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Thread: Working an image

  1. #16
    Registered Member Discus-n00b's Avatar
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    Matt

    Default Re: Working an image

    I just bookmarked this page so I can reference it later. So much helpful information Stan!
    -Matt


  2. #17
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working an image

    The clone and heal tools can be used to get rid of unwanted elements in the image. They are great for small stuff but if you want to get rid of people and trees etc with complex BGs, Photoshop or some other plug-in is your best bet. I wouldn't be surprised however if LR in the next year comes up with an even stronger content remover package. There has been a big improvement from LR5 to LR6.
    When you use the CLONE tool you get a 1:1 replacement. That is when you choose to circle an area to be removed, it is replaced with the exact content of the circle selected by LR. You can of course move the "donor" circle to any site you choose. With larger areas you are better doing it in several steps and "blending" over the are to be removed. Moving the FEATHER slider to the right softens the edges of the circle.

    The HEAL tool deals more with replacing textures and with small areas this works the best. You can use the circle or click and drag the circle to paint what you wish removed. LR will pick the donor site. Again you can click and drag the donor area around the image to get the best match. You can also hit the / key and LR will make another choice. (Sometimes it is quite comical/frustrating what choice lr makes.) Again it is best to use the smallest area possible to get rid of a spot.
    I usually start with the HEAL tool with no/little feather to see how things go and add feather as needed. These take some work to master but are pretty powerful when you get good with them.

    Two tricks: 1) suppose you want to get rid of something that is a pretty straight line; a contrail, a branch, telephone wires etc. Select the HEAL tool, make the circle size slightly bigger than the width of the offending line, hold the SHIFT key down, click one end of the line with the circle, let go of the click (not the shift key), and then click the other end. Contrail gone and usually well blended.
    Play with it and it will be helpful.

    2) Suppose you have a dirty camera sensor. You have a beautiful sunset shot and the sky is full of dust spots. (These come out esp. with HDR images.) With the Clone/Heal tool open, look at the bottom left of the image. There is a VISUALIZE SPOTS box. Check the box and you get a highlight negative that shows all the spots. You can use the heal tool on that screen. If you took several shots of that scene you can copy and paste the spot removal to each image and LR will clean all the spots selected in the first image. (You have to look that one up!)

    I couldn't find a really dirty sky so below are two images. The first shows the Visualize Spots box to check; pretend the birds are sensor dust. The second shows the spot screen.


    Screen Shot 2017-01-14 at 9.01.21 PM.jpg


    Screen Shot 2017-01-14 at 9.03.28 PM.jpg

    Uncheck the box to get the image back.
    Last edited by SMB2; 01-14-2017 at 10:51 PM.
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

  3. #18
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working an image

    OK, let's finish up this Eagle.
    To my eye the head of the bird is still a bit bright, and has some noise. The snow is a tad gray and the BG is noisy and might benefit from a little darkening. All these changes are best made locally as what is done to the BG will not help the bird and visa versa.
    Any change we have made or about to make is reversible so not to worry if it doesn't work out on first pass.
    Clicking on any of the last three icons in the adjustment panel (Graduated Filter, Radial Filter and Adjustment Brush) will drop down all the adjustment tools. There is a lot of stuff in this panel and I won't cover all of it, but there are some basics to get you started.

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 8.55.06 AM.jpg

    At the bottom of the panel is a box for adjusting the brush. The size of the brush can be changed with the slider, the [] keys or with scrolling when the circle (brush) is on the image.
    FEATHER determines the transitioning of the brush effect. 0 feather and there is a harsh line; 100 and there is a soft transition. If I have a large area, like the BG to "paint" I will often use no feather. If I am on something like the bird I might feather the brush a lot.
    FLOW as you might expect determines how much comes out of the brush. Low flow means you might have to paint over an area several times to get what you want. High flow and the effect is produced all at once. Play with it and see how you like to work. Personally I leave it all the way to the right and if I want to increase or decrease the effect I am painting I just use the effect slider. Say I want to darken the BG. I would move the Exposure slider to the left a bit and paint. If it is too much I would just play with the exposure slider.
    DENSITY I usually leave to the right. It is a lot like flow and makes the effect hard or soft.

    AUTO MASK is a big deal. It allows you to paint right to the edge of a line and not have it bleed into another area or leave a halo. If I am working on the BG I don't want that brush to paint on the bird. The Auto Mask when on will detect that line between bird and BG (or sky and mountain, etc.). Now Auto Mask will also frustrate you if you leave it on all the time. If you are darkening a large area of BG with AM on it will pick up edges and give you a very noisy/blotchy look. When you see that happening uncheck the Auto Mask box. When you are painting up to an edge with the circle and AM on as long as the + sign does not cross the edge you should get a nice transition. It helps in those areas to reduce the size of the brush. Practice.
    If you want to see where you have been brushing, hit the O key, a highlight will appear showing where you have been. Hit the O key again to take the highlight away.

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 9.58.22 AM.jpg

    Suppose you paint part of the bird by mistake while doing the BG. Hit the ERASE box and a (-) minus sign will appear in the circle and Auto Mask will turn on and you can erase the overlap on the bird.
    If you want to use another brush, double click the word NEW in the upper right of the panel and you have another brush. Double click the word EFFECT to the left and all the sliders will zero out.
    Want to see what brushes you have used? Click the H key and a little grey dot will appear on the image where you started each brush. Click on the dot and it will turn black, the brush is now activated and you can readjust it or use it some more. If the dot is black and you hit the delete key it will "explode" and the brush (and whatever you did with that brush) will be removed.

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 10.10.21 AM.jpg
    You can see the Grey spots on the BG and on the bird is the active brush, a black spot.

    Brushes are really in my opinion the best way to selectively refine your image.
    Last edited by SMB2; 01-17-2017 at 12:13 PM.
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

  4. #19
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working an image

    The first brush I used to address the BG. I took the CLARITY slider all the way to the left (this blurs the BG some and adds to the Bokeh effect, but you can do as you like). I also added just a tad of SATURATION that helps darken and bring out the green. I darkened the BG by moving the EXPOSURE to the left a bit and finally carried out NOISE reduction by moving that slider all the way to the right. This also softens the area as well. If you need more Noise Reduction in the BG make another brush and paint with just NR a second time (or more!)

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 10.37.04 AM.jpg

    Next brush I wanted to make the snow a little whiter without removing any of the contours (and thus just having a flat white ground). You can do this by increasing the exposure, or whites. I tried both and exposure seemed to work better. But, to much ruins the look so I had to settle for just a subtle change. It may not be noticeable with the screen shot.

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 10.44.26 AM.jpg

    I then took a brush to just the Eagles head. Darkened it with exposure and reduced the highlights of the white feathers, added a bit of clarity and sharpness, a touch of saturation to bring out the yellow beak and eyes and finally a small amount of noise reduction because magged up the bird is grainy given the high ISO of the image.
    All one brush and each slider can be adjusted to taste when the brush is active. Small changes each, to avoid over sharpening and over softening (with too much NR).

    Screen Shot 2017-01-17 at 10.52.19 AM.jpg

    Finally to the body of the bird, with one brush, a bit of contrast, clarity, sharpening, and noise reduction all to make it pop just a bit.
    And that's it! Done in one sitting that might take about 10 minutes after deleting and selecting images to process. I can always go back to the original, make another Virtual copy and do a B&W. If I learn a new technique or plug-in I can go back and fix the first attempt or make another copy.
    Hope there is something in the thread that is of some help.

    20161219_Eagles Day 1_124950_3227-2.jpg

    20161219_Eagles Day 1_124950_3227.jpg
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

  5. #20
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working an image

    Stan this thread is perfect. Really nice job here! Thanks for taking the time to do this. Its just what I was hoping for! Usually we post images as a final product. This helps show what goes into that. I stuck this thread at the top as its a great reference learning thread. Thanks again!
    Al
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  6. #21
    Photo Guru SMB2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working an image

    Glad it helps, Al.
    With that as a baseline I can add an image now and then with processing. Not as much verbiage, but screenshots of the LR moves. Also when I get a moment I will add some links to helpful online sites.
    Stan

    SIMPLY DISCUS IS AN OXYMORON

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