| Time to Complete
|
Skill Level |
30 Minutes |
Intermediate |
Tools Required |
• Computer
• Image editing program that supports layers and Photoshop
compatible plug-ins
• Digital image to be used
• Plug-ins mentioned in this article |
Ingredients For Moonstruck
While I used Adobe Photoshop CS to create this digital landscape, any image
enhancement program that supports layers and compatible plug-ins will work.
I used the Mac OS version of the products mentioned, but all of this software
is available for Microsoft Windows, too. Trial versions of all the plug-ins
are available for download, so why not give one or more of them a try for your
next landscape photograph no matter how you capture it.
Landscape images are where you find them. I happened to find this one around
the corner from where I live and started photographing the farm, knowing that
someday it would be gone. That day is now. By the time you read this, a six-lane
highway will have replaced the two-lane country road the farm faces. I’ve
chosen this image to remember it as it was—or maybe as it might have been.
Step 1: Capture & Scan An Image
The original image was captured on Kodak color negative film with a
Canon EOS-IX Advanced Photo System SLR and an EF 22–55mm zoom lens. The
film was processed and printed at a local camera store but while the overall
color and density approximates the hot day when I made the photograph, it captures
little of the mood. I scanned the image using an Epson Perfection 4870 Photo
flat-bed scanner.
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Step 2: Image Enhancement
It’s a good idea to make an image look as good as possible before starting
any manipulations. In this case I began by straightening the horizon. Using
Adobe Photoshop’s Measure tool (it’s in the Eye Dropper tool’s
fly-out menu) I drew a line across the horizon. Next, I rotated (Image>Rotate
canvas> Arbitrary) the photograph and Photoshop automatically inserted the
amount of rotation needed to straighten the horizon. Then I used the Crop tool
to straighten any exposed edges.
There are lots of ways to tweak a photograph’s color and density, but
one of the easiest is Extensis Intellihance Pro. (www.extensis.com).
This Photoshop plug-in lets you enhance an image based on its method of capture,
including the flat-bed scanner used here. Applying Intellihance Pro is a point-and-click
operation and results is a richer view of the original print.
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Step 3: Graduated Density Filter
I’m a big fan of graduated density filters, even colored ones, to improve
landscape photographs. While I didn’t use one on the lens for this shot,
I was able to digitally apply one later using nik Color Efex Pro filters which
offer a choice of colors (www.nikmultimedia.com).
I selected the Graduated Coffee filter (Filter>nik Color Efex Pro 2.0: Traditional
Filters>Graduated Coffee). The plug-in’s interface lets you modify
the amount of filter density, color, transition, and even how it is rotated.
Play with the various sliders to produce an effect you like, then click OK.
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