Kiss a frog ,see what happens

This is the forum for posting to the June 2010 CM 101 Class
leeharper_admin
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Postby leeharper_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:59 am

Greg, those adjustments you made to the greens through that mask look amazing! The frog - especially in the cropped version - looks fantastic!

Thanks for posting such detailed instructions. I'm going to have another go at it (and I'm going to borrow your green mask technique  ;))

Lee.

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Postby mikemeister_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:04 pm

Wow Greg, I think this is possibly the absolutely worse image you have ever posted - terrible jagged glare in the off whites and what a lovely composition - dead centre!

I do not like the cyan tint to the sky reflection and I just had to tone down the whites.  So is there anyway one can do to make this an image anybody would want to look at?  My only thought is to introduce some colour variation and blur the image as much as possible !

Steps where
a) lighten the shadows to remove the vinetting and open up the leaves a bit
b) CM Lab saturation/MfM increase for the greens
c) CM Lab colour shift for the whites
d) Blur the image, except for the frog, top right & bottom left
e) PS dodgeburn the frog and bottom right
f) Rescaled the left and then cropped image

Really ugly result - definitely time to admit defeat - well done for coming up with this example Greg.
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cmfrogugh-jpg
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ggroess
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Postby ggroess » Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:17 pm

Chris,
I love the color you have brought out...wonderful job...for a moment I though you were talking about me; then I realized Greg M is the origin of the image...Phew...

I know that as we all search for new ways to bring pain and torture to each other out here this may be a new standard to try to hit; but remember he has seen some pretty awful images to have as an example yours among them...

I would not call your image a failure...I think there are many good things you brough back to the image and the process.

Greg G 

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Postby mikemeister_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:08 pm

It's such a great learning experience to watch the different approaches to each image that you're all taking. Every version posted is making me adapt my approach, and consider different techniques. Greg's frog was so much better than mine that I had to have another crack at this (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). I also wasn't completely happy with the colours I hit in my first version.  :-

I began with a Shadow/Highlights adjustment - Shadows only: 70/45/9 (applied to the frog and leaves, via an inverted Blue channel mask*). I'm pleased that I've been able to pull so much detail out of the leaves with this move...

I went into CurveMeister twice to work on the image generally, firstly in RGB applying similar adjustments to Greg - targeting just the blue areas of water through a mask. I then returned (in Lab) to try to generally enhance the whole image. I prefer the colours in this version (over my first attempt); I think that the algae is much more convincing, and I like the slight warm tint where the water meets the algae above the specular highlights. Another aim I had with this version was to darken the shadows cast on the water (on the right-hand side of the image) more than I had in my first attempt.

I finished by heightening the saturation of the frog (through a mask) in Lab; I also brightened it a bit further. Arguably I've gone a little over the top here - I'd probably tone this down if I had another go.

I agree with Zog, this is a tricky image  ??? - but I'm far happier with this attempt.

Lee.


*I used three masks in total, and decided to build them in Photoshop before opening CurveMeister. I like the Masks palette in CM - it's a convenient way of getting a quick look at what's available - but I think that the actual controls available for adjusting masks within CurveMeister are awful (those blur options are far too limited, and there really ought to be a way to paint onto the mask).
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frog-rgb_v2-acv
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frog-lab_v2-acv
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mikemeister_admin
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Postby mikemeister_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:34 pm

Greg G,Lee's images don't expand when I click on them,hard to check details.Is there something he can dial in when he resizes for web?GregM

ggroess
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Postby ggroess » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:36 pm

Lee,
I agree that CM has Limits in the masking area. 
Please note you can create the mask in CM and copy it back to PS for refinement and feathering.  There is an Icon in the CM window that copies the mask to the clipboard and you can paste it to the layer mask.  You are really jumping to week 4 on this one...
Greg

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Postby ggroess » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:39 pm

Lee can you set the "save for web" image size to be larger and lower the quality to make it under the 300KB limits. 
I set my frame size in Save for web to be at least 1024 unless it is a screen capture.

I can see Greg M's point there...

Greg

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Postby mikemeister_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:46 pm

Image 1 Done several months ago in PSE
Image 2 Yesterday  morning  in CS4
  I used the shad/highlight,shadow only no color correction for the leaves in the corner.The rest was to get pure sky colors on the water.sharpening was set to very low opacity.GregM
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cmfrogweb1-jpg (292.34 KiB) Viewed 8685 times
cmfrogweb2-jpg
cmfrogweb2-jpg (287.36 KiB) Viewed 8685 times
cmfrog-copy-2-lab-acv
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leeharper_admin
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Postby leeharper_admin » Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:53 pm


Lee can you set the "save for web" image size to be larger and lower the quality to make it under the 300KB limits. 
I set my frame size in Save for web to be at least 1024 unless it is a screen capture.

I can see Greg M's point there...


Sure ;) I've been reducing the images by 50% to stay within the 300k limit, but if it would be helpful to see the images larger I've no objection to compressing things a bit more...

As far as saving out masks from CM using that clipboard button goes, I've already given it a try, and couldn't get it to work - but I'm content to wait until week 4 to figure that out  :)

Lee.

ggroess
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Postby ggroess » Thu Jun 10, 2010 3:09 pm

With the mask channel selected you click the copy button.

Then close CM In PS or PSE select the layer mask with Alt-click.  Then paste the image into the mask. 

If you are using PSE you have to fool it into allowing a mask by creating an adjustment layer.  Make no adjustments just create it.  you can then add a mask to that layer it's kind of clunky in PSE but it can be done.

Greg


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