another question

[DeeDee]

Was out again today. I cant take credit for getting so close to him I tried to find some at the river but they didnt want to come out and play so I found him at the zoo. My question is, there are so many shadows that if I try to lighten them or brighten the picture he turns blue or purple. Should I have gotten it at a different angle or can this be fixed? By the way I figured out the sizing thing yeaaaa, 1 issue down how many to go???

[MN Shutterbug]

You should have got in there, grabbed him by the tail and moved him. Sorry, I don't really have an answer to this one. Harsh light in shadows is a pain. The only advice I can give is to shoot at a different time of the day or on a bright overcast day. Sorry, not much help.

Maybe, if you shot in raw, you could retain the proper colors by adjusting the color temperature? I'm just guessing here. I've never tried that and just started shooting raw. Take it with a grain of salt. Someone will have an intelligent answer for you.

[DeeDee]

I could have jumped in he was only about 10ft and 700+- pounds.

[MN Shutterbug]

Just a baby, huh?

[DeeDee]

The baby was there too. He as about 7-8ft kinda skinny. The big guy, his head was as big actually bigger then my daughters torso.

[yakfisher]

unfortunately, the light is not only harsh but it is also at a bad angle. Maybe a little later or earlier depending on which way is west would help warm the light or give some better contrast opportunities. but I like the setting and the potential that exists in that setting.

[Steve Foss]

DeeDee, blues often dominate shaded portions of pictures. That's especially true with snow, but also true in lots of other situations.

You can knock them down a couple ways. You can adjust your saturation and desaturate your blues and cyans, or you can go to your levels adjustment and decrease the blue level a bit. In this case I'd pick option No. 2, because by dropping the blue in levels it warms the whole image a bit by allowing the reds to show through a little stronger.

I use Photoshop CS2 and aren't sure what you're using, but even the basic programs generally allow individual color saturation and levels adjustments.

I reworked the image and posted it below to illustrate, also including the original for a side-by-side comparison. I used the second option, pulling up the image and lowering the amount of blue using levels. Then I sharpened the whole image slightly and used a feature called shadows/highlights, which brightens shadow areas slightly to bring out detail there and also knocks down the glare in overexposed areas, also adding detail. The shadows/highlights feature was new with CS2, and I don't believe any of the simpler post processing softwares offer it.

I hope you don't mind that I altered your image. If you do, I'll definitely understand and will pull it back off.

[yakfisher]

I just checked elements 5.0 and it has both a levels adjustment and shadows/highlights option under the enhance menu. Nice work Steve, I still need to learn more with PS I always revert to attempting to get the lighting best when the photo is taken. Plus I usually need a trained eye like yours to even tell me when the blues are off. I know it's not my thread, but thanks for the help and info.

[MN Shutterbug]

Yep Steve, this has taught a few of us something new. There are so many ways to skin a cat, and I've got to learn a few.

Also, even Elements 3.0 has the shadows/highlights option. I just upgraded from Elements 1.0 a couple months ago, and that was the first addition I found useful. I've never utilized levels for particular colors. Hmmm, another tool.

[yakfisher]

I just messed around with it a little bit with some pictures that had a lot of snow in them and I thought the photo was just a little hazy or over bright. I figured that I had done the best that I could, turns out turning down the blue brightened it all up and made the image appear more crisp. Thanks again Steve.

[MN Shutterbug]

Isn't it amazing what a seasoned veteran can teach those of us who are still in the learning stage?

[yakfisher]

Yes it is.

[Steve Foss]

And the so-called seasoned veterans should never quit learning, either. Every moment of the day can be a learning moment. The day I think I've come too far to learn anymore is the day I quit photography. Lots of lessons still to go for me, too.

My CS did not have shadows/highlights, though my CS2 does. Or at least if my CS had it, it was in a different place and I never found it. It's great to learn that Photoshop Elements offers it, because it's a very sharp tool to bring to bear on a photo taken in the contrast of bright light.

Another tactic I use a lot is to lasso the subject, or particular areas within the photograph, and apply sharpening or color adjustments or shadows/highlights only to those areas that really need it, leaving the rest of the image unaffected. In the case of DeeDee's fine 'gator shot, there were enough shadowed areas scattered throughout the image that using S/H wholesale seemed in order.

It's been a lot of fun these last four years learning the digital game and how to be my own darkroom. I bought a book about that, but the best learning for me has been from online sites like this one.

I've been helped tremendously by one of the all-time champs at Photoshop, my computer graphic designer/Web designer wife, Lisa, who has been using photoshop ever since the first version came out. If I get stuck with something, I just holler down from my office to hers and she comes up the stairs and takes one look and says: "Jeez, dummy, we just went over that last year. You do it THIS way!"

[DeeDee]

I dont mind at all. Yours looks so much better!

[Steve Foss]

Still your photo, ma'am. I just did a little darkroom work on it.

[DeeDee]

Well to get your input/instruction, I would be happy to "donate" all my pictures so we can all learn