Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

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Ultimate control with Photoshop

While Photoshop isn’t essential for landscape

photographers, as you gain editing experience you

will enjoy the extra power and control afforded by

Photoshop’s Layers panel and masking system

Above

InterpretingwithPhotoshop’slayers

Thekeytocreativeeditingin Photoshopis usinglayersto

selectivelyadjustareasoftheimage.Inotherwords,wecan

darkentheskywithoutalsodarkeningtheforeground.And

we canaddlighttothecentrewithoutaddingit totheedges

Above inset

Straight from the camera

Using a classic landscape composition, with the

foreground grasses and rocks leading the eye into

the middle and background, the sky is too bright

and the light on the landscape a little flat

Adjustment layers In Photoshop

1

Ask what’s

important Open

your file and ask;

what’s most important?

What do I want the

viewer to look at?

Where do I change

the tone and colour

to focus attention on

what’s important? Here,

let’s darken the sky and

brighten the middle.

2

Add an

adjustment layer

Open the Layers panels

(Window>Layers) and

you’ll see your photo

as a layer, called

Background. At the

bottom of the panel,

click on the black and

white circle to add an

adjustment layer. Select

Brightness/Contrast.

3

DarkentheskyThisisjustoneway

ofworkinginPhotoshop:onyour

monitor,lookingattheskyandignoring

theforeground,movetheBrightnessslider

totheleftuntiltheskyissufficientlydark.

Nextwe’llworkontheforeground.

4

Mask out the foreground We don’t

want to darken the foreground area,

so mask it out to stop the darkening here.

Click on the layer’s white rectangle (this is

the mask). Select the Brush tool, ensure

that its colour is black, and paint on the

image to brush out the foreground.

5

Refine the

mask A large

brush with a

hardness of 0%

(a ‘soft’ brush) can

produce an invisible

gradation, hiding

the edges of the

strokes. To change

your brush work,

change the brush

colour to white and

paint over.

6

HavemultiplelayersTolighten

themiddleoftheimage,repeat

theprocess,thistimeincreasingboth

brightnessandcontrast,thenbrushing

backtheskyandforegroundsothatjust

themiddleshowstheeffect.Youcanadd

asmanyadjustmentlayersasyoulike.

Use adjustment layerstolightenanddarkenyourimage

AFTER

BEFORE