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Pro-Tip #2: Creating Depth

Depth or the feeling of depth is a compositional element used to trick the brain in thinking a flat piece of paper (or screen) has three dimensional qualities. Here are five common effects the pros use to create depth:

Relative Size Effect - Include a distinct foreground, middle ground, and background in your composition. Elements in the foreground look larger than those in the middle ground which look larger than those in the background creating a sense of depth. This is often accomplished with a wide-angle lens and by getting down low and close to your foreground which has the effect of making it appear larger than life while the middle and background appear smaller than normal accentuating depth.

Cascade Detail, North Creek, Zion NP - © Greg Clure

Here in my Cascade Detail example of this effect, my camera lens is about 12 inches from the water cascading over the sandstone terrace and about 18 inches off the ground, so I am low and close to my foreground which comprises the bottom half of the image. The middle ground is the next quarter up and includes the creek bed and upper terrace water falls and background is comprised of the trees and cliffs in top quarter of the image. A vertical or portrait orientation does the best job of capturing depth when using this effect as it provides more near to far real estate to illustrate the scene's depth.

Elevated Effect - Often used in combination with the above effect, gaining elevation helps by visually separating the foreground, middle ground, and background, which makes perspective lines and size comparisons more apparent.

Ice Cream, White Pocket - © Greg Clure

Pocket Reflection, White Pocket - © Greg Clure

The pool in both these images are one and the same which might not be apparent at first glance. In my Ice Cream image I climbed up to an elevated vantage point about 10 feet above the pool which provides greater separation of elements than the low and close view at pool level image titled Pocket Reflection. This elevated vantage point also allowed me to include a more distant sunlit butte in the background not seen in the Pocket Reflection image.

Atmospheric Effect - The use of haze or fog creates depth by obscuring more distant objects even if those object are not all the far away.

Toroweap Sunset - © Greg Clure

In my image, Toroweap Sunset, I am demonstrating all three of the effects discussed so far in a single image as we have a distinct foreground, middle ground and background. I am close to the foreground rock ledge. I am shooting from an elevated location, 3000 feet above the Colorado River and the canyon walls and distant buttes are obscured by the haze and recede into the distance enhancing the feeling of depth and size of the Grand Canyon.
 
Juxtaposition Effect - While similar to the first effect discussed, this effect uses a prominent foreground juxtaposed to the background. The reduction or elimination of a middle ground creates a strong sense of depth by accentuating distance.

Stormy Sierras - © Greg Clure

In my Stormy Sierras image I am juxtaposing the foreground petroglyphs against the distant Sierra Range and dramatic storm clouds. While you could say there is some middle ground here, the slice of open brush land between the petroglyphs and the mountains, it is not a significant or important part of the image. So this image is really two-thirds foreground and one-third background and goes a long way to enhancing the sense of distance.


Perspective Effect - Include leading lines, S-curves and converging lines in your images as these visual cues of perspective are easily associated with depth or distance.

Playa de Verde - © Greg Clure

My Playa de Verde image is a good example of leading line and they are mostly all converging toward the setting sun. There are line of mossy rocks and lines of blue water between those rock all pointing toward the sunset. The prominent rock jetty ends just before the sun. The bay waters channel the ocean waters on both sides of the jetty towards the sun. The flaring sun rays and V-shaped hillsides point toward the sun. All these lines and others seemingly point to and converge toward the setting sun. This image also exhibits four of five effects discussed and tells a convincing story of depth and distance.

So what are you waiting for, get out there and and capture that third dimension of depth in your landscape images and breathe some life into your two dimensional photos.

Pro-Tip #1: Back Button Focusing

While many problems can be fixed in software after capture, focus or sharp focus, is not one of them. Focus must be obtained at the point of image capture as no amount of post-process sharpening can bring an out-of-focus subject into focus. One way to gain better control over your point-of-focus is to separate the focusing action from the exposure reading when you fully depress the shutter button. Most all DSLRs and many point and shoot cameras are capable of separating these two functions. In the case of a DSLR, you can assign the focusing action to one of the other buttons on the back of your camera, known as "Back-button Focusing". This allows you to place your center focus point, which is your most accurate focus point, directly on your subject to obtain sharp focus and then re-compose the shot as desired gaining the proper exposure for the re-composed scene when you depress the shutter button. Not only will you begin to increase the number of sharply focused images you are recording but you will also gain more accurate exposure readings for your scenes. Review your camera manual for instructions on how to set this up on your particular camera then give it a try, it may take a while to get used to this new way of image capture but the results will be much better and more controllable than when both functions were engaged with the shutter button alone.

