No, I’m not a painter, nor do I play one on television! 
I’ve been experimenting with Photoshop a bit trying to increase my skills because, I might as well face it, it is part of the process, just as much as the darkroom.
Previously, when I wanted to increase or decrease light intensity in a certain area, I would use the burn and dodge tools. However, after reading a number of articles, it seems as though the preferred, or more accurate way, is to use white or black ‘paint’ with a very low opacity. This technique is mentioned in The Photoshop CS2 book for digital photographers, by Scott Kelby, which I am finding is one of the best books on CS2 that I’ve found. It has a lot of really useful material.
With this technique in mind, I set about experimenting a bit. I’m not good at it yet, but I certainly am liking the control that I have. I can vary the amount of ‘ink’ that I put down and get the desired effect. It’s much more versatile than using dodging and burning, though they have their place.
In these two images, I tried to be subtle with the technique. The first one is not painted in any way. I also botched up the sky (see the upper left near the tree where it looks poorly manipulated … because it was!). I could have corrected it, but thought that I’d just paint over it. Of course, I wouldn’t do it for a photo that I was going to print, I’d get it right, but for the sake of something to post, I just used paint!
The main area of interest was the tree line near the lake moving from left to right. There was a little bit of sunshine shining on the treetops, but I wanted it highlight that. If you look closely between the painted and non painted versions, you can see a difference. I also highlighted the lone tree on the right that stands right next to the lake, as well as the logs and border of the lake just to give a bit of ‘pop’. Note: I didn’t take time to paint the reflections, though if I were going to do it right, I would have taken the time, but I have to go to work today!
I would guess that as I get better with this technique, it will not be obvious, at least I hope not! Just more and more learning!
Got any techniques that you’d like to share?
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4 Responses to “Painting”
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One rule of Photoshop, work in layers. Scott’s book is really good and Deke McClellands Photoshop One-on-One is also good. Deke mixes in some off the wall humor and makes photoshop a little more fun. If I understand what you are tyring to do here, there are some awesome masking techniques that make “painting” really easy to work with to get the exact result you want, including making it no problem to get to those reflections. Take a look at that chapter. And what’s going on??? I’ve put down Photoshop for the Darkroom and you’re going digital strong!
The photo is awesome, and the effect does add a nice pop!
Dodging and burning was also used often in traditional darkrooms, it’s always been “legit”.
There are several methods of doing it and I use different ones depending on the photo and sometimes a combo. I like to use layers to do it since it is the most forgiving and least obvious. It is a learning curve and I am always learning new ways of doing it and improving the skills I know…at least I hope anyway.
I love Scott Kelby’s books. His books are so easy to follow and leave plenty of room for you to build the confidence to experiment. And he’s kinda funny too. Check out the Photoshop TV podcasts with Scott Kelby too. I haven’t had time to watch them in a months but they are a great series with some very practical advice.
Hi Paul, just catching up again, life seems to go by too quick to read blogs just now! Anyway lovely to see some new stuff and i especially like those abstracted ‘rain’ shots in your most recent post. I think that’s really you coming through and letting go of all the rules you’d previously imposed on your shooting, and it shines through in the resulting images.
Anyway regarding the ‘painting’ techniques – I just wanted to suggest something I find quite useful for darkening and lightening areas:
Create a levels adjustment layer, and just click OK – don’t change the sliders. Then change the blend mode to ‘multiply’. This will make everything awfully dark! But invert the mask so it becomes black and hides the effect, and start to paint on the mask very lightly with a soft brush in white of a low opacity and build up on the areas you want to darken in the picture.
To lighten areas using the same method, follow the steps above except you need to use ‘screen’ as a blend mode.
I’ve been using blend modes (soft light, multiply, screen and very rarely overlay) and masks to apply local adjustments for a good 6-12 months now and I’m finding I don’t turn to other methods as often. I suppose you just settle with something that works for you… it’s worth a try if you’re still looking out for that something
Julie, thanks for the tips. I’ll try them this evening! I’m always on the lookout for something that works consistently and is easy to do. I’ve been playing a lot with levels and masks, but have not tried this technique.