Greg Groess's Zion image

[ggroess]

Here are two additional exposures with a totally different look.

Greg

[ggroess]

I have moved versions of the image over to the gallery.  Please go vote.

http://curvemeister.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=505

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi Greg:

Here is my shot at it.  First I set shadow (underbrush on right bank), highlight (on the rock face) and neutral (light gray in the clouds).  That seemed to suitably eliminate a blue color cast.  I played around with it in LAB a bit, but I could not bring up enough of the shadows without blowing out the rock face, nor was I happy with the resulting contrast.  I decided to use a mask so I could brighten the shadows areas without affecting the highlights.  I tried various channels and (I think) I settled on red.  That helped a lot, with the shadows, and after that I pumped up the colors with the LAB slider.  After looking at the image some more, I decided I would like to really saturate the sunset look on the rock face, so I created another mask (K channel maybe?) to mask off the shadows, and then played around with the contrast a small bit and pushed the Lab slider. 

[mikemeister_admin]

Wow Greg!!!!  I have a lot to learn!

Nicely done...Zog.

Here is my swing at it..again by no means the "official" solution.

Here is what I did with the image.
Observations:
1) The shadows are pretty deep and need to be opened.
2) The highlight in the clouds is pretty much blown out.  I want some information in there but may not be able to get it all back.
3) The image is overall flat and needs a contrast boost.
4) Color is also flat. No severe color casts present.

The work flow:
1) Shadow and highlight in Photoshop to get back some information in the highlights and open the shadows.  (I'm really beginning to like this way as a start>
2) Open in CM and set the neutral on the rapids of the river.  I then added a slight lizard tail correction to the highlight and shadow ends of the L curve to further open the shadows and try to retain detail in the highlights.
3) A modified Man from Mars type correction using CM and a K channel mask.  Something we will cover in weeks 5 and 6.  I then adjusted the A and B channels separately to boost the yellow / blue in the B channel and reduce the greens a bit in the A channel.
4) Used a second K channel mask to isolate the sky and adjusted the clouds for a bit more drama.
5) Sharpened in PS using the unsharp mask at 270 / .07 / 0. 

Greg

[ggroess]

Brian,

You have a very nice solution.  I'm glad you related your choices...Thanks!  See if you can bring up the blues a bit.  It might make the image seem fuller...

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

This exposure was easier to balance front to back.Iused screen  blend for the  working duplicate,then moved the sat slope in HSB to the left till I liked the rock color,then a slight S curve in lightness to darken the sky and lighten the trees.GregM
Neutral in Lab was on the foam.
Is this where we post these pictures?

[mikemeister_admin]

Brian,

You have a very nice solution.  I'm glad you related your choices...Thanks!  See if you can bring up the blues a bit.  It might make the image seem fuller...

Greg

Will do Greg.  Are you thinking more blue overall, just in the clouds, or elsewhere?  What would you consider first?  Pull up blue in the b channel in LAB, or something else?  Maybe I should reconsider my choice of neutral?    (And, by the way, is there any negative consequence to the image when I repeatedly apply changes in CM and then reenter CM to make more changes?)

[ggroess]

Brian,
You can adjust the B curve in LAB.  Start by Right clicking on the center and choosing Pin Grid>>Lower Left if that is the side you have the yellow on.  You want to pin the yellow and just adjust the blue.

Changes to look for:  The sky gets better...The leaves and trees look better.  

I have attached a sample ACV file for you.  To load the file save it to the desktop.  Open the image you posted in CM and then click the Load button.  Browse out to the desktop and select the ACV file.  This will apply the sample curve I created to give me some reference to describe the process to you.  You can then add or subtract from that curve as you like to make it look good for you.

CM only changes the image when you click apply. I frequently apply and then re-enter CM.  Sometimes I switch color spaces after a specific correction. I then apply and re-open I then can choose another color space.  We sometimes refer to that as a "second pass" at the image.  Since there is no compression done on the image until you save CM is mostly non-destructive.

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi Greg:

Here is my corrected version, adding more blue, and the curve used.

Brian

[mikemeister_admin]

That is excellent Brian - without a doubt the best correction so far and the sky is just right.  It feels so natural with the various tone-ings that you have made, that I feel I am standing there.
Well done
Chris