Objective:
Many methods have been used to further develop my photographs thereby using the photographic rules of:
- Composition; Lines; Scale; Perspective; Frames and Form
- Colour; Shapes; Patterns;Texture; Focal Point and Rule of Thirds
Several techniques used in PhotoShop were applied to my photographs; some worked and were progressed whilst others were rejected as it did not enhance. For this post I am focusing on a selected number of images to demonstrate some of the PhotoShop techniques used. Several of these techniques were used in many of my images to a greater or lesser extent. Screen shots have been taken to visualise the changes made.
Aircraft Theme - Examples of Techniques used:
BAC 188 Images:
Two main photographs were produced both taken from the front of the plane. One image is taken with the camera positioned directly in front of, and at the same height of, the nose cone and probe. The other was taken positioning the camera at ground level which dramatically altered the perspective of the probe.
Having captured these images I used different techniques within PhotoShop. These are captured in the screen shots below:
- BAC 188 Nose Cone:
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| Original photograph. Levels primarily altered to remove substantial white tone range. Mid-tones then altered to maximise the tonal range & level of reflection of the lights on the stainless steel body. |
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| Duplicate layer formed. This screen is offered using the Adjustment & Black & White option. |
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| Altering the tonal range scales reduces or heightens the tone. Awareness of the original colour range is vital! Dramatically altering the Yellow. Green & Red tones has generated contrast. |
- BAC 188:
My aim with this photograph was to emphasis the reflections of the fuselage and the "dark power" that the plane displayed.Colour or B&W was one image that needed investigating but it was the "power" that I wanted to stress.
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| Original photograph. Tonal levels of the photograph offering a dull image. |
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| Tonal levels adjusted using PhotoShop. White tones reduced to maximise the body of the tonal range. Mid-tones left unchanged: Reflective light emphasised. |
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| Brush Tool used to over-colour the background of the image. Relatively large size chosen delivering average hardness of colour overlay. |
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| Colour choice: range of tones chosen. Dark blue: Mid-tone blue: grey white. |
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| Aim to blend the tonal range to create a variable coloured mist. Blur Tool used to blend the tones. Attempt failed! |
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| Screen shot of finished image. Mid-tone grey applied using Brush Tool achieving a solid background. Chosen tone enhanced the tone and image of the fuselage. Using varying size of brush & enlarging the image allowed the tone to applied along the lines of the fuselage and wings. |
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| Finished colour image then turned to B&W using an additional layer in PhotoShop. |
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| Colour ranges left in place with exception of Blue which is altered from 20 to 200 in order to achieve a lighter image. |
- Olympus 22R-320:
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| Original photograph. 8"x10" cropping tool applied: positioned to frame the triangle of the fuselage and air brakes. |
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| Tonal level adjusted. Only the mid-tonal range adjusted maintaining the range of tones in the image. Slight blurring applied to the immediate edges of the image thereby drawing the viewers eye towards the central triangle. |
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| Final colour image then turned into B&W using an additional layer. Colour tones only slightly modified to enhance the sharpness of the image which in turn enhanced the patterning of the air brakes and lines of the fuselages and wings. |
- Lincoln Bombing Raid:
This image was developed using two photographs namely:
- photograph of the open bomb bay of the Lincoln Heavy Bomber. Taken at RAF Cosford.
- landscape photograph of the Derbyshire Peak District. Taken between Ashbourne and Buxton one evening during early Spring.
My aim was to portray the feeling of the bomber in the air over countryside. The landscape photograph had to provide a misty evening feel with similar colours as found in the bomb bay image: bronze and grey blue. The landscape scene needed to be from height so that it would appear that the photograph had been taken from the aircraft itself. This area of the Peak District offered a position of height with rolling hills in the distance. Ideal for what I wanted.
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| Two original photographs overlayed within PhotoShop. Each photograph was imported onto a separate layer. Lincoln Bomber photograph was loaded in the upper layer. |
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| Close up screen shot of the tool used to move the Lincoln image across the landscape whilst locking it's proportions. |
Two screen shots of the landscape image being cut away around the lines of
the Lincoln Bomber exposing the Derbyshire Peak District views.
The Polygonal Lasso Tool was applied over specific areas to allow control
thereby maintaining detail.
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| Lincoln Bomber image locked on top of the landscape image. The original photograph of the hanger area below the bomber at RAF Cosford has been removed exposing the landscape scenery. The colour of the sun set enhances the bronze colour of the bomb bay. The final image was obtained by cropping along the lines of the bomber. |
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| Final Image. Lincoln Bomber in flight: bomb bay doors open. |
Reportage Theme - Examples of Techniques used:
Waterloo Commuters:
My photograph of commuters at Waterloo Station, London waiting for their train portrayed a large group of people all standing; many looking upwards scanning the "Departures" board and looking anxiously for their train details to appear. The crowd are very much background for a single commuter who is facing towards the camera trying to scratch his back and looking fed up. There are other individuals with wonderful facial expressions exhibiting tiredness, anxiety and frustration. The crowd offers a variety of colours but the main figure appeared very dark in the original photograph.
