The Three Turds

Larry Klein · May 30, 2002

Three turtles, two red eared sliders and a yellow belly cooder, sunning themselves on a warm spring afternoon in our backyard pond. Shot with a Canon G2 Powershot....some of my first AV (aperture priority) shots. Lookout....I'm breaking out of P mode!

Question....can anyone tell me how to reduce the brightness of the rock with Photoshop 6. I don't have a clue how to approach taming the bright rock.
Thanks LK

mike savad · May 30, 2002

you can't tame a bright rock. it's too bright, there isn't any color left to it. you might be able to surround the rock with a lasso, and darken it with Levels. but probably not as there isn't color to do anything with it. better off leaving it. and using spot focus (on P perferably), and it will darken the overall picture. in which case, then you can lighten the whole thing up in different ways.

the only way to tame it is to:

a. take it again, probably not.

b. if you can figure out the angle and zoom you were at, you might have a very slim chance of pasting that rock in. but then the shell wouldn't match.
c. leave it alone, and leave it in the back of your mind for next time.

turtles don't move too fast (unless they're near water, then they are the fastest creature on earth). so you can try different modes all at once, then pick the one's you like best.

---Mike Savad

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http://www.pbase.com/savad/

mike savad · May 30, 2002

oh and here's a turlte shot that i took http://pbase.com/image/2078932/original i had a bad angle, and they were in the middle of the water about 30 feet away. but i think they're reconizable. every time i got near the shore line of the pond, i would hear splashes. fast rocks jumping into the water i guess...

---Mike Savad

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http://www.pbase.com/savad/

morris · May 30, 2002

While you are breaking away from P you should discover manual. The reason the rock and also parts of the shells are so bright is that they are overexposed. The CCD in the G1 & G2 are very easy to overwhelm with too much light. I frequently get my exposure in P and then switch to manual and adjust aperture and/or shutter speed to get the exposure right. I frequently expose for the highlights and then lighten the shadow areas with the PhotoShop curves tool. You can get wonderful results with this way. Hear is one example:

Morris

Edward Hor · May 30, 2002

try using quick mask to mask the rock and then use hue & saturation to get the rock to a darker shade

Mickey64564 · May 30, 2002

Must be different in the States. Up here in Canada "turd" is a synonym for feces.

Imagine my reluctance at viewing the image.

Did you shoot this pic in RAW or JPEG? If RAW you could try the following:

1) Set the contrast to LOW

2) Process the image in Powershovel rather than Canon's RAW converter. I find it can sometimes retrieve some of the hightlight data.

3) Overlay a linear TIFF conversion over the non-linear version and use the rocks from the linear one (which should have better highlight detail)

4) Hit CTRL-ALT-~ to select the highlights - luminance selection - and use levels or curves to darken these highlights while leaving the rest of the image alone (this can be used with JPEGs as well). This won't restore detail in totally blown out highlights, but at least it will tone down the whites so as not to distract as much from your subjects. It's usually better(at least with digital) to expose for the highlights and brighten the shadows in Photoshop later rather than the other way around.

Michael

P.S. Just to clarify, I think Mike meant to say "use spot metering" not spot focus.

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http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

Daniel Lauring · May 30, 2002

I know it sounds counterintuitive but they even have a name for it; fill flash. When shooting in bright sunlight you can either overexpose the highlights or underexpose the shadows...you don't have enough dynamic range to cover both. But, if you can lighten the shadows with a touch of fill flash you can clamp down a bit more on your exposure and not blow out the highlights. So, turn on that flash in bright sunlight and fire away.

Danny

Larry Klein · May 31, 2002

Thanks guys for the advice and for taking the time to post your lengthy replies. I am going to rework it and repost it here in a day or two. I have tried cropping, but it ruins the photo.

These turtles only hang out together in the direct sun and they are not usually on the same rock. They are also spooked very easily. I like to get very close and low as this shot displays. As Mike said, they usually jump back in the water at the sight of any movement. I have to get them used to me and move ever so slow.

I'll keep your comments in mind for future shots of these hopefully photogenic terapins. I will especially try using manual and the fill in flash. Thanks again. LK

RSStockdale · May 31, 2002

A possibility (for next time) would be to bracket the shot. Then in PS (or other) bring up both shots and combine the best parts out of both. (Although the fill flash, as mentioned in an earlier response, would probably get it in one shot).

GuitarDaddy · May 31, 2002

A polarizer filter would also have helped with the reflections on the skin, shells and even the rocks, giving a more balanced shot. This would also really bring out the detail of their colorful exteriors!!!

Keith

clickerman · May 31, 2002

Less than five minutes in photoshop will improve the image. I selected the blown out rock area with the lasso tool and adjusted it with curves. The image is not perfect but I think it is improved.

John

Eric Haglund · May 31, 2002

Hey that's a really cool picture, my kids would love it. The fill flash advice is good as I think less exposure would start to darken up the turtle's too much. Great shot!

--
Eric
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde

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Eric
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde

Bob Dolan · May 31, 2002

John,

Your posting sent me to Katrin Eismann's book on retouching and restoration with PS to reread the section on curves. Thanks.

--
Bob Dolan

Techx · May 31, 2002

Dude, thats an awesome f'in pictures.. Thats something you have to print out

Larry Klein · May 31, 2002

I failed to mention that this was with a polarizer. I can't take any photos out by the pond without it. Without it, shots becomes very washed out and reflections appear out of nowhere.

cgto · May 31, 2002

Turn on histogram. While you can see review on screen (just after you took images, about 2 sec) press "SET" and press "DISPLAY". So you can see highlights, mid tone and shadows.

If you can use tripods, you should use it and bracket exposure + - 1 stop, you can use just good part of exposures in Photoshop.

Matthew Hicks · May 31, 2002

Larry:

There was a site posted here in the last couple of days with some great quicktime videos demonstrating Photoshop techniques -- I think you might be able to improve the rock using the dodge and burn tools (actually, I think it would just be the dodge tool). The Web site is http://www.apple.com/creative/resources/ttphotoshop/ and the dodge and burn tutorial is http://www.apple.com/creative/resources/ttphotoshop/613dodgeburn.html . Also some good tips on using curves (never really understood it before), removing red eye, and such.

--
Matt Hicks

Canon G2 w/256 MB, new son Erik born 3/2/02, and a lot of learning to do about both.

Larry Klein · Jun 5, 2002

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=2811290
http://www.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=84611

BeanCounter · Jun 5, 2002

great great shot !!

to tame your rock, you can use the auto-bracket mode on the G2,

or in Photoshop you can just create a mask for the rock area, and then modify (play) with any of the 5,000 settings

But that's the easiest, make a layer mask, then create a new layer with only the area you want to "tame" - in this case darken I am assuming,
then use your favourite techique to do it.

Mark.

Leezah · Jun 5, 2002

It's not different in the States, "turd" is also a synonym for feces here too! LOL!

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