Have you ever had an eye exam? Well here's one for you to comment about!
I've been struggling with Photoshop's masking features forever. For some reason i've had a mental block against them for quite some time. As a result I always get images that I know I can make better using PS and some masking tools; yet, I give up because it was just too hard.
Well, I finally decided it was time to learn. I picked up a book titled "Photoshop CS3 for Nature Photographers," written by Ellen Anon and Tim Grey. Their explanations are really good and I am happy to say I now "get" how to do masks. I don't know what my problem was, they are so easy!
Anyway, here's a pic I processed in my usual way using a few steps in Apple's Aperture software:
The dynamic range for digital cameras has not quite caught up to the range that can be captured with film. So, I always shoot for processing to the middle. That is, balance the light and the dark areas. The results, as you see here, are a sky that's too bright with lost detail in the clouds and a dog that is too dark with lost detail in the fur.
Now that I can do masks, I decided to try again using photoshop to add two curves layers to this image and mask part of it so that I could maximize the exposure settings for both the dog and the sky while maintaining a natural look.
I think this second image is much more visually exciting than the one above... What do you think? Did I over do it?
Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4 L
Shutter = 1/100
Aperture = f/11
Focal Length = 33mm
Flash = On
ISO = 200