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| Screen shot of original photograph. "Image : Adjustment : Levels" used to show the tonal range. Profile shows a predominance of dark tones leading to a dark image. |
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| Tonal range altered by removing much of the "White" tones followed by slight alteration to the mid-tonal range. The "White" tone marker can be seen a third of the way across the profile. |
My next option was to turn this image into B&W to see whether anything could be gained? An additional layer was opened in PhotoShop which produced a colour gradient profile.
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| Colour gradient profile for the initial B&W version. |
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| Comparing the two colour gradient profiles you can see that the main changes occurred with the Green and Blue tones. Green was increased to 162% from 40%. Blue was increased to 110% from 20% |
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| Screen shot of my final image showing the levels employed. |
Old Navy 94:
This is one of a number of photographs taken in Green Park, London during a warm and sunny lunchtime. My original photograph of a brother and sister stands in its own rights but I wanted to try and enhance the colours and also see what it looked like as a B&W image. The screen shots below cover both of these options.
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| Original photograph: Levels adjusted to enhance the tonal range. |
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| Tonal range of original image. Full range of tones kept: mid-tones adjusted to sharpen the colours of both children's coats. |
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| Adjusted image then cropped to remove some of the left side. I wanted to position them more in the middle to balance the image. The dark foliage and railings in the background were kept. |
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| Screen shot of final colour version after adjustments & cropping. Brush tool was then used with a dark tone & light saturation to loose the definition of the background. This added focus on the two children. |
Turning to the B&W image, the following screen shots cover the alteration of the colour ranges and the cropping of the image. Various alternatives for both aspects of PhotoShop were tried before the final image was decided upon. These are some of the screen shots.
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| Colour range profiles within the B&W option. |
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| Tracing the cropping option of the image: 10"x8" size chosen. |
Images in the Danny Santos Style:
Several of my images were taken during a warm sunny lunch time in Green Park, London. A few of these have been adjusted and cropped within PhotoShop using methods described in the examples above. What I want to cover in this section is the use of the Brush Tool to turn my photographs into images in the style that Danny Santos used in his theme entitled "The Street is a Catwalk". Danny used a combination of darkened colours to either emphasis the background or over-mask the background. Blurring of the background was also used. The effect drew the focus onto the main subject.
- First Subject - Coffee on the Move:
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| Original photograph cropped to 8"x10" size. |
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| Colour tones adjusted using Levels Tool in PhotoShop. Lost tones can be seen in the gaps of the tonal range profile. By adjusting the tonal range the top background is darkened. |
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| B&W option of the above adjustments. |
Having got the cropped and Levels adjusted image, I then tried adjusting the background using the Brush Tool to alter the image. The next screen shots are examples of my attempts to over-mask the background. Black was used initially but the saturation levels were set too high and produced harsh lines. Alternative and additional colours were also attempted; green to pick up the tones of the foliage in the background.
My final attempt to over-mask the background produced the desired effect. Firstly a purple colour was added using the Brush Tool but on this occasion the saturation was set extremely low.
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| Colour choice identified the purple colour of the scarf. |
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| Image following addition of the purple shading. |
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| Dark grey colour then chosen to be added over the previous purple. |
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| Final image. Dark grey shading added with the edges blurred. |
- Second Subject - Executive Lunch:
Similar procedure was used on my photograph of an executive eating a commercially produced sandwich whilst walking through Green Park. The original image had slightly too much background so this was cropped to produce a better composition. The same technique of shading out the background using the Brush Tool was used. The difference from the "Coffee on the Move" image was that different colours were used mirroring the green foliage and the brown/fawn pathway.
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| 8"x10" image crop grid. |
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| Dark green colour tone chosen & applied to the background foliage using Brush Tool. |
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| Grey brown colour tone chosen & applied to the pathway using Brush Tool. |
- Third Subject - Green Park Text:
Similar procedure used again for this photograph of a young lady leaning against a lamp-post reading a text message. The photograph itself stands on its own merit but as I was looking to produce images in the vain of Danny Santos's "The Street is a Catwalk" theme I wanted to modify my original photograph.
The composition of the photograph provided good form where the focus is drawn along the line of bollards passed the subject and on towards the group of people in the distance. The focal length was short producing a crisp image around the subject. Shadows across the pathway add to the pattern and shape of the image. The subject is positioned in the central third of the photograph and there is variety in the texture of the surfaces; the hard metal surfaced bollards butting against the subtle form of the shoulder bag and coat.
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| Original photograph. |
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| Large brush employed to apply the over-shading. |
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| Choice of colour tone. |
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| Image after initial application of colour tone. |
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| Final image: Darker tone applied to the extreme edging. |
Summary:
My final images for both themes display the range of "subjects" that I have captured. They also display the range of techniques used in PhotoShop that I have used to alter these images. Many of the original photographs I believe would stand in their own right but I have altered them attempting to match some of the images found whilst researching known photographers, such as Ian Tindale, Danny Santos and Patrick Lichfield. I have not discussed all of my final images individually but have focused on those where a range of techniques have been employed. The remaining photographs have all been modified to a lesser extent; for many simply by adjusting the tonal levels to produce the final images. In some cases I have presented several final images as a theme; for example those images taken in Green Park, London and presented under the banner of "The Street is a Catwalk."
