Photo processing tips

Follow this link to an in-depth article I have written on High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing techniques. The first article focuses on the use of Photomatix to perform the HDR processing, with the application of Photoshop CS5 to perform some clean-up.

HDR processing article using Photomatix

The rest of this page contains links to some of my other favorite Adobe Photoshop techniques. Some of these will be obvious for the more experienced users. The main strength with Photoshop is with the ability to create multiple layers with masking control to selectively apply your adjustments without affecting the entire image. Photoshop also support 3rd party plug-ins to enable more sophisticated processing such as for noise reduction, black-and-white tone mapping, or high dynamic range processing. These directions are based on use of CS3.

As an FYI, Adobe Lightroom can also support some of these techniques. In addition to its photo catologing capabilities, an advantage with Lightroom is that it is faster, non-destructive, and does not require as much disk storage due to the generation of TIFF files as part of the edit process. This is an efficient tool to use if you capture your images in the camera raw format and need a streamlined way to process them into jpeg files for printing or posting on the web.

Quick-and-dirty emulation of a graduated neutral density filter

Merging two images to create a more balanced exposure

Enhancing a washed out sky

Dodging and burning non-destructively

Neutralizing an undesirable color cast using a filter

Selective feathered control using luminosity masks to create an arbitrary adjustment

Smoothing skin for portraits

Whitening eyes and teeth

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