I'm really liking this new processing

[chrisc]

Redo of an earlier posted image...Journeys

[nickjohnson]

Nice Chris. There are so many ways to balance out this kind of image. Well there is for me. I have to be careful not to get too much magenta in the clouds.

[Stevewebb]

Are you gonna do a tutorial on your new method?

[chrisc]

Sadly, I cannot and for two reasons: 1, the process is copyrighted and two, I've just barely scratched the surface on how it all works, so likely I'd steer you down as many of the roundabouts as I've already experienced even with the accompanying tutorials.

Essentially, this system allows me to target very specific areas of an image and make adjustments to that area with exacting precision and because the mask is selecting pixel to pixel, I don't get hard edges or halos. I am using other techniques like sharpening, edge and mask refinement in some rather unique ways as well as learning some new ways to freehand selections and use the feather edge technique to make a non-edged transition...it's really neat stuff but comes with the high price of an extensive learning curve. I figure in a year or so, I might be at a point of relative proficiency.

This is what my typical screen looks like after the image is brought into PS and the available masks are loaded into my channels menu. I've used a selection to illustrate how one can isolate a very specific target, in this case my shadow darks, and afterward could apply any available layer adjustment tool and blend mode before moving onto the next selection area which might be a light-lights area and again, choose the selected area and application - over and over and over until I've covered every pixel if I should desire to do so.



Only the selected area will be affected by any layer adjustment I might choose. In many cases I may opt for multiply when using the dark's masks and screen with the light's but I may also reverse these in the case where I want to increase or decrease contrast or brightness and it allows me to both lower contrast and brighten or decrease and darken using either a darks or lights mask which will make you crazier than you likely already are.

Note the highlighted areas are those white or light in the image, but very tightly selected in a manner which doesn't affect other lighter "gray" areas. It's really neat stuff.

[Stevewebb]

Blimey, that looks complicated to me