Photography 101 - Levels
Jun 6th, 2007 by Kathy
I’m taking a little break from my ‘Learn Dreamweaver in Just 72 Hours’ course to share some fun camera stuff I learned this weekend. My outside photo shoot ended in disaster. Lots of things wrong with the approach. I’ll mention the biggies:
- Waiting for ‘just the right lighting’ is extremely difficult for a controlled photo. Even though I was outside late in the day there were all types of little shadow surprises lurking when I looked at the images on my computer.
- It was a lot of work to setup a shoot outside. Just physically hauling out everything that needed to be there and then trying to tweak things a little here and a little there was very time consuming. After that it all had to be brought back inside. After discovering my problems I had no desire to do it all again the next day.
- Bugs and wind and those big fat robins flying overhead.
I decided to take the effort inside where I could leave the whole thing setup for several days as I proofed and re-shot until I was happy with the composition.
On to Photoshop and a valuable technique I learned this weekend.
I often peruse the ‘new’ books shelf at the library and pick up titles that spark my interest. Right there on the shelf last Thursday was Rick Sammon’s Complete Guide to Digital Photography 2.0 . Angels do exist! This book had several nuggets that clarified my understanding of image post-processing.
Let’s start with the most simple yet most dramatic edit I discovered for my JPEG images. Levels.
Try this:
Open your image in Photoshop. Select: Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Levels. Here’s a screen shot:
The shadows are pretty good, the left hand black pointer is sitting very close to the mountain. The highlights are hurting, the right hand pointer is sitting very far from the mountain. Bring both of those pointers so they’re just inside the edges of the mountain:
Much better. Rick says the gray arrow in the center is virtually useless. I’ll leave it at that.
This is a quick way to add some shine to your photos. I have the full version of Photoshop but Rick’s book uses Elements. This feature is common to both products.
Here’s the before photo:
And the after:
Tomorrow’s lesson: RAW.
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Curves is really helpful in brightening a picture as well. Sometimes I don’t like the way messing with the levels can change the color and in that case, I use curves to brighten it. After that, I use brightness/contrast to add a bit of contrast back to the image, which I like.
Ah! I’ve been looking for a good photography reference–thanks for the rec!
You sound like my dear husband who is always trying to get me to use the histogram. I always adjust the brightness and contrast with mixed results. I suppose since I now have two (three with Rick) people telling me to do this, I should use the histogram.
marry me.
we can run away together and make beautiful photography.
That’s a good tip. The other thing that I like to do in Photoshop is to try the Auto Levels, Auto Color, and Auto Contrast. I try one at a time and Ctrl-Z if it doesn’t look good. Often this is all that’s needed for a quick fix. These options are located under Image > Adjustments. And the best way to experiment freely is to use the Save As option before fiddling with it. That way (if you forget to go back in the history) you always have your original. And sometimes I like to have the original one opened at the same time so that I can compare. Oh, and the final thing that I’ve learned is that what my monitor shows me and what the printer produces are two entirely different looks!
Have fun with your photo shoot!
ok, will have to go find that book. my method of operation thus far has been to wait for decent lighting. i never mess around with levels, never crop, but will clone out offending marks and stray threads. as i was reading i was thinking that the author probably used the full photoshop so i am thrilled to find he bases the book on elements… ok, now i am a bit embarrassed because as i look to the left i see a book on my shelf that says…. ‘photoshop elements 2′. i LOVE it when i can go shopping for new books in my own home!!! ok, off to do some reading.
Oh my gosh! Thanks for the excellent info. I have used photoshop for years and never tried this. look forward to next lesson!
I’m totally getting this book from the library. Thanks for the tips and screen shots!
My parents in-law have a professional photographer friend who took our family picture last year. He showed me this little trick and told me it would make the whites “pop”. Brilliant, eh? And it’s something I totally wouldn’t have figured out on my own. Now if he only lived a bit closer, I’d want some more lessons.
)
Your whites are definitely popping in the after picture.
Levels annoy me for some reason although I do use them but RAW, now that is something I love.
This is great! I too always use brightness/contrast. Just gave it a whirl. Much better!
Thanks so much for your photo tip! I have photoshop Elements (4 I think) and don’t really know how to use it, even tho I have the book for Dummies! And I think I see about your arrow thingeys, I just get confused with all the saving, and different spots things seem to go on there, like the organizer, etc., etc., I just keep saying yes, so who knows how many times I have each picture saved! If you have anymore tips, would love to have them - maybe a tutorial on photoshop!!! (smile) Thanks again, Diane
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[…] Archive » Photography 101 - Levels Posted in December 24th, 2007 by adobeperson in Photoshop News Pink Chalk Studio » Blog Archive » Photography 101 - Levels Open your image in Photoshop. Select: Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Levels. Here’s a screenshot:. The shadows are pretty good, the left hand black pointer … […]