Adobe Photoshop for Underwater Photographers

224 Pages·2006·5.389 MB·English

by  Jack Drafahl, Sue Drafahl

AAddoobbee PPhhoottoosshhoopp
® ®
FOR UNDERWATER
PHOTOGRAPHERS
JACK SUE
and
DRAFAHL
Amherst Media
®
PUBLISHEROFPHOTOGRAPHYBOOKS
ToKristyandTommy—
Thanksforyourcontinuousstrengthandsupport.
Weloveyouguys.
Copyright © 2006 by Jack and Sue Drafahl.
All photographs by the authors.
All rights reserved.
Published by:
Amherst Media, Inc.
P.O. Box 586
Buffalo, N.Y. 14226
Fax: [phone]
www.AmherstMedia.com
Publisher: Craig Alesse
Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins
Assistant Editor: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt
ISBN: 1-58428-189-8
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2005937371
Printed in Korea.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or oth-
erwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.
Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the
author’s experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held
liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................11
2. THE ADVANCED DIGITAL DARKROOM .........................14
Processors ................................................14
RAM ....................................................15
Hard Disk ................................................15
Monitor ..................................................16
DualMonitors ...........................................16
UsingaLaptop ...........................................17
MonitorCalibration .......................................17
Software Considerations ......................................19
Upgrades ...............................................19
Photoshop Classes ..........................................19
3. TOP TEN EDITING TOOLS .................................20
Levels Editor ..............................................21
Clone Tool ................................................22
Healing Brush .............................................23
SpotHealingBrush ........................................23
Saturation Control ..........................................23
Unsharp Mask .............................................24
Dust & Scratches ...........................................27
Crop Tool ................................................27
Burn and Dodge Tools .......................................29
Variations Menu ............................................29
Transform ................................................31
4. HIGH-SPEED IMAGE EDITING ..............................33
Keyboard Shortcuts .........................................33
Adobe Bridge ..............................................35
CONTENTS 3
Actions ...................................................37
Scripts ...................................................40
5. PHOTO TRIAGE ..........................................41
Photo Grouping ............................................42
Time Travel ...............................................42
Workflow .................................................46
TransferandDuplicateFile .................................46
PSDFiles ...............................................47
Crop ..................................................47
Full-ImageCorrections .....................................47
CorrectingSpecificSections ..................................47
SharpentheImage ........................................47
SaveandFlatten .........................................47
File Naming Conventions .....................................48
SaveasPSD .............................................49
AddaLetter ............................................49
FinditQuickly ...........................................49
BatchRename ...........................................49
6. ADJUSTMENT LAYERS .....................................51
Adjustment Layer Basics ......................................51
HowLayersWork .........................................51
SpeedinguptheAction .....................................53
LettheActionBegin .......................................55
Clone or Healing Layer ......................................55
CreateaNewLayer .......................................55
LayerVisibility ...........................................56
The Sharper Image ..........................................57
SelectivelySharpen ........................................60
GoingBack ..............................................60
Burning and Dodging Techniques ..............................60
SelectiveEditing ..........................................63
BlendingModes ..........................................63
UseSeparateLayers .......................................63
Advanced Layering Techniques .................................63
4 ADOBE®PHOTOSHOP®FORUNDERWATERPHOTOGRAPHERS
7. ADVANCED COLOR AND EXPOSURE CORRECTIONS ...............69
Levels Editor ..............................................69
Eyedroppers ..............................................70
Auto Functions ............................................71
Options ................................................72
Curves Editor ..............................................72
AddControlPoints ........................................72
AdjustingSpecificAreas ....................................73
MultipleProblems .........................................74
FindingWhiteandBlackPoints ..............................74
ColorShifts ..............................................74
Shadow/Highlight ..........................................75
Exposure .................................................77
Selective Midtone Adjustments .................................77
Brush Tool and Layers Mask ..................................78
High Dynamic Range ........................................79
Crossover Color Shifts .......................................79
Hue/Saturation ..........................................79
ReplaceColor ............................................80
Green Water to Blue.........................................81
ReplaceColor ............................................81
ChannelMixer ...........................................82
Black & White Conversions ...................................83
Grayscale ...............................................83
SplitChannels ...........................................83
ChannelMixer ...........................................84
SelectiveColor............................................85
8. ADVANCED SHARPENING TECHNIQUES ........................86
Smart Sharpen .............................................86
VariousAdjustments .......................................86
AdvancedSettings ........................................87
High Pass Filter ............................................88
Layer Controls .............................................91
AddaMask .............................................91
CONTENTS 5
9. WORKING WITH RAW FILES ...............................92
Adjust Tab ................................................92
Detail Tab ................................................95
Lens Tab .................................................97
Curve Tab ................................................97
Calibrate Tab ..............................................98
Workflow Options ..........................................98
Toolbox ..................................................99
RAW File Layer Editing .....................................100
10. ADVANCED BACKSCATTER REMOVAL ........................103
Spot Healing Brush ........................................103
Dust & Scratches Filter .....................................104
Layers.................................................104
DSLR Sensor Artifacts ......................................109
Blur Filters ...............................................109
SmartBlur .............................................109
SurfaceBlur ............................................109
11. REMOVING UNWANTED OBJECTS ..........................115
Hanging Gauges ..........................................115
Healing Coral .............................................118
UsingtheMagicWand ....................................118
CloneTool .............................................118
HealingBrush ..........................................118
Nondestructive Repairs ......................................120
Copy Data from One Photo to Another .........................120
Plug-in Filters .............................................123
12. DIVER MODIFICATIONS ..................................124
Flash Angle ..............................................124
AddaFlash ............................................126
Snaps, Gauges, and Meters ...................................128
Face Masks ...............................................128
Reflections .............................................128
ShadowedFace ..........................................131
6 ADOBE®PHOTOSHOP®FORUNDERWATERPHOTOGRAPHERS
13. EDITING BLOOMING EFFECTS ............................136
Blooming Effect in Open Water ...............................136
MakeYourSelection ...................................... 136
CreateaLayer ..........................................137
SettheForegroundandBackground ..........................137
GradientTool ...........................................140
BlurFilters .............................................142
HealingBrush ..........................................144
AddSunRays ..........................................145
FixingBloominginRAWFiles ..............................146
Blooming Effect with Subject in Foreground .....................150
SubjectSelection .........................................150
HealingBrush ..........................................150
14. CHANGING BACKGROUNDS ...............................153
Selection Tools ............................................153
MagicWand ...........................................153
MagneticLasso ..........................................153
PolygonalLasso ..........................................154
Background Image Adjustments ...............................154
LevelsEditor ............................................154
Saturation .............................................154
Extract Filter .............................................157
Lens Blur ................................................161
SavetheSelectionasanAlphaChannel ........................163
GradientFill ...........................................165
ApplyLensBlur .........................................165
15. UNDERWATER PLUG-IN APPLICATIONS ......................168
Focus Magic ..............................................169
Andromeda VariFocus ......................................171
AutoFX Mystical Lighting ...................................171
Digital Elements Aurora .....................................172
Corel KPT Lens Flare .......................................174
Extensis Mask Pro 3 ........................................176
Alien Skin Smart Fill ........................................179
Genuine Fractals Print Pro .................................. 180
CONTENTS 7
Extensis Photo Cast Shadow .................................182
The Plug-in Site ...........................................183
Kodak Digital GEM, ROC, and SHO Pro .......................185
New Plug-ins .............................................185
16. ADVANCED LAYERING TECHNIQUES ........................187
Different Photoshop Versions .................................188
Photo Collage Using Full Images ..............................187
SmartObjects ...........................................188
MovingLayers ..........................................189
AddaShadow ..........................................190
CopytheShadowinPhotoshopCS ............................190
CopytheShadowinPhotoshopCS2 ............................191
GridAlignment .........................................192
AutoGuides ............................................193
ArrangingtheLayers .....................................193
Photo Collage with Soft Edges ................................193
Blending Modes ...........................................195
Layer Mask ...............................................195
Adding Text ..............................................197
VectorGraphics ..........................................198
Styles .................................................198
Clipping Mask ............................................201
Shapes ..................................................203
17. OUTPUT OPTIONS ......................................204
Crop and Resize ...........................................204
Color Management ........................................206
ThreeChoices ...........................................206
ManualControl .........................................206
Gamut Warning ...........................................211
Photographic Edges and Framing ..............................211
JumpPlug-ins ..........................................211
MorePlug-ins ...........................................211
Digital Slide Shows .........................................215
ResizeYourFiles .........................................215
8 ADOBE®PHOTOSHOP®FORUNDERWATERPHOTOGRAPHERS
Video Output .............................................216
SizingYourFiles .........................................216
NTSCColors ...........................................217
PixelAspectRatio .......................................218
18. CONCLUSION ..........................................219
Index ...................................................221
CONTENTS 9
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jack and Sue Drafahl are a husband
and wife team of professional pho-
tojournalists, lecturers, and multi-
media producers. For over thirty
years, their articles have appeared in
Petersen’s PHOTOgraphic, Range-
finder,SportDiver,SkinDiver,Dive
Training, Diver, National Wildlife
Federation,andNationalGeographic
World Magazine. They have been
actively involved in the digital tran-
sition since the early ’80s and are
software and hardware Beta testers
for companies like Adobe, Applied
Science Fiction, Corel, Kodak, and
Ulead Systems.
JackandSuestartedtheirprofes-
sional photographic careers at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa
Barbara, CA, where Jack later started the audio visual department. Both
areactivescubadivers,receivingtheirdivingcertificationintheearly’70s.
Jack and Sue were awarded Divers of the Year from Beneath the Sea, and
Sue is an inaugural member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame.
Jack and Sue make their home on the Oregon coast and enjoy teach-
ing seminars worldwide on all aspects of photography, both topside and
underwater. Recently, they have put their years of photographic experi-
ence to use designing the Oregon Coast Digital Center, an enhanced
learning facility that features in-depth digital classes to help students bet-
terunderstandthedigitalrealm.Inadditiontotheirvariousmonthlyarti-
cles, Jack and Sue are authors of Digital Imaging for the Underwater
Photographer,PhotoSalvagewithAdobePhotoshop,Step-by-StepDigitalPho-
tography,AdvancedDigitalCameraTechniques,Plug-insforAdobePhoto-
shop, and Master Guide to Underwater Photography, all from Amherst
Media.
For more on the authors, please visit www.jackandsuedrafahl.com.