Exercise 23 - alteration

Original image

Cloning out various blemishes in an images is 'normal' and I don't really think about, so when asked to remove such a large section of the image I just thought more cloning. However, once I opened the image on the pc and started the removal process I got stuck.

Ø         What did the underside of the table look like?

Ø         Without reflections, what colour were the seat and the table top?

Ø         What about all the damage to the varnish on the table?

Ø         Where was I going to find all the replacement brickwork needed?

So I started slowly and removed an arm.

Vanishing

I certainly wasn't difficult, I think time consuming and somewhat tedious are rather better descriptors. As long as I didn't try to copy too much, in any one replacement, the brickwork looked normal. It was much easier to copy a full line of bricks from one area to another; but zooming out form the image it clearly looked like the bricks had been copied.

Something I became very aware of - very few lines are actually perfectly straight! This mades things  lot easier.

Reflections

I think removing the reflections were by far the trickiest. In terms of the potential cloning material available, it was less than 50%. This meant that the size of the 'pick and place' pixels significantly reduced and thus took a lot longer to complete. In terms of the image a lot the damaged varnish, and thus character, was lost. 

Empty seat

Overall its not a bad attempt. However, I think the resultant image is flat in comparison to the original, removal of the reflection and the shine dulled the image. 

Comparing just the last 2 images, the reflection alone makes the image more interesting. I appreciate that the lines are not quite at the correct angles, but the reflection might be of the window.

Currently in the Pdog19 library - May

Why Photographs Work by George Barr
(2011, Rocky Nook Inc)

"With guidance from Barr, we learn to decipher that certain intangible 'something' that makes an image go beyond the ordinary. As we gain an understanding of and appreciation for the elements that make an image truly great, we are bound to improve our own images as well."

I'm not sure about the first sentence of the review above, but I do agree with the second one. And whilst I didn't always agree with Barr, I was able to follow all of the points he was making. I enjoyed reading this book.

What makes this book different, is that each of the photographers contributing talks about how they came to create the image - ideas, techniques and gear. In addition, they also include photographers that have influenced their work. As such this book provides a mass of very interesting information.

The only criticism I have is the thickness of the paper, you can actually see ghost images and text through the pages. This book is currently on sale (45% off) at £16.98 with Amazon, full price being £30.00. At sale price the quality is passable, at full price I'd have sent it back.


Capture the Moment - the Pulitzer Prize Photographs (updated edition)
Edited by Cyma Rubin and Eric Newton
(2003, The Freedom Forum Newseum Inc with W W Norton, New York & London)

"This book tells the stories behind the photographs that won America's most prestigious journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize. Great photographs change the way we think. Quickly and clearly, they say that war is brutal, victory is sweet and life is fragile. Great photographs change lives, even the lives of the photographers who take them."

Raw and disturbing is the best way to describe the images in this book. Some of the photographs are composed and technically good, but the majority just "capture the moment".

"Great photographs change the way we think" - I'm not sure that these are great photographs, or at least not great in the way I would mean. Did they change the way I think? Well, they gave me more to think about. War and human suffering were a long way away and then they were in my face.

"Great photographs change lives, even the lives of the photographers who take them." I would have thought especially the lives of the photographers who take them. I don't believe that people who live through these situation could be anything but changed. Unfortunately, I am less convinced that they change the lives of people in general. Does a book like this, whilst shocking, have enough weight/sway to influence enough people to facilitate real change?

In addition, I am concerned about the graphic nature of the images - they are not from a film or a computer game, they are real life. People are already becoming de-sensitised to blood and gore, exposing them to this type material would just further de-sensitise them. Longer term, what would be required to shock somebody enough to drive home atrocities?

Exercise 22 - addition

First section - Haven, South Shields
The sky was loaded with large heavy clouds, but at the same time it was very bright and the reflection off the wet sand almost blinding as such the best way to capture the scene was to bracket. I waited until the sun was just starting to move behind some lighter clouds and took five shots using exposure compensation (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). I then blended these in Photoshop and in Photomatix using "Exposure Fusion".

For this first photograph I selected the +1 exposure for the sky and the -1 exposure for the beach. Initially I thought the result looked good - after seeing the Photomatix version I'm not so sure.

Blended in Photoshop

I used all 5 exposures for the Photomatix conversion and it produced a better final image - interestingly, I think the first version more accurately records the day. Nonetheless, this image is more subtle with a greater range of colours. The darker clouds on the LHS have more texture and don't look anywhere near as foreboding; similarly the sand is lighter and less mud-like in colour because the reflection of the sky can be seen.

Blended in Photomatix - exposure fusion

I have never used this function in Photomatix before, it's a nice tool to have and I'm very impressed with the results.

Second section - Litchfield Cathedral

Litchfield Cathedral

This was taken on a beautiful day - ideal for site seeing, but rather boring for photography.


New sky

Modified image

Since the original image was taken early afternoon there were few shadows to be seen, this dictated the type of replacement sky needed and the type of clouds that would be suitable. This new sky makes the images significantly more interesting.
I have also slightly straightened the verticals. As part of the process I also cropped out the bit of grass at the bottom of the image, this made the whole thing feel very sterile so I put it back in.

Exercise 21 - enhancement

Original image



As shot

Selection 1 - full face

Having done very little portraiture, I really enjoyed this exercise and learnt a lot. Adding contrast adjustment alone altered the image significantly, bring it to life and creating an almost 3D effect.



With brightness/contrast adjustment

I'm not sure that I would consider this type of alteration as 'tampering' in the truest sense of the word; I think more along the lines of 'making the most of what you have' - rather like women wearing makeup.

I have subsequently revisited some on my better head shots and given them a make-over. Fascinating stuff!





Selection 2 - eyes only

Quite often I increase the saturation in my photographs, sometimes generally and sometimes a specific colour. I don't recall every having saturated a selection.

Real

Blue 

Saturating eye colour - does this fall into the 'tampering' category? Possibly.

Green

Changing eye colour - does this fall into the 'tampering' category? Almost certainly.

Besides which, it was actually quite disconcerting looking at my husband with the wrong colour eyes.

Having said that, if the colour change was effected on clothing I don't believe this would fall into the category of tampering.

Time for a pertinent aside: Whilst shopping in-store I saw a photograph of a model wearing purple shorts, unable to find said items I asked for assistance. The lady directed me to blue shorts, when I queried the colour she replied that "a lot of people had commented on that". I didn't buy the blue shorts.

I think this is where the boundaries start to blur and a lot of the time I don't think there is an absolute answer - if there were we wouldn't be doing this exercise.

Is tampering wrong?

Yes, if what you are doing is morally wrong - lying to defraud or to cause harm.

No, if you're selling a dream...

Lets face it, we all know that you shouldn't believe anything your see/read in the newspapers or any other form of media for that matter. I could continue on this theme but no doubt it would become very cynical, best just to leave it at: Buyer Beware!

Exercise 20 - improvements

I carried out this improvement exercise for one of the images I selected for my first assignment entitled: Walkers.

I'd taken a few photographs of this street because of the reflections in the rain on the large paving stones. The street alone, regardless of the reflections, didn't make for a 'good' photograph - there was nothing to anchor your view. Adding pedestrians to the image was just a matter of timing and placement - most people walked up the centre of the street rather than on the cobbles.

Having taken a few shots with varying exposures I opted to expose for the reflections, rather than the people, and then make the necessary adjustments later in Photoshop.

Walkers - as shot

The process I followed was exactly as per the exercise in the file. I selected the walkers and feathered the edge.

Selection and refined edge

Once happy with this I added a curves adjustment layer and lightened my selection.

Photoshop toolbar showing layers and adjustments

After this first adjustment, I made a second selection of the walker on the far right and lightened him again. (Not shown here.)

Walkers- final image

A similar effect was achieved using 'fill light' in the raw, however, this lightened everything especially the shadow in front of the walkers and changed the whole feel of the image.

"Consider the limits that you would accept for this to remain an innocent, legitimate adjustment."

Observing the scene, I certainly was not aware of my eyes adjusting between the light from the reflection and the relatively dark clothing of the walkers. In previous exercises we have already determined that my camera has a more limited dynamic range than my (human) eye. Therefore, I would suggest that rather than a dodgy or questionable adjustment this is an appropriate adjustment as it better represents how I saw the scene on the day.

Generally I think lightening/darkening areas within an image, by whatever means - curves or dodging/burning, is acceptable.

Exercise 19 - correction

For this exercise I elected to use the photographs from the OCA website.

Photograph 1 - glass objects



Before

After

I think it would be more accurate to say that I 'sanitised' this image - the slightest speck of dust; the smallest blemish; even some of the imperfections in the glass, everything was removed. There is no doubt that the corrections I made were over-the-top, I would also suggest that the image is far less interesting because of the alteration.

It is very easy to alter somebody else's work - they are not my nick-knacks, it is not my composition and I have no personal investment or connection to the work. This in itself enables a more radical approach to correction. In addition, I don't actually know what is a bit of fluff and what is a genuine flaw in the glass. It is possible to speculate that, with the exception of a couple of very dark specks, all of the 'marks' on the glassware are manufacturing defects or age related and this collection of pieces was assembled for this photograph because they were interesting.

Does it bother me, removing dust specks from my image? Yes, but more so because I have dust on my sensor rather than any qualms relating to image tampering. In this particular instance, if it were not for this exercise in correction, I don't think I would have removed any of the 'specks' from the image - possibly the very tiny one on the white background just above the amber glass.

Photograph 2 - lens flare

Before

After

In this particular photograph the lens flare looks odd - two little hexagonals on the edge of frame. The position of the flare makes it easy to remove, as long as you don't over work the correction it is unlikely to be noticed. The more I work with Photoshop the more I realise "less is more".

How justifiable was this exercise? If this was my image, I would have tried to take the shot without flare; failing that, I would have tried to direct the flare across the shot and make it part of the image. 'Justifiable' is an interesting word and has quite strong moral overtones - is it permissible, fit and proper? I would say yes it is OK to do it because it dos not change the meaning or the content of the image. However, I'm not sure its justifiable.

This exercise was interesting because I have never used the colour blending mode to assist in removing flare.

Exercise 18 - colours into tones 2

I opted for number 2 - lightening the complexion without significantly altering the tones of the rest of the image.

Original version of the image

The 'default' version of the image was created using 'Greyscale' - whilst quite a raw conversion I think it works quite well because is simplifies the background.

Greyscale conversion

For this next conversion I added a Black & White Adjustment Layer and then very slightly increased the red slider - by 10 points.
Initially, I used the magic wand to select just his face and hair and then added a Curves Layer and lightened the selection. This conversion was acceptable, but no better than the greyscale version above - and considering the additional work involved, not really worth the effort.

Complexion lightened using the red slider

Lightening his face in this way certainly improves/lifts this image. My only comment would be that his forehead now blends into the pillar behind, whereas there is a clear distinction in the 'Greyscale' conversion.

Currently in the Pdog19 library - March

Advanced Digital Black & White Photography by John Beardsworth
(2007, Ilex Press Ltd)

I purchased this book 4 years ago when I started an image manipulation course at the local college. By section 3 of the first chapter I was completely out of my depth. So I put it on the shelf in the vain hope that one day I might pick it up and understand it. Two weekends ago I dug it out and read it - its actually a very good book.

The book has a natural flow and this makes it very easy to read - it starts with destructive conversion techniques, rapidly moves onto non-destructive techniques, and includes numerous creative effects. The images used are varied so you get a good feel for how b&w works, plus they're a good size so you can actually see what happening. Page layout is intuitive: screenshot > instruction > image with caption > screenshot > updated image with caption > etc, etc. Normally a couple of methods are documented for each process, plus the individual instructions are given in long hand and as short cuts. On top of this, the book also has loads of "a good little trick is to...".

For £19.99 it is superb value for money.

Exercise 17 - colours into tones

I selected a red lily for this exercise because of its striking colours. In Photoshop, I added a channel mixer layer and then saved a version of the image with each of the presets so that I could compare them side-by-side. In addition I also saved a greyscale version.

Rather just selecting 2 contrasting images, as per the exercise, I included all of the images in my blog because I thought the subtle change of tone across the sequence was interesting.

Ø       The blue filter is the least affective conversion for this particular image.

Ø       The greyscale and orange filters I put together in the sequence because of them being the 'standard' methods for creating b&w in digital and film photography, respectively. Both filters produce an acceptable b&w version, with the greyscale image having more contrast.

Ø       The red filter, unsurprisingly, produces an image least like the original - the red leaves turning white.

Ø       The yellowed filtered version I like the best - it has good tonal separation and makes a nice photograph.

Ø       The green and infrared filters are very stark b&w, quite limited in the tones represented and the IR is really just too dark.

       As shot

           Blue filter

          Greyscale

             Orange filter

        Red filter

             Yellow filter

            Green filter

               Infrared filter

Finally in terms of selecting a contrasting pair of images I would go for those with the red and green filters.

Exercise 16 - strength of interpretation

Part 1 - increased contrast using a pronounced S-curve

Trees - as shot

Trees - high contrast (pronounced S-curve)

The strong S-curve made the image look gaudy and very over processed. Taking the above image and converting it to b&w transformed it into something interesting.


Trees - b&w conversion

I added a futher curves layer and adjusted the red and green channels to create this 'lith' version.


Part 2 - high key treatment

Tulips - as shot

Tulips - high key colour

This image was created by slightly increasing the exposure in RAW. Once in Photoshop I added two adjustment layers - the first set to overlay and the second set to colour dodge. To convert the image to b&w I added a hue/saturation layer and set saturation to -100. After that I added a black & white adjustment layer leaving it with the default settings.


Tulips - b&w conversion

Finally I added a 2mm grey border to the image to anchor the flowers.

Exercise 15 - black & white

Armed and dangerous with some tips from the black and white pro's:

Ø        Avoid shooting with the sun behind you - your after contrast!

Ø        Whilst flat/dull days are poor for colour, their great for black and white - get out there with your camera and experiment.

Ø        What works in black and white? - the same as what works in colour...

Ø        On the other hand, a  poor colour image with a good tonal range can be 'worked' very effectively in black and white.

Ø        Black and white is very good enhancing depth.

I took my camera out with the specific purpose of taking black and white photographs for these next few exercises; it was a cold day with a very harsh sun and a good sky.

Interestingly I took shots that previously I would not have considered taking. By this I mean, shots that contained 'noise' or possibly more accurately 'clutter' - with the absolute belief that this would be removed/minimised/irrelevant because of the black and white processing. It took me back to an interview with Liam Neeson and the making of Schindler's List. The reason for black and white was so people could focus on the story not the detail of the film - for example, the blood. Colour is a very strong visual element and people are easily distracted by it, substitute this with grey and detail goes unnoticed.

The photograph selected here is rather nondescript and if it had remained a colour image would have been unlikely to catch anybodies eye. As a black and white image it is much more interesting.



The Street - as shot

Image information: f/11, 1/125, ISO 200

In terms of processing I tried a number of different black and white conversions: -

Ø        Greyscale - the result was fine, but felt rather clinical and stark.

Ø        Desaturate - for this particular image I couldn't see any difference between this and greyscale.

Ø        Gradient Map - this provided good contrast and I liked this result. I also liked the 'reverse' capability and the ease of which the image could be tinted.



The Street - sepia



Ø        Channel mixer - I found this a useful tool and ideal for quick conversions.

Ø        Black & White - this option provided the greatest flexibility and was also the most intuitive to use.

My favourite final image was obtained using a black and white adjustment layer.



The Street - using a black & white adjustment layer

One of the most interesting lessons learnt form this exercise is the use of 'channels' to examine your image - I had never noticed this tab on the layers pallet. When flicking though other images, even those destined to remain colour, I find it provides great insight into how you can work with your image to bring out its better qualities.

Exercise 14 - my interpretation

Original photograph

This particular photograph was taken on a miserable, windy winters day - I was attracted to the strong sculptural feel.

Sky replacement

Option 1 - remove the grey sky to provide a colour contrast and lift the mood of the photograph, I also lightened the stairs to give them a more natural feel. The overall colour of the composition is better, but I prefer the shapes of the original clouds.

Old fashioned...

Option 2 - sepia filter, I appreciate that applying an aging filter to a modern steel spiral fire escape is not the most obvious thing to do, but I'm glad I tried. I like the way the detail is picked out on the checker-plate.

"Pop art" steps

Option 3 - I decided to give it a pop-art make over because.....

Moody

Option 4 - this is the result of playing with layer blending options: 1st layer - multiply; 2nd layer - exclusion. This is my favourite result and whilst it might be a bit surreal, I think this version of the image communicates the feel of the day very accurately.

The Pdog19 library update

The library has been busy, but not with what you would call reading material - more picture books. I have been absorbed by guerrilla art. Namely:

Street Knowledge by King Adz
(2010, Harper Collins)

Adz states that "Whether the point of exhibition happens to be in the corporate world via advertising campaigns or 'underground' written on the walls and the bridges of our urban environments - makes absolutely no difference; the only think that matters is impact and visibility on the street.

Adz has travelled all over the world, spending time with, working with, and collecting the work of urban artists. The aim of the book is to document the influences on urban culture over the last 30 years and chart its progression from its origins to where it is today. This is indeed a big ask for one book, but Adz gives it a good go. The drawback being because of the number of artists covered it is somewhat superficial, but it does provide a good taster of what is out there. Plus if your interested in any of these artists you can usually find them on the web.

The writing style will certainly not be to everybody's taste, but the colour reproductions of the art in the book are excellent.


Trespass - a history of uncommissioned urban art edited by Ethel Seno
(2010, Taschen)

This book is some 300+ pages and full of photographs of graffiti from around the world. Each photograph has a caption providing minimal information, normally a location and year; sometimes it includes the name of the artist and the duration of the piece (before removal by the authorities).

In comparison to Street Knowledge (above) there is no information about art, artist and evolution - its just photographs. Nonetheless, it is an inspiring collection of art and well worth the read. For me, the most surprising element of this book was the incredible sense of humour of the artists - there were numerous occasions when I laughed out loud.


Street Sketchbook by Tristan Manco
(2007, Thames and Hudson)

"Sketchbooks retain an eternal fascination. The sketches of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, for example, are regularly exhibited around the world's museums to huge audiences. Our reverence for them has endured through time, as has their role as repositories of ideas and as sanctuaries for drawing. Working out thought on paper may seem antiquated in this increasingly high-tech world but this process is far from dead."

This book contains sketchbook extracts from over sixty contemporary artists world wide. It provides a brief write up on the artist, their style and approach to art, plus any affiliations (street art). In addition, and most interestingly, is goes on to discuss the relationship between the artist and their sketchbook.

The last page of the book provides a list of websites for the majority of contributing artists - this is a very nice touch.

Exercise 13 - managing colour

There are a number of ways to 'manage colour' in Photoshop: -

1. Using Auto Colour via the menu bar: Image > Auto colour. This is the most radical option because its automatic and it discards image information - one click and its done.
2. Using Auto Colour via a Levels or Curves adjustment layer.
3. Using the 'eyedroppers' via a Levels or Curves adjustment layer.

All three options give similar results. My personal preference is option 3 because you can hope around the image selecting different coloured areas until you find one that give the desired result.

The three images selected were shot in JPEG. They have been colour corrected only and would all require further post processing prior to use.

Image 1 - blue colour cast

Image 1 - colour corrected

Image 2 - mixed lighting, flourescent and daylight

Image 2 - colour corrected

Image 3 - mixed lighting, soduim and halogen



Image 3 - colour corrected