El “Prólogo” a la Crítica de la Economía Política

case study

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7 Add a Hide All layer mask to the

“White fill” layer. The white layer becomes transparent so you can see the Background layer again

9 On the Layers palette, lower the Opacity of the “White fill” layer to 46% to blend in the painting Choose the Brush Tool from the Toolbox and 8

select 5 % Hardness, 25% Opacity, and 50%

Flow in the Options bar as a starting place.

With the layer mask selected on the “White fill” layer, paint in the details on the petals

Here’s where detail was painted in on the poppy petal. It’s a little obvious, so it’s time to reduce the

opacity of the white layer

As I’ve become comfortable with LAB color, channels, and blending modes, I found that I use Photoshop filters less and less. However, there are many Photoshop filters and third-party filters that are worth exploring.

Here are some of the filters that I like for creative effects. It’s important to use any filter on a duplicate layer so you can paint on a layer mask to control the exact areas of application of the creative effect.

NIK filters

The NIK Color Efex collection includes some spectacular filters. The ones I find myself using often are:

Color Replacement: This filter allows you to replace colors in an image with any color you want. This is very useful for changing colors in a specific area Cross Processing: Back in the days of film photography, cross processing referred to using chemistry meant for one kind of film for another kind of film. This produced unusual shifts in color. The NIK filter simulates some of these effects and provides you with a selection of color shifts that you can add selectively into your image.

Fog: Well, I use Fog to add, ah, fog into some of my landscapes. This one should be used with a light touch. You

can also use it to globally lighten an image.

Glamour Glow: This filter adds a warm saturated glow. It is best to paint it in carefully on a layer mask only where you really want it because it also softens the image and can degrade the image.

Photoshop filters

The filters that come with Photoshop itself are a mixed bag. You should know that not all Photoshop filters work with all bit-depth images, so you may have to convert your images to a lower bit-depth to use a particular filter.

One Photoshop filter that I use with almost every single image that I process is the Unsharp Mask (found under Filter ► Sharpen ► Unsharp Mask). I use the Unsharp Mask selectively in LAB color applied only to the Luminance channel as explained on pages 198 –201.

Another Photoshop filter that I use frequently is Lighting Effects (found under Filter ► Render ► Lighting Effects).

This one is great for either changing the direction of the light hitting the subject of an image or for emphasizing existing light and the direction of that light.

I’ve used the Lighting Effects filter on everything from portraits and still lifes to sunset landscapes in the mountains.

Once again, I suggest working on a layer so you can precisely control the impact of this powerful filter. You also need to carefully observe the direction, intensity, and quality of the light in the image and make sure that your use of the Lighting Effects filter compliments and does not detract from the existing light.

The Liquify filter (found under Filter ► Liquify) is great for those occasions where you need to transform a curvilinear shape. I’ve used this filter successfully in a number of photo composites.

In the Butterfly image shown on pages 186 – 187, I used several Photoshop filters including Glowing Edges (found under Filter ► Stylize ► Glowing Edges), Ink Outlines (found under, Filter ► Brush Strokes ► Ink Outlines) and Neon Glow (found under Filter ► Artistic ► Neon Glow).

When possible, I prefer to use channels, blending modes, and painting instead of Photoshop filters. However, there are times, as with the Butterfly image, that these Photoshop filters are hard to beat. They are kind of like a cheep sugar rush. You don’t want to overdo them or you’ll get an ice cream headache. But sometimes it’s hard to pass up a brownie all-the-way with ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

>> Filters in Photoshop

To create Papaver Fireworks, a core of a poppy gone to seed, I used approximately 24 different LAB channel inversions and equalizations.

As I’ve become comfortable with LAB color, channels, and blending modes, I found that I use Photoshop filters less and less. However, there are many Photoshop filters and third-party filters that are worth exploring.

Here are some of the filters that I like for creative effects. It’s important to use any filter on a duplicate layer so you can paint on a layer mask to control the exact areas of application of the creative effect.

NIK filters

The NIK Color Efex collection includes some spectacular filters. The ones I find myself using often are:

Color Replacement: This filter allows you to replace colors in an image with any color you want. This is very useful for changing colors in a specific area Cross Processing: Back in the days of film photography, cross processing referred to using chemistry meant for one kind of film for another kind of film. This produced unusual shifts in color. The NIK filter simulates some of these effects and provides you with a selection of color shifts that you can add selectively into your image.

Fog: Well, I use Fog to add, ah, fog into some of my landscapes. This one should be used with a light touch. You

can also use it to globally lighten an image.

Glamour Glow: This filter adds a warm saturated glow. It is best to paint it in carefully on a layer mask only where you really want it because it also softens the image and can degrade the image.

Photoshop filters

The filters that come with Photoshop itself are a mixed bag. You should know that not all Photoshop filters work with all bit-depth images, so you may have to convert your images to a lower bit-depth to use a particular filter.

One Photoshop filter that I use with almost every single image that I process is the Unsharp Mask (found under Filter ► Sharpen ► Unsharp Mask). I use the Unsharp Mask selectively in LAB color applied only to the Luminance channel as explained on pages 198 –201.

Another Photoshop filter that I use frequently is Lighting Effects (found under Filter ► Render ► Lighting Effects).

This one is great for either changing the direction of the light hitting the subject of an image or for emphasizing existing light and the direction of that light.

I’ve used the Lighting Effects filter on everything from portraits and still lifes to sunset landscapes in the mountains.

Once again, I suggest working on a layer so you can precisely control the impact of this powerful filter. You also need to carefully observe the direction, intensity, and quality of the light in the image and make sure that your use of the Lighting Effects filter compliments and does not detract from the existing light.

The Liquify filter (found under Filter ► Liquify) is great for those occasions where you need to transform a curvilinear shape. I’ve used this filter successfully in a number of photo composites.

In the Butterfly image shown on pages 186 – 187, I used several Photoshop filters including Glowing Edges (found under Filter ► Stylize ► Glowing Edges), Ink Outlines (found under, Filter ► Brush Strokes ► Ink Outlines) and Neon Glow (found under Filter ► Artistic ► Neon Glow).

When possible, I prefer to use channels, blending modes, