Globemaster

[RossW]

United States Air Force C-17 departing Richmond NSW. Critique welcome

[Isac]

Wow, what a photo! Framing is spot on and very sharp. If you lifted the shadows slightly you could see USAF under the left wing. Also give the sky a bit of a nicer blue. These are only my thoughts, others may have their own ideas - OR - none at all

[RossW]

Thanks Isac. You certainly made a difference to it. I shall have another play with it. Thanks again.

[HansE]

well spotted Isac. Improved a nice capture.

[Isac]

Cheers Hans. I'll post a quick workflow.

[Isac]

Here's the workflow for brightening up the sky.
1 - Add a Hue/Saturation Layer.

2 - Click on the "Targeted Adjustment Tool (TAT)". Here's a great HUE/SAT Tutorial.

3 - Move your cursor onto your image and it will change to an eyedropper.

4 - Click and hold on your image where you want to change the Hue/Sat and the cursor will change to show left and right arrows on a hand.
5 - Drag either left or right to change the selected colour range. Let go when colour is OK. I slid to the right and added "70" to the saturation only affecting the BLUES.

[RossW]

Thanks Isac. Boy what a learning curve. Have added some Hue & Sat as per your instructions above. Think I did it right..

[Isac]

You got the sky right but it needs the shadows adjustment too. See post below for how to do it.

[RossW]

Hi Isac. A couple of questions re editing bearing in mind I am a raw (pardon the pun) beginner to photoshop.

With the above I did 95% of my edit in lightroom then "edit in Photoshop" where all I did was sharpening before saving. Is this the right way to go or should I be doing more if not all in Photoshop?

My main issues with PS is knowing where to add the layers i.e. do you just keep adding them to the top or when should you "duplicate the background layer" and add layers to that. Hope that makes sense

Cheers

[seaslug]

Just a comment from another plodder, the image could have been entirely edited in Lightroom to lift shadows and correct the sky colour. Isac is a wizard in Photoshop but there are often simpler ways to achieve a similar result.

[Isac]

Like Greg mentioned, there are many ways to do quick fixes on your images. Personally I haven't used Lightroom for many years. Others love it but I prefer Photoshop - to each his own I guess. Photoshop has a lot more power and does everything that Lightroom does anyway (and just as easily) and I couldn't see the point in using 2 programs to edit one image. Photoshop standard editing is super easy once you get the basics, like any other software. I always work with layers and smart objects to get the results I'm after because they are non-destructive. You asked about layers: You only add a new layer if you need to and it can be on top of or below the current layer, depending on what you want to do with it. I have written many Actions to streamline my workflow when doing basic things like shadows adjustments, sharpening and even watermarking. Let me know if you want some of these to try - free of course.

[RossW]

Hi Greg. Did it all bar the sharpening in Lightroom. I just felt it better to sharpen in PS so that I didn’t increase noise in the sky (photoshop can select aircraft only) Now having said that I am only what one could consider beginner to intermediate in LR so have a lot to learn. If it is possible to sharpen the plane only could you please point me in the right direction.. Cheers. Hi again Isac. As I only want to edit images, rather than add or subtract parts If it is possible to do what I want in LR only I would prefer to go down that path. I have just always had the feeling that PS was beyond me and probably not really needed. Thanks for your offer I will give it some thought. Cheers

[seaslug]

Ross as I mentioned and it's probably obvious, that I don't confess to be deeply into processing but I do use earlier versions of both PS and Lightroom to get where I want with my images. To just sharpen a subject without affecting background noise in LR, use the adjustment brush and the sliders associated with it. You can just 'paint over' the area you need sharpened and you change the size of the brush with the bracket keys on your keyboard.

[Isac]

Do the shadows adjustment first then hue/sat. For shadows, on the top menu, click:
Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights and check "Show More Options" and "Preview".
In the "Shadows" box, set the Amount: 45%, Tonal Width: 45% and Radius: 5 px. This should show more of the under carriage.
Next do the Hue/Saturation adjustment.

[RossW]

Hi again Guys. Thanks for your responses. I have learnt more from this thread than I have on youtube, Thanks.

Greg I will give the sharpening in LR a go as you suggest.

Isac, just used the shadows adjustment in PS and to be honest could not get that result in LR. it's amazing.

[RossW]

Wow, that's what I want. I know there are blemishes in the sky but I have put it down to the fact that I have done a heap of edits on this shot

[Isac]

Good stuff Ross, you'll be a pro in no time

[seaslug]

Thought you were selling Lightroom a bit short.. Just put the image through the very basic Highlight and Shadows adjustment with a little cooling of the color temp.

[RossW]

Hi Greg. Yes you are right I believe I am selling LR short (especially looking at your edit. it's brilliant)

Let me tell you where I am coming from. A few months ago I lost my beautiful wife of 47 years to brain cancer and now find myself with a lot of time on my hands and thought it time to step up and learn Photoshop. Maybe I don't need too, I don't know. BTW isn't Adobe Camera Raw exactly the same as LR?

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

[seaslug]

Very sorry to hear of your loss and I do understand where you're coming from. I'm not trying to deter you from learning more about Photoshop but perhaps consider as well getting to know the program you are most familiar with better. Both programs can do way more than I need them to do and Isac shows just what PS is capable of in the right hands.
As a retired tech teacher I've always held the view that 'Keep It Simple' is by far the most effective way to learn. Work with what you understand now and build on that in increments as the need arises.
Too much information can tend to confuse and trying to follow U-Tube tutes with all their short cuts and cross references makes it more and more difficult to take in.

If I might just give you the names of a couple of books you might find useful:

Teach yourself Visually. Adobe Photoshop CS3. Put out by Visual. ISBN: 978-0-470-11452-0

Lightroom 4. By Scott Kelby. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-81958-1

Both books should still be available through a book shop or on-line and even though they are describing older systems, the descriptions are still valid particularly for oldies like us!