Nicely explained except (as you hint), other than a touch-up, there's no
reason to do any of this in PhotoShop if you're processing your raw
images in Camera Raw. As a landscape shooter, once you've been through
Camera Raw you're probably done or very close to it (unless you're
Moose, of course). But if you're a Moose or a portrait shooter your
work may be just beginning and that has to be done in PhotoShop using
masks. Moose would likely be masking clouds, etc. A portrait shooter
will be smoothing complexions, touching up bright or dark spots (like
Chris's tutorial on his son's photo), removing reflections from glasses,
swapping heads back and forth from multiple shots of groups, etc., etc.
Chuck Norcutt
On 5/4/2012 3:45 PM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
> Ah, layers. I am no expert, not even close, but I have been fighting
> with them for a couple of years now. Some on the list have been doing
> it much longer, so I invite them to weigh in or correct or taunt as
> they see fit.
>
> My advice for layers is to start slow and roll on the throttle as you
> get deeper into the subject.
>
> For starters, let's forget for the moment that the later iterations
> of Camera Raw and Lightroom (same thing, different look) make it
> almost unnecessary to visit Photoshop at all. Let's pretend that we
> do only basic adjustments to our Raw files and then export them to
> Photoshop as TIFFs or PSDs.
>
> So you open the file and you have a background layer. First, go up to
> the icons in the tool palette and find the layer for Levels. Click.
> New layer added to your stack. Don't worry about the white window in
> the layer. Photoshop adds a layer mask automatically. You may or may
> not need it. Early on, ignore it or you'll get a headache.
>
> There's a drop down menu of blend modes. Don't worry about what they
> are, and don't be intimidated by the number and apparent opaqueness
> of them all. In the beginning, you're going to use only three:
> Normal, Luminosity and Saturation.
>
> For Levels, use Normal, which as I recall is the default. You make
> your adjustments with those little triangles under the baseline of
> the histogram. Get the black slider just under where the black part
> starts (on the left), the right triangle under just where the
> highlights start (on the right) and the middle triangle to mess with
> your mid tone values. All of this is to taste. When it looks good to
> you, stop messing with it. You've basically set black point, white
> point and midtones.
>
> Next, find the icon for Curves. Click. Set the blend mode to
> Luminosity. You use Luminosity because if you leave it on normal,
> curves adjustments will also subtly alter your Saturation. You want
> to wait until the next step to muck with that. Make your curves
> adjustments to taste. I usually go for an "S" shape, but it's really
> relative to what the image needs and what looks best, The secret of
> Curves is contrast. It's the single most effective tool for setting
> contrast because you can do it across the entire tonal range.
>
> Now, a trick for working with Curves. You can actually move the line
> to taste, or you can click on that pointed index finger icon (top
> left of the Curves panel?). Then you place it over the area of the
> image you want to adjust, Move it up and down and watch your curves
> line change as it adjusts the tonal values matching the values
> beneath the pointing finger. It's easy to get carried away with this,
> but don't worry about it. Have fun. Play. The nice thing about Layers
> is they are nondestructive.
>
> Now, having set Levels and Curves, your next step is Saturation.
> Click the Layer icon and add your third layer (not counting the
> background). Set the blend mode to Saturation. You do this because if
> you leave it at normal, adjusting Saturation will also affect
> Luminosity. You really don't want to do that when you can avoid it,
> which you can by using the blend modes. You can make the Saturation
> adjustment global, or using the drop down menu, you can alter the
> Saturation of different colors. I generally set my Saturation this
> way because there's so much more control.
>
> So, there you have it: Introduction to Layers. It's barely a start,
> but it's an important start. There's lots more you can do with
> Layers, including lightening and darkening using brushes, increasing
> and decreasing Saturation using brushes, adding type, disappearing
> things and what not. But the three I've outlined here are the basic
> three.
>
> More complex layering sometimes requires merging up and using CMD-J
> to duplicate the background and such, but all of that's for later,
> when you have a good book or DVD tutorial for using Layers, and a
> bottle of good Scotch to handle the frustration.
>
> Rock On!
>
> --Bob
>
>
> On May 4, 2012, at 3:02 PM, Chris Barker wrote:
>
>> I've succumbed. I've bought CS5, ready for the "free" upgrade to
>> CS6 when it comes. I don't need it, but I have been curious about
>> the new interface, not to mention the upgrades to some of the
>> features that I use.
>>
>> And I really must get to grips with layers.
>
--
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