Learning mode

[armand]

I finally got my hand on Photoshop and in the limited time that I had I played a little without actually reading much about it. This is the result (second version, first one was probably overdone). Is it obvious what I did? As I plan to do more if not 

[degrub]

Well, i see lots of edge halos - so some version of HDR i expect. Looks like it would have been a candidate for stacking a few exposures.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Is it obvious what I did?...

You proved that the Earth is round? Or that your lens has barrel distortion?

[RSL]

Sorry, Armand. Photoshop has a learning curve that starts out steep and then goes on and on. If you've concluded the second version isn't overdone, we'd pray you hang on to the first version that does seem overdone.

[armand]

You proved that the Earth is round? Or that your lens has barrel distortion?

Yes, that was my point! I actually forgot to correct for it.
It's just an HDR done without enough attention to little details.  Some of those halos are not present in the larger version, I suspect it's partially from the resizing.
Here is the first version (which had some extra geometrical correction to it)    Comparing to the second one it really looks that I was too excited about HDR.

[RSL]

No doubt about it.

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Hi Armand,

Well you picked the two hardest subjects in modern photography there to have a go at in one fell swoop, trying to get a good well composed image of the Grand Canyon is about as hard as it gets - a lot try and very few succeed. Then if that is not enough, learning how to use PS at the same time. I have been using PS in most of its versions since the late nineties (OMG is it that long  ) and I am still learning. A good place to start is something like youtube for basic ideas and local classes if you can find something, oh and a patient but knowledgeable friend is helpful, and so is a good but basic PS user guide or DVD guide, there are quite a few of them on ebay and then all you need to do is apply the 10,000 hour rule, and by which time you should start to get the basics.

Then there is the Grand Canyon (I assume that is what the image is of BTW), I tried it once before with no success, then I went back when I thought I was a lot smarter and a lot more savvy photographer, and over a two week period I drove all the way down one side and back up the other, but alas still with nothing I could use, Alain Briot is your man, he seems to get the better of it, so perhaps one or two of his books might also help, here is a link to Alain's site and images on the Grand canyon http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/Gd%20Cyn%20Portfolio%20Body.html he also contributes to LuLa, so you might already know his work.

Good luck 

Dave

[armand]

Thanks for the feedback. Those images were chosen not that much on the artistic merit (I spent only one afternoon in Grand Canyon in my entire life) but I only have a few sets of exposure bracketed shots.
I know there is a lot of work ahead but I was curious if I can get away with less , particularly as in LR it became much easier to make most of the adjustments that I need.
Anyway the most important thing I was looking for here was to avoid the dreaded HDR look.

[luxborealis]

I'm not convinced that the shot is a candidate for HDR. Although there is shadow, it is partially filled with bright light from the sky. And without the glaring highlights of clouds, you don't have anything that really reaches the top end of the histogram.

Far too many photographers jump to HDR without having exposed correctly in the first place. I am in the ETTR camp and this photo would be a prime candidate for it (see Michaels's article:

Expose Right

That being said, if you are just starting out in Photoshop, I would suggest skipping it and learning Lightroom. In about 4 steps, you could have this photo looking amazing without HDR:

• adjust Exposure
• Recover highlights
• deepen your Blacks
• brighten shadows with Fill Light

Those four controls do about 90% of my basic adjustments for fairly straightforward photographs like the one shown.

BTW, if you are in southern Ontario - I'm offering a two-day Lightroom workshop on Feb 11 and 18, 2012. See my website for details. Or, if you're in the Hamilton, ON area, I teach the Mohawk College Lightroom course this Winter semester on Thursday evenings and in the Spring on Tuesday evenings. (Sorry, I couldn't help a little shameless self-promotion  )
[/list]

[armand]

I'm not convinced that the shot is a candidate for HDR. Although there is shadow, it is partially filled with bright light from the sky. And without the glaring highlights of clouds, you don't have anything that really reaches the top end of the histogram.

Far too many photographers jump to HDR without having exposed correctly in the first place. I am in the ETTR camp and this photo would be a prime candidate for it (see Michaels's article:

Expose Right

That being said, if you are just starting out in Photoshop, I would suggest skipping it and learning Lightroom. In about 4 steps, you could have this photo looking amazing without HDR:

• adjust Exposure
• Recover highlights
• deepen your Blacks
• brighten shadows with Fill Light

Those four controls do about 90% of my basic adjustments for fairly straightforward photographs like the one shown.

BTW, if you are in southern Ontario - I'm offering a two-day Lightroom workshop on Feb 11 and 18, 2012. See my website for details. Or, if you're in the Hamilton, ON area, I teach the Mohawk College Lightroom course this Winter semester on Thursday evenings and in the Spring on Tuesday evenings. (Sorry, I couldn't help a little shameless self-promotion  )
[/list]

I also tried this, but the original file is from a Nikon D50 and the noise in the foreground is difficult to deal with if I use enough fill light.
Anyway here is a version of that processing

[luxborealis]

This one appears the most natural of the three with more balanced tonal values. I do notice the effects of the differential application of an adjustment brush: the top of the pine and the top of the shadowed area to the left are visibly darker than parts of the same lower down. If this were corrected and the shadow darkened slightly (to make it look more shadow-like) the an even more natural appearance would be achieved.

You must understand that this is only one interpretation of what could be achieved with any photo. When I see colour nature photos, my personal belief is that they should first and foremost be reflective of how the scenes would appear in nature. Although I've enjoyed the ongoing friendly banter of "the hand of man" in other topics on this forum, I am not a fan of "the hand of man" either in the scene or, for me worse yet, in the processing. If I don't feel like I'm "there" when I look at a natural landscape, then, to me, the photo is not successful - but that's just one interpretation! This photo definitely has the potential!