|
Title: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: Fred A on June 23, 2015, 03:17:32 PM The Mysterious Curves tool
Whenever I needed to lighten or darken a section of an image, Curves would give me fits. I would pull up on this part to lighten, and another part would get too light with it, so I pulled down on that part and that was too much, so I yanked on that part, and before you know it, I made a picket fence, and the image was really messed up. There is a sensible and logical way to use Curves, and easy and fast. The video will show you what I do, and how I do it. Please bear in mind, for the sake of brevity and not wishing you to fall asleep, I showed how to lighten a portion of an image. Of course, you can darken bright areas the same way. Screen snap 050 shows how I used to muck up the works in Curves. Screen snap 052 shows the finished product. (A large tip of the cap to Terry for a wonderful panorama shot made from 41 images.) (Ask Terry, here for particulars) http://youtu.be/AXQJF_G991s Please click for FULL SCREEN and it will go to HD video. Enjoy Fred Title: Re: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: Terry-M on June 24, 2015, 07:03:26 AM Fred,
A helpful video! I think for many photographers the basics of editing, things like levels and curves, are being forgotten because they are now bombarded with a host of sliders in some editors. Re. Quote A large tip of the cap to Terry for a wonderful panorama shot made from 41 images. You can see the final version I made on Flickr here;https://www.flickr.com/photos/terry-m_flickrphotos/18731477572/in/album-72157654351062122/lightbox/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/terry-m_flickrphotos/18731477572/in/album-72157654351062122/lightbox/) or on Photosynth here: https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=7a5d3c3b-540c-43b7-88d4-140519013549 (https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=7a5d3c3b-540c-43b7-88d4-140519013549) The one Fred has shown was a "rush"; I later made refine adjustments to the raw images before converting and stitching them. Terry Title: Re: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: Fred A on June 24, 2015, 09:26:10 AM Quote The one Fred has show was a "rush"; I later made refine adjustments to the raw images before converting and stitching them. That was the point! The version of the image I used for demonstration, needed the tweak in Curves. Your final version was brushed and polished. Fred Title: Re: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: GlennJ on June 27, 2015, 05:50:41 PM Heartfelt thanks for this Fred! I have to confess that I have avoided Curves having faffed around many times over the years without fully understanding (or taking the trouble of) how to properly use them in Q / QU and my image editor - usually ending up with a complete Horlicks of an image and resorting to other more cumbersome methods! Your video has already helped me to solve problems I have had with a couple of images, without mucking up the rest of the photo.
As you illustrate, the use of the dropper makes it so simple to precisely isolate the tones which need adjustment. Although the Help makes reference, it sort of implies you know what you're doing in the first place. A link to your video would be a huge help to the uninitiated like me! BTW - Great photos Terry Glenn Title: Re: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: Fred A on June 27, 2015, 07:31:12 PM Quote I have to confess that I have avoided Curves having faffed around many times over the years without fully understanding (or taking the trouble of) how to properly use them in Q / QU and my image editor - usually ending up with a complete Horlicks of an image Thanks Glenn. Truth be known, I was in the same pickle with Curves too. I would either ruin the results by over working the points by pulling the diagonal up over here and down over there until I would have to start over. I guess the word Epiphany would apply for me. I woke up one day, and I saw it! Thanks again. Fred PS. I must mention Terry's shots. That was a WOW shot; a panorama. I am lucky enough to be an across the pond friend of Terry, and therefore the recipient of much of his daily shooting. He has the "touch", the "eye" the "feel" and I gasp with awe and envy when I see what he shot that day. Fred Title: Re: Challenge #47- Can you use CURVES quickly and Easily? Post by: Jeff on June 28, 2015, 04:25:07 PM Thanks to all for helpful comments and tutorials.
I have not used curves much of late - the one case I did recently Fred reprocessed the image with out use of curves! in other words it did not benefit from curves adjustments. However, my Oly having an electronic view finder has a feature to have blown highlights shown in red, so it is easy to back off exposure till there are now blown area, this of course results often in under exposure at the other end of the scale 'filling' is required. So in future I will have to give more consideration to using curves for the darker areas only. Just back from Scotland and we had some very bright cloudy skies, one particular rubbish shot on the HM The Queens estate a curves adjustment in conjunction with fiddling the green trees colour in SelCol livened up the image no end. Still rubbish but lighter rubbish. Jeff |