Black & White Processing

© Greg Clure

What images make good candidates for black & white (B&W) comversion? Any image with tonal contrast. What is tonal contrast? Tonal contrast are those areas of different luminacity. The best B&W candidates have many of these alterating tonal areas repeated throughout the image. This image of a water filled pocket in the White Pocket area of the Vermillion Cliffs has such characteristics. The white sandstone rock (a light tone) is broken up throughout the image by the darker shadow areas of the cracks (a dark tone) running between the rocks. The same thing is happening with the blue sky and white clouds and we see both repeated in the pool's reflection of rock and sky. The pool's concentric rings also has alternating light/dark tonality.

When converting images to B&W use an optimized color image in a RAW format for maximum control and detail. Since RAW images contain more information they can be pushed further than others. Once you have your color version looking its best, you can now convert to B&W. I have found that there is not faster and easier way to do this conversion than by using Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro 2. I also like to access Silver Efex from Photoshop which allows the use of Smart Filter technology which is a non-distructive means of applying changes that can be re-accessed at any time to make changes starting with all the controlls in the last place you left them. The presets available in Silver Efex make it fast to select a starting point, simply browse the presets and select the one that works best for your image. In the case of this image, I choose the Full Contrast & Structure preset. This however was a bit to contrasty for the sky area but not quite enough structure and contrast for the rock area. Using the global adjustments I brought down the brightness and bumped up the contrast and structure. I also added a red filter to futher enhance the sky by darkening the blue areas. Still wanting more controll over each area in the image I created a group of controll points for both the sky area and rock areas and further tweeked my contrast in the sky and structure in the rock. This conversion took me about 2 minutes to complete, thanks to Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Nik offers a free 15 day trial version of any of their plug-ins and you can download (use download button in right column) it and give it a try on some of your images. If you like it, and I am sure you will, you can use my discount code, gclure, to recieve a 15% discount on your purchase at www.niksoftware.com. Or equally impressive is Black & White Effects from Topaz Labs who offers a dozen plug-ins for Lightroom, Photoshop and Aperture. The good news is you can download a free trial copy at www.topazlabs.com and compare it to Nik's and purchase the one that you find works best for you! The same discount code, gclure, will save you 15% on any Topaz product as well.

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 7

 

onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 7

New version of all-in-one software suite offers photographers the easiest way to develop stunning black and white photography, more ways to create images with impact, improved portrait retouching, layered file workflow, image resizing tools and more

Portland, OR – September 5, 2012

– onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative, time-saving solutions for professional, advanced amateur and hobbyist photographers, today announced Perfect Photo Suite 7 for Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Apple Aperture and as a standalone application. Improved to give photographers even more ways to maximize their creativity and solve common problems in digital photography, Perfect Photo Suite 7 now offers new easy-to-use, yet powerful tools to develop stunning black and white images, enhance, stylize and correct images, retouch portraits and prepare all images, including mobile snapshots, for enlargement and print. Perfect Photo Suite 7 includes the brand new module Perfect B&W, Perfect Effects 4, Perfect Portrait 2, Perfect Layers 3 and Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro–powered by Genuine Fractals technology, Perfect Mask 5.2 and FocalPoint 2.

Improved workflow integration and a significantly redesigned user interface allow photographers to focus on their image editing while working seamlessly within their preferred workflow. Users can select their image from Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or Aperture, send it directly to the Perfect Photo Suite 7 module of their choice, make adjustments, then immediately return it to their original photo editing or organization application.

The new modules in Perfect Photo Suite 7 also include the new Perfect Brush giving users the ability achieve precise edge-detected masking quickly. It smoothly applies or removes adjustments to the specific areas being worked on without crossing over the edges around it. A redesigned browser with Search functionality and a Favorites panel allow users easy access to the specific effects and presets they’re looking for. Photographic effects, designed by industry onOne Software Announces Perfect Photo Suite 7 experts specifically for onOne Software, are also easily accessible alongside manual controls to give photographers the option to create professional looking images with one click or fine-tune adjustments to create the specific look they desire.

“We are very excited about Perfect Photo Suite 7,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “It is the result of what our customers were asking for so they could work more quickly and easily, yet still create high quality images. The addition of Perfect B&W and the improvements to Perfect Effects, Perfect Portrait, Perfect Layers and Perfect Resize that give photographers even more creative options and trusted results.”

Perfect Photo Suite 7 includes full versions of the following onOne Software products:

Perfect B&W (New!):

Perfect B&W is the completely brand new module that helps photographers develop stunning black and white images quickly and easily. It includes powerful and intuitive tools that add dramatic, elegant, and classic black and white looks to images instantly and offer users complete creative control to reproduce time-honored black and white processing techniques.

Perfect Effects 4 (New!):

Perfect Effects 4 extends the creative power offered by the popular PhotoTools and provides even more ways to create images with impact. Perfect Effects 4 delivers an extended library of photographic effects, frames and edges, and presets designed by industry experts, via a flexible new browser with keyword search functionality and Favorites selection. New blending modes and paint-in brush effects offer even more creative options over how effects are combined and applied.

Perfect Portrait 2 (New!):

Perfect Portrait 2 offers simply power portrait retouching, now improved with more accurate automated feature detection and enhancement tools to smooth skin, remove blemishes, brighten eyes and teeth, and correct skin color. Faster processing speeds also allow photographers to retouch images more quickly for simply stunning portraits.

Perfect Layers 3 (New!):

Perfect Layers 3 gives photographers the ability to combine images and extend their image editing options in a layered file workflow without Photoshop. Create and edit multi-layered files with Perfect Layers directly from Lightroom, Aperture or as a standalone application. Included are new blending modes, textures, borders, PNG file support, and the powerful new edge-detecting Perfect Brush.

Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro (New!):

Perfect Resize is that industry standard for image enlargement. It is renowned across the photographic and printing industries for its ability to increase image size well over 1000% without the loss of sharpness or detail that is normally expected. Now, proven Genuine Fractals technology has been applied to new algorithms that optimize the clarity and detail of different image types, including mobile snapshots.

Perfect Mask 5.2 (Improved!):

Create high quality masks quickly and easily with automated functionality and powerful tools that make selecting subjects and isolating backgrounds for removal extraordinarily accurate. Redesigned user interface allows you to focus on your image editing while keeping your most used tools readily accessible.

FocalPoint 2:

FocalPoint 2 allows photographers to put the focus where they want after the shot. It’s the best way to add the most realistic depth of field and selective focus control to any image after it is photographed. Choose from a selection of lens presets to produce specific bokeh or adjust the amount and kind of blur you want.

Availability and Pricing

The new Perfect Photo Suite 7 will ship in late October 2012. Pre-orders are available immediately and will include a complimentary Perfect Photo Suite 7 Creative Companion DVD with purchase through September 20, 2012. The Creative Companion DVD includes training videos and presets for Perfect Photo Suite 7 and templates from Graphic Authority ($140 value).

Owners of Perfect Photo Suite 6, Perfect Photo Suite 5, and Plug-In Suite 5 or earlier can upgrade to Perfect Photo Suite 7 for $149.95. Perfect Photo Suite 7 is available to new users for $299.95. Pre-orders may be made by clicking on the graphic at the top of this post.

 

 

 

 

Just Released! HDR Efex Pro 2 from Nik Software

Experience all the power, control, and creative expression your camera has to offer with new HDR Efex Pro 2. Nik has improved the software across the board: it's faster, more powerful, delivers more realistic results, and is easier to use than ever. HDR Efex Pro 2 gives you the creative freedom to create truly exceptional high dynamic range images for discerning audiences. Order HDR Efex Pro 2 today for just $99.95.

Key New Features:

• NEW: Improved Tone Mapping Engine – Develop superior results with better color rendering and improved natural styles

• UPDATED: Interface, Interaction, and Workflow – Benefit from improvements to the merging interface, tone mapping and enhancement controls, visual presets, and more

• NEW: Depth Control – Enjoy added depth and realism in images with the new and proprietary Depth control, which helps counteract the flattened look commonly associated with HDR images

• NEW: Full GPU Processing and Multi-Core Optimization – Gain even faster performance with GPU processing that takes full advantage of the processors found on modern display adapters

• UPDATED: Ghost Reduction – Improved ghost reduction algorithm ensures that artifacts created by moving objects are removed with a single click

• NEW: Chromatic Aberration Reduction – Reduce color fringes around objects

• NEW: Graduated Neutral Density Control – Access the full 32-bit depth of the merged image, providing a natural effect especially on images with a strong horizon line

• NEW: Full White Balance Control – Take full advantage of the white balance in an image with a new Tint slider, which along with the Temperature slider, can be applied both globally as well as selectively using U Point technology

• NEW: History Browser – Easily review adjustments and different HDR looks via the History Browser which records every enhancement used in an editing session

• NEW: Extended Language Support – International users benefit by the addition of Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) to a list of languages that includes English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese

• …Dozens more features. View the entire feature list by clicking on the LEARN MORE button at the top.

Use my discount code, gclure, at checkout for 15% off the purchase of any Nik Software product!

Nik Software on Sale - The Complete Collection

Nik Software is offering its lowest price of the year on its Complete Collection this 4th of July sale, which runs through Sunday, July 8 at midnight. Their Complete Collection Ultimate Edition is on sale for $150 off (only $349.95), while the Complete Collection for Lightroom/Aperture is now just $224.95 (savings of $75).  This collection include all six Nik Software plug-in which includes Dfine 2.0, Viveza 2, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro 4.0, Silver Efex Pro 2, and Sharpener Pro 3.0.