Grand Canyon (Makeover)

[RHoldenSr]

I did not feel comfortable hijacking David's thread in Landscape so I figured I would post here to discuss my makeover. This is one of many shots I took on our trip in October 2004. When we arrived there was a fire on the NW rim and the smoke was pretty bad.

I bought two CD's by Rick Sammon with tips on processing outdoor & travel photos and makeovers and they arrived in the mail yesterday. Really turned out to be very helpful for me. I have been waiting for a year gathering technics on how to process the photos with the smoke and haze.

In this photo I used multiple layers, masks, curves and levels. I did not really do much in the way of sharpening. I think there is still a tad of smoke/haze but not sure if I can do much more.

I would appreciate any comments good or bad

[OversighT]

Wow Robin! That processed photo looks great. Rick's tips are definitely worth the money. I love how the processing brought back the greens and browns of the landscape and the blue of the sky.


T.

[icdapoakr]

Originally Posted by OversighT

Wow Robin! That processed photo looks great. Rick's tips are definitely worth the money. I love how the processing brought back the greens and browns of the landscape and the blue of the sky.


T.

pretty much what i thought

[RHoldenSr]

Thanks for the comments!

For the mask I dupiclated the layer and did a graduated erasure of the canyon area up to the trees.

By graduated I mean I erased the majority of the canyon at 100% opacity and gradually reduced the opacity to the trees to well under 50% allowing me to better blend the adjustments of the two areas.

[skdupre]

Nice work on the haze and smoke. I've been to Big Bend during the summer and haze/pollution from Mexico reminded me of your "before" photo of the canyon. BTW, I trekked across the big ditch this past summer and have a complete trip report with photos on this website: http://www.duprephotography.com/gc/gc_index.htm. I perked up a few of the photos in PS; however, I wasn't using a pro-line digital at the time.

[imjamie]

Robin,
Which two CD's did you order and where did you order them from? Been looking for something like that.

Thanks,

[PeteQ]

I really like the way the sky has been brought out. Excellent save there. For me, however, the canyon itself looks a little over-saturated. Maybe if the saturation was brought down a tad and then if it still doesn't seem as warm as you like you could try a layer mask with a warming filter and then selectively erase so that only the canyon is warmed. That might help save some of the green in the trees also.

Smoke and haze have always been a butt-kicker for me so to see you be able to bring it back this well makes me want to go back and work some of my old stuff. Thanks!

[RHoldenSr]

Very nice work on your website! I enjoyed browsing it and reading about your adventure. I wish I was young enough to do that type of hike

Originally Posted by skdupre

Nice work on the haze and smoke. I've been to Big Bend during the summer and haze/pollution from Mexico reminded me of your "before" photo of the canyon. BTW, I trekked across the big ditch this past summer and have a complete trip report with photos on this website: http://www.duprephotography.com/gc/gc_index.htm. I perked up a few of the photos in PS; however, I wasn't using a pro-line digital at the time.

[RHoldenSr]

I ordered the two CD's by Rick Sammon at Software Cinema. I had been wanting to order them for some time and when they sent me an email with 35% off I jumped on the offer.

Photoshop CS Makeovers

Photoshop CS Outdoor & Travel Photographer

Software Cinema

Originally Posted by imjamie

Robin,
Which two CD's did you order and where did you order them from? Been looking for something like that.

Thanks,

[RHoldenSr]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I did nothing to the saturation, I simply adjusted the curves and levels and that is what I ended up with.

Originally Posted by PeteQ

I really like the way the sky has been brought out. Excellent save there. For me, however, the canyon itself looks a little over-saturated. Maybe if the saturation was brought down a tad and then if it still doesn't seem as warm as you like you could try a layer mask with a warming filter and then selectively erase so that only the canyon is warmed. That might help save some of the green in the trees also.

Smoke and haze have always been a butt-kicker for me so to see you be able to bring it back this well makes me want to go back and work some of my old stuff. Thanks!

[Lanita33]

I went to the Software Cinema website to find the two cds from Rick Sammons that you talked about. I couldn't find them. Could you please tell me exactly where on the website they are.

I really liked what you did with your Grand Canyon photo.

Lana

[RHoldenSr]

The link is below:

Photoshop CS Makeovers

Photoshop CS Outdoor & Travel Photographer

Click Here - Software Cinema

Originally Posted by Lanita33

I went to the Software Cinema website to find the two cds from Rick Sammons that you talked about. I couldn't find them. Could you please tell me exactly where on the website they are.

I really liked what you did with your Grand Canyon photo.

Lana

[Lanita33]

Thank you Robin.

Lana