Hi,

Wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions on how to improve the background in this photo. All the focus is on the helicopter, but I'd like the background to be much richer -- more vivid color, etc. I usually try Multiply on a duplicate copy of the layer but doesn't work very well here. I'm definitely not good at this type of editing so am looking for suggestions!

http://www.rotor.com/temp/HollywoodLAHelicopter_056.jpg

Thanks, Phyllis

Hi, Phyllis

Convert to LAB mode. Do a Levels or Curves adjustment on the lightness channel for overall saturation. You can also play with the A & B channels if you want to shift some colors. Return it to RGB when you like what you've got and go from there.

This adjustment took me about 1 minute.

Thanks I'm trying. It seems like I can get it a lot darker, but the colors are so dull. I liked the colors in this one a lot better (only not the position of the helicopter):

http://www.rotor.com/temp/LAHelicopter_040.jpg

I wonder if I'd do better to try to move the helicopter in that one? That's a lot of cropping and cloning though. I'm not sure what to do with the A and B channels though I don't seem to get anywhere with just the lightness. Should I try to mask the helicopter and then try it?

Thanks, Phyllis

Phyllis,

When you go to LAB mode and do a curves adjustment You have 3 options in the Pop up. Lightness, A & B channels. You make adjustments by sliding the corner ponts (slide right for the lower left point, slide left for the upper right point.

Lightness controls contrast over all.
The A channel controls the amount of RED and GREEN
The B channel controls BLUE and YELLOW

Sliders work the same in the A&B channels. For your pic, you want to add shadow detail in the Lightness channel. Add lots of blue and a touch of yellow in the B channel and add just a touch of green in the A channel. My screen shots will give you an idea of how much I adjusted for this picture.

Thanks!!!

I'll follow your suggestions and see what else I can get.

I appreciate the help!!!!!!!! And thanks for the toolbar screenshots. Really nice of you. :-)

Phyllis

Swampy has given you a great way to improve your image
(thanks swampy i am saving your screen shots for myself :grin:)

To get my results i used a action from here

http://www.photographybb.com/actions/

it is the image punch actions for download i then selected the contrast punch

There are probably a few more actions you could use as well

Palms

Here's my attempt:

Wow, thanks guys! I'll check out the action too. :-)

Phyllis

These are all huge helps, and I really like the contrast punch action. I'm saving that actions link. I used the LAB info stuff too. :-)

Thanks again,
Phyllis

Phyllis,

Like Swampy, I did this in Lab mode - but a little differently. First thing after conversion to Lab, I used Image>Apply Image (source background layer Lab channel, soft light blending mode, 100% opacity). This punched up the background a fair amount. Then I used a curves adjustment layer to tweak the contrast in both the vegetation and the helicopter (screen shots attached).

Just another set of moves to add to your toolkit . . .

<C>

Nice, C. I didn't want to confuse Phyllis with the Apply Image step, but it is a good one to know. For newbies, just going to LAB is scarry.. LOL

1. I did RGB levels adjustment on a selected square piece on the right side, excluding the helicopter & the sign.
2. I saved the settings & then applied that to the picture masking out the copter & the sign.
3. Again a levels adjustment, this time on the left side & the saved settings I applied to the pic (masking out the copter & the sign)
4. With the HSL, I pushed the cyan more into blue.

Swampy,
Thanks. I know what you mean about Lab and newbies, but I always was a believer in jumping into the deep end of the pool in the first swimming lesson:grin:

chillin,
Lovely job. But, being a Californian, you know that the Hollywood Hills are never that green!:grin::grin:

<C>

...
chillin,
Lovely job. But, being a Californian, you know that the Hollywood Hills are never that green!:grin::grin:

<C>

Yes, you're right. How about now? I pulled back the offending yellow, a bit.

How about now? I pulled back the offending yellow, a bit.
More like it, I think . . .

Thanks, lurch.

I took a stab at your image with a whole stack of blending layers (with some masking here and there) to give the image a little more punch.

My contribution

Hi Phyllis,
A simple method is to open this image in Camera RAW.CS3
Browse to the image in Bridge then in File>open in Camera Raw.
Use Fill to hold the shads, adjust blks,you can increase sat, change white Balance.>Then move onto curves.
You will find a great abundance of tools to help improve your images in this area.
People forget or dont even look.

Good Luck

Carl Stevens

my suggestion is a gradient in the softlight layer from black to none

another one

pseudohdr by qtpfsgui tonemapped with fatal function
color corrected by photoshop

Here is my version

i added a layer then chose multiply

then push the colour up in contrast

sorry about that - my file was tiny .

the 100 limit killed the decent one

i see you've gotten quite a bit of help here, phyllis. good :)

i'll just throw in that the simplest way, in this image, to bring out the background without altering the helo is to use a contrast/brightness adjustment layer. that's it. that's all you really need. dont adjust the lightness side, just adjust the contrast. i did one set to 0/42 and it looked quite good. this works here because the helo is primarily black with little to have contrasted, so all that apparently changes is the background.

and, if you want a bit more pop to the whole thing, try an S curves in a curves adjustment layer combined with the brightness/contrast layer. i often use these two adjustment layers in sequence to bring some pop to images. it's simple, fast, and adjustable.