“Photoshop June 2021 update has amazing new features. Colorize black and white photos instantly, and automatically. Change focus on a photo instantly, fixed the save a copy and all new features. Colin Smith walks you through these exciting new features in the latest Adobe”
Find out more from Colin Smith at Photoshop Cafe.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
You want your photographs to glow - right? So what’s better than one kind of glow? How about three?
You can get there by not succumbing to the classic temptations to clip shadows and/or highlights to produce a more obviously dramatic but a less lively, nuanced, and expressive tonal scale. Instead, hold the full dynamic range with a real black and white and also create gorgeous separation in the values nearest to them.
So many times we give the lion’s share of the contrast to the midtones. Midtone contrast is really important. But that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice the light in highlights by making them too hot to look at comfortably or in shadows making them so dark they turn to murky mud. You can hold separation in these extreme ends of the tonal scale and produce beautiful qualities of light that complement not just contrast. Here’s how.
Before
After
Curves offers more precise tonal control than any other tool. So when I need precision dodging and burning (about 80% of the time) I use Curves, which means I use Photoshop (PS).
I look forward to the day we can make local adjustments with Curves in Lightroom and Camera Raw. But currently, Lightroom (LR) and Camera Raw (ACR) don’t have this feature, yet. But can’t you do something similar in Lightroom (LR) or Adobe Camera Raw’s (ACR) using the six Basics sliders (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks), in combination with the Adjustment Brush, Graduated Filter, or Radial Filter, even in combination with Color, Luminance, or Depth Range Masks? If close is good enough, yes. If you want to make your images really shine, no.
Is it hard to dodge and burn with Curves in Photoshop? No. It’s easy.
Let’s say you’re not interested in compositing or adding FX or inserting text or painting on your photographs. Do you still need Photoshop? Short answer – yes. If so, why?
One Big Reason, Look No Further
One reason alone ends the discussion for me. The single biggest reason is precise localized tone control or dodging and burning with Curves. Nothing but Curves offers as precise control. It can add a special glow into all areas of an image, any one area, and treat different areas differently. I can’t think of anything more useful than that.
But can’t you do something similar in Lightroom (LR) or Adobe Camera Raw’s (ACR) using the six Basics sliders (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks), in combination with the Adjustment Brush, Graduated Filter, or Radial Filter, even in combination with Color, Luminance, or Depth Range Masks? If close is good enough, yes. If you want to make your images really shine, no.
Is it hard to do in Photoshop? No. It’s easy.
1 Open your image in Photoshop.
2 Make a selection.
3 Make a Curves adjustment layer.
4 Double click on the layer mask and slide Feather to the right.
5 Repeat if you want to make a different adjustment to another area of an image.
6 Save your file, when you’re done.
If you only use Photoshop to do this one thing, most of your images will improve. I can’t say I use this with every image I process, but it’s close. I can say the number of images I don’t want to do this for is very small. It’s a simple thing really, and I look forward to the day we can do it in Lightroom and Camera Raw.
Go Ahead, Look Further, And Find More Reasons
Want to go a little further? Let’s revisit the question, “Why do you need Photoshop?” Every time Adobe’s Raw processor(s) become more fully featured it is worth asking. Or, you might rephrase it as, “What can Photoshop help me do that Lightroom / Camera Raw can’t do as well?”
Here are five reasons.
1 Fine Retouching
2 Precise Masking
3 Advanced Color Adjustment
4 Creative Sharpening
5 Plug-Ins
Let me go into a little more detail for each one.
Colin Smith (Photoshop Cafe) shows how to use the new updates to Photoshop’s sky replacement feature. Sky replacement explained in-depth and free sky pack included.
Read Colin’s tutorial here.
Colin gives you his sky and clouds pack for free here.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
“Photoshop tutorial showing how to apply the cinematic effect to your photographs. The cinematic effect that we’re going for is the teal-orange look, which is a typical movie effect in action movies.”
Find out more from Jesus Ramirez at PTC.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
Get powerful color grades in a click. Learn how to download, install, apply and modify LUTS in Photoshop. Plus, find out how easy it is to make your own 3D LUTs.
Find out more from Colin Smith at Photoshop Cafe.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.