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Step 15 - Curves, white point
And click inside those bright clouds to bring an even white point in there.
Step 16 - Review
Review the work done by hiding view of the Curves adjustment from the Layers tab. This Curves method can actually apply to every image you open in Photoshop and is a very useful one, as it both selects the peak points for black and white, but in a way that they are even, securing both a good white balance in the image and a full histogram. As you may have noticed we did not use the grey sampler. We do not need to get a good grey point, as it is apparently located somewhere inside the clouds but it was a sunset, with the clouds having several red casts from the sun, but some blue ones as well from the sky. Selecting a grey point, could ruin some of those casts and hide the beauty of nature in this picture. Our purpose is to enhance it. Here is a before and after of the Curves adjustment. Our latest action brought more contrast in the image, a better white balance, since obviousely the above image has a red cast in it. By removing the cast we got some more vivid colors as well!
Did you notice that we performed no action in ACR or PS regarding colors, yet the colors keep getting more vivid step by step? It is just because we are treating the dynamics of this picture in a way that they are enhanced and they are able to deploy their true potential.
Step 17 - Channels Light Masks, Advanced
The next step is a very advanced one. The highlights in the clouds are still hiding detail and we are going to use a very advanced method to bring them in control. This is like using shadows/highlights adjustment, but far more controlable and advanced. We are going to work directly in the channels tab now, located right next to the layers tab. Select the Channels tab.
Step 18 - Channels Light Masks, Advanced
Click on Load Channel as Selection, located in the bottom right. This selects all highlights of the image from 50% grey and lighter in a feathered way. The lighter, the more it is selected.
Step 19 - Channels Light Masks, Advanced
Now click the button right next to it, Load Selection as Channel. This creates a new channel named Alpha 1, that shows your image as a greyscale. Now press this button 3 more times and it will create 3 more channels, Alpha 2, Alpha 3 and Alpha 4.
10 comments on “Amazing Landscapes using Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Photoshop”
Wow, this one seems real easy. I am going to save this for future photos that I am editing.
I am having the same problem as Josh in step 20. Can this be achieved without shortcuts? Perhaps they have changed with new versions (I am using CS6 on Windows)
The selection must be active when you press the backspace, otherwise the fill button appear. (I've cc 2014 and work great)
........also you must work on a new\copy layer, and not with the background layer.
On step 20, when I hit the backspace button, I get the fill menu. It does not darken the greyscale. What exactly should the backspace button do in this instance. Is this function somewhere else in PS that backspace is just a shortcut to?
helpful one .. thanks :)
Why don't I get the options "Fill light" and "Recovery"?
I'v gotten lost on the masking process, i followed your steps meticulously, but achieved a big fail. I need a more dumbed-down instruction for the masking, something is missing here.`
Up until step 21 I was going great, I'm using Photoshop CS5 and every time I try to "select Channel Alpha 2 to create a levels 2" i get "Warning: No pixels are more than 50% selected. The selection edges will not be visible."
I was having this problem too, but I FINALLY figured it out. The key is in Step 20: "With the selection still loaded, select Channel Alpha 2 and press
Backspace once. Select Channel Alpha 3 and press Backspace twice then
select Channel Alpha 4 and press Backspace 3 times. When you are done,
your created Alpha channels should look like this, every next one a
little bit lighter that the previous one."
Once I read that and noticed my Alpha channels were getting DARKER with each deletion, I double-checked my foreground and background color. You'll want black as foreground and white as background. Hope this helps!