ADVANCED IMAGE EDITING SKILLS
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Adjust the contrast
To lighten the under-exposed midtones, drag the grey
midtone slider to 1.17. We can now see more midtone
detail, but the contrast in the landscape looks a little flat. Set
the black shadow slider to 11. This creates darker shadows,
which helps darker features to contrast with the moor.1
Add an adjustment layer
Open the ty_elements18.jpg starting image in the
Expert editing mode. The sky is over-exposed and
lacks detail. The landscape is slightly under-exposed and
suffers from drab colours. Go to Layer>New Adjustment
Layer>Levels. Click OK.4
Protect the sky
Click the Levels adjustment layer’s mask. Set the
Foreground colour to black. Paint on the mask to stop
the corresponding sections of the adjustment layer from
altering the sky’s shadows and midtones. The white parts
of the mask allow the landscape to be adjusted.3
Choose a brush tip
You’ll notice that the midtone adjustment has caused
the over-exposed sky to become even brighter. To stop
this section of the image from being adjusted, grab the Brush
tool. Click the Brush preset picker in the Tool Options and
choose a soft round tip with a Size of 300.6
Adjust the sky
Create a new Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer.
Drag the Brightness slider to -45 to darken the over-
exposed sky and reveal more cloud detail. This makes the
landscape look too dull, so grab the Brush tool, click the
Brightness/Contrast mask and paint over the ground.5
Selective colour adjustments
You can have multiple adjustment layers. Choose
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Click
OK. Set the Channel menu to Yellows and set Saturation to
+27 for more vibrant vegetation. Boost the Cyans Saturation
to +34 and Blues to +57.