Landscape photography tools
by Mark ~ November 9th, 2007. Filed under: Photo Tips, Photoshop Tips, field techniques, landscape, nature photography, processing, technique.
I have written previously about Tony Kuyper’s great Luminosity mask actions. I am late in writing about the updates he has made to them, making them even better than before. The previous set of actions used to make your file size grow by leaps and bounds because of the various channels it created to help you in making your masks. You had to go in and manually delete them to get the file size back down. You also essentially had to create the adjustment layers yourself, following a pretty easy sequence of steps, but some additional steps nonetheless. Well Tony has revised his actions to eliminate those two small issues. They create the layers automatically now, and also auto-delete the left over channels that caused the files to grow. So wander on over to his site and check them out. Throw him a bit of coin also because these are incredibly helpful tools.
I put the latest luminosity masks into action on the two images on this post. Ansel Adams used to correlate how piano players need to be able to play every key on the keyboard to how photographers need to control every tone in an image. Luminosity masks help you play all of those keys and give your adjustment layers a shot of steroids. For these two images, I think I ended up with more tonally rich images than if I had simply played with curves on a global scale across the image.
Another thing I sometimes do for close element / wide angle shots is to combine 2 images shot at f11, one focused on the foreground, the other on the background. I do this to eliminate the diffraction problems that come up when shooting at f16 and f22. My D2X camera has very small photosites on the sensor. (the result of packing a lot of pixels close together onto a APS sized sensor). I get an incredible amount of detail at f8 or f11 with my wide angle lenses, but at f16 and f22 – although apparently sharp – I can see the results of diffraction creeping in and I lose some detail. Depending on the image, it may or may not be so detrimental where I feel I need to combine two shots. It can also be a bit tricky to blend them because you will notice the two shots are slightly different magnifications because of the change in focus. So I am a bit wary of newer cameras packing even more pixels into APS sized sensors – because they could easily exaggerate this optical problem. More is not always better.
Landscape photography certainly demands control of tones and control of sharpness and detail. So I consider these two things essential tools in my post processing of my photographs.
November 10th, 2007 at
Hi Mark,
to be honest I have never heard about “luminosity mask actions” and had a peek into the tutorial you are mentioning from your last post in March. It sounds very instriguing. But I am afraid the technical requirements needed for this kind of action do not apply to my resources as I am still working with a 5 year old notebook with an already pimped up RAM of only 512 MB and photoshop elements V 1.0!!! which probably makes you laugh. But I try my best with what I have got.
I wonder whether these luminosity masks do merely the same (in a much more sophisitcated manner of course) as what I do with the lasso tool and changing contrasts and tones in some areas of an image in order to achieve a harmonious overall tone?
Never mind – the first photo is just simply wonderful in its design, transparency and colours. The second comes close but I would still prefer the first – just from a painter’s point of view if I may say so.
Cordially,
Petra
November 10th, 2007 at
Mark, thanks for all of your advice and tips. I learn a lot from reading how you approach images. Just the pride you take in crafting an image is great to learn.
Great images as well. There is a Bridal Veils Fall in eastern Georgia that would blow your mind. If you get a chance google it sometime.
November 10th, 2007 at
Petra and Boyd, thanks for stopping by.
Petra – My own computer is considered ‘ancient’ by todays standards as well. But for the most part, it gets me by. Luminosity masks are similar to what you do with the lasso tool, but take into account the entire image. The mask itself looks like a grayscale conversion of the image – applying different amounts to different regions. You could probably do the same using a lasso/selection approach, but it would take soooo much longer, and not as much intricate control.
Boyd, Yeah, it is amazing how many ‘bridal veil’ falls there are out there!! Thanks for your comments.
November 11th, 2007 at
Hey Mark, this looks like a cool place to find some interesting marco shots in the rock.
November 16th, 2007 at
Beautiful work Mark, I love the perspective in these, the leaves add a wonderful splash of color as well, very nice
November 24th, 2007 at
Hey Mark
Just checking, man .. Great stuff you’ve been posting this month, man, really, really a nice treat to look over these images.
I gotta check into those Tony Kuyper tutorials. He’s such an amazing photographer.
Cheers
Carl
December 9th, 2007 at
Ahah! I was wondering about f/stops when merging shots. I get a lot of diffraction in some of my shots too when I use high stops w/ wide angle. A rookie by far, I’m starting to explore landscapes more in my free time from portraiture and college. However, what would be the result if using a low f/stop for only a single frame shot? Would a ND filter assist in getting the same focus on everything?
December 9th, 2007 at
Hi Francis, no, a ND filter will only impact your exposure time, not sharpness or DOF.
You essentially have to take two exposures – one focused on a foreground element, and another perhaps 3/4 into the frame.
Merging them in Photoshop isn’t too hard using layer masks and a gradient applied to the mask.
December 9th, 2007 at
Ah thanks, if you don’t mind…
…what about on film? Would there be any difference with film? Or could you go splurge with your high f/stops not worried about diffraction?
December 9th, 2007 at
Film is different as far as diffraction. It is not as sensitive if light doesn’t some in at a straight angle, but diffraction still exists to some extent.
December 10th, 2007 at
Cool, well thanks for taking time to explain!
March 24th, 2008 at
Hi Mark,
Your photograph of Bridal Veil Falls, Ohio, is stunning! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful photograph with us and explaining how to come up with better photos. — Patricia
August 14th, 2008 at
Hey, just did a google search and found this site. glad i did! Great advice, thanks!
November 10th, 2008 at
beautiful pictures and great tips. We do a lot of wide angle stuff too. If you’re interested, check out our site. I am actually doing a landscape project with Doors..
Bscphoto Website