cloudy this morning

On 12/27/2013 5:31 PM, me wrote:
On Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:31:37 -0500, PeterN
wrote:

Neat. Just for the record, I am traveling and using my laptop. Since it
has a 14" screen, which I do not color correct, I use it only for keeper
& possibility decisions.


Question, out of every possibility posited so far, which is the
closest to your personal perception at the moment?


M-M, with no hesitation.
I knew the nest was there and was driving about 5mph. When I saw the
male coming in, I whipped out the camera and shot. (After stopping, of
course.)

This is not my first bird in flight

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97242118/Cleared%20For%20Landing.jpg

or

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97242118/skimmer%2520skimming%2520the%2520waves%2520jpg-XL%5B1%5D.jpg

--
PeterN

In article , PeterN
wrote:


BTW how do you do the mouse-over thing?

View source. I saw it somewhere and copied it

--
m-m
photo gallery:
http://mhmyers.com

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

--
m-m
photo gallery:
http://mhmyers.com

On 2013-12-28 04:53:54 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

Thanks, but there are a few haloes visible, so I toned things down a
hair for NEF version #3 which I think is a fair compromise and
reasonably acceptable to the eye. (my eye anyway)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O3Ac.jpg

--
Regards,

Savageduck

In article 2013122721164163249-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 04:53:54 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

Thanks, but there are a few haloes visible, so I toned things down a
hair for NEF version #3 which I think is a fair compromise and
reasonably acceptable to the eye. (my eye anyway)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O3Ac.jpg

You're right, the 03Ac is better.

Now tell us how you did it

--
m-m
photo gallery:
http://mhmyers.com

On 2013-12-28 14:27:34 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122721164163249-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 04:53:54 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

Thanks, but there are a few haloes visible, so I toned things down a
hair for NEF version #3 which I think is a fair compromise and
reasonably acceptable to the eye. (my eye anyway)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O3Ac.jpg

You're right, the 03Ac is better.

Now tell us how you did it

OK!
I started with basic exposure adjustments in ACR.
Then I used the adjustment brush in ACR to lift the shadows and add a
touch of contrast under the wings.
Next in the ACR "Detail" module I sharpen at about 120% with a radius
of 1.4, masking at about 85% to restrict the effect to the subject.
That alone creates an illusion of a separation of subject and
background.

Now I bring the converted NEF into PS. I have a reasonable bird, but
the color hidden within the grey sky is still subdued as the ACR
contrast adjustment was subject selective. So, I made another contrast
adjustment using an adjustment layer. This was not quite as effective
as I wanted, so I resorted to NIK Color Efex Pro4 plug-in and applied
the tonal contrast filter to end up with the result in "NEF Version
#2". That was a bit too much, so after tweaking the overall opacity of
that adjustment layer down to about 85%, I applied a layer mask to the
adjustment layer and using a black brush set at 35% opacity and flow at
50% for a degree of control, I selectively adjusted areas which needed
toning down. This got me to my version #3 result.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/Fil...enshot_488.jpg


--
Regards,

Savageduck

In article 2013122808294658266-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 14:27:34 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122721164163249-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 04:53:54 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

Thanks, but there are a few haloes visible, so I toned things down a
hair for NEF version #3 which I think is a fair compromise and
reasonably acceptable to the eye. (my eye anyway)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O3Ac.jpg

You're right, the 03Ac is better.

Now tell us how you did it

OK!
I started with basic exposure adjustments in ACR.
Then I used the adjustment brush in ACR to lift the shadows and add a
touch of contrast under the wings.
Next in the ACR "Detail" module I sharpen at about 120% with a radius
of 1.4, masking at about 85% to restrict the effect to the subject.
That alone creates an illusion of a separation of subject and
background.

Now I bring the converted NEF into PS. I have a reasonable bird, but
the color hidden within the grey sky is still subdued as the ACR
contrast adjustment was subject selective. So, I made another contrast
adjustment using an adjustment layer. This was not quite as effective
as I wanted, so I resorted to NIK Color Efex Pro4 plug-in and applied
the tonal contrast filter to end up with the result in "NEF Version
#2". That was a bit too much, so after tweaking the overall opacity of
that adjustment layer down to about 85%, I applied a layer mask to the
adjustment layer and using a black brush set at 35% opacity and flow at
50% for a degree of control, I selectively adjusted areas which needed
toning down. This got me to my version #3 result.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/Fil...enshot_488.jpg


That was quite a lesson. I just used Photoshop elements and used the
magic wand to select the background (I probably should not have
feathered the selection) and auto-levelled it, then inverse selected
the foreground and lightened the shadows.

--
m-m
photo gallery:
http://mhmyers.com

On 2013-12-29 04:51:23 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122808294658266-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 14:27:34 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122721164163249-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

On 2013-12-28 04:53:54 +0000, M-M said:

In article 2013122711535646042-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

The beauty of having the NEF to work with, gives one a whole bunch of
options. Here is my NEF version #2, which is very different from the
other results.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O2Ac.jpg

Great one!

Thanks, but there are a few haloes visible, so I toned things down a
hair for NEF version #3 which I think is a fair compromise and
reasonably acceptable to the eye. (my eye anyway)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/FileChute/PN-O3Ac.jpg

You're right, the 03Ac is better.

Now tell us how you did it

OK!
I started with basic exposure adjustments in ACR.
Then I used the adjustment brush in ACR to lift the shadows and add a
touch of contrast under the wings.
Next in the ACR "Detail" module I sharpen at about 120% with a radius
of 1.4, masking at about 85% to restrict the effect to the subject.
That alone creates an illusion of a separation of subject and
background.

Now I bring the converted NEF into PS. I have a reasonable bird, but
the color hidden within the grey sky is still subdued as the ACR
contrast adjustment was subject selective. So, I made another contrast
adjustment using an adjustment layer. This was not quite as effective
as I wanted, so I resorted to NIK Color Efex Pro4 plug-in and applied
the tonal contrast filter to end up with the result in "NEF Version
#2". That was a bit too much, so after tweaking the overall opacity of
that adjustment layer down to about 85%, I applied a layer mask to the
adjustment layer and using a black brush set at 35% opacity and flow at
50% for a degree of control, I selectively adjusted areas which needed
toning down. This got me to my version #3 result.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/Fil...enshot_488.jpg


That was quite a lesson. I just used Photoshop elements and used the
magic wand to select the background (I probably should not have
feathered the selection) and auto-levelled it, then inverse selected
the foreground and lightened the shadows.

There are different ways of getting to a result with PS or PSE. The
most important thing is to take part in some of these exercises,
particularly with challenging images, and my regular recommendation is
to take advantage of the various tutorials available for PS, PSE, &
Lightroom. A lot of the stuff applicable to PS, but obviously not all,
also applies to PSE.
Here are a few which are PSE specific:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com...ree-tutorials/
http://tv.adobe.com/channel/how-to/elements-tutorials/
http://everydayelementsonline.com/20...nts-tutorials/

You have quite a bit of flexibility using PSE given that you have
adjustment layers available and you can apply layer masks to, and the
opacity of those layers. Since you were not making an actual extraction
via selection adjusting the areas selectively using a layer mask and
either painting in or removing the particular adjustment by painting in
white or black on the mask, would be better and less time consuming.

Fun isn't it? ;-)


--
Regards,

Savageduck