worth it

Only one response available, Bill - 'YES'.

I didn't understand what all this stuff about calibrating and profiling was all about, 'til I started reading and taking on board what people on here were writing. And, boy, what a difference.

[Doughboy]

Is it something I have to buy, or are their guidelines i can just follow.

And if its something to buy, what are some good ones to get ?

[Colin Southern]

Is it something I have to buy, or are their guidelines i can just follow.

And if its something to buy, what are some good ones to get ?

It's called a colorimeter, and you have to buy it. I use a Spyder III, but there are other brands equally as good.

The actual benefit you'll get will depend on how far our your existing calibration is ... usually they give the biggest adjustment to black and white points; colour is usually reasonably close.

[Colin Southern]

Colin - I used my Sigma 18-200mm lens, aperture of f/3.5. Also had a UV filter on, which I normally don;t take off the lens as I like the protection it gives.

Hi Bill,

I use UV filters for protection too (in fact I'm a staunch advocate of them) - but - with extreme contrast scenes like this they can increase flare and ghosting. In a nutshell, unless the day was very foggy, you shouldn't be getting the halos that you did - so I was wondering what was causing them ... and the filter is my first suspect, although I have no idea about how the Sigma lens performs in this regars.

The other thing is ... if you put the camera on a tripod and stop the lens down to (say F16 or smaller) - you'll get a nice star pattern around the lights.

[PopsPhotos]

I haven't use a calibrator tool on my monitors, but I do calibrate them. I'm too cheapy to buy the tool. What I do is get a few prints of varying subject, color contrasts and such from a print shop I trust to match my eye. I then bring up the picture I took on the screen and start playing with the gamma settings and such to make the screen match the print.

This takes a little more time, but it then matches the monitor to MY eye, which is really what I want.

Pops

[Doughboy]

Ok, going on the screen calibrating topic again here.

I use a Dell Laptop for all my computer work, but I also have a second screen hooked up. LG Flatron L1717S

Should I be using the the attached monitor for working the PP on my photos. I do notice a color difference between the 2 and not sure why I never asked this before.

[PopsPhotos]

Which one matches the prints you get (and like) of your work? That is the one you should be using for PP.

Pops

[BillTexas]

Off the subjecdt a little bit but I arrieved in Boston recently with a cracked UV filter. No damage to the front lens element. Had to be TSA, but I can't prove it. I don't let them look at my stuff out of my presece any more. I found a real camera store and bought a new filter. Chaep insurance.

BillTexas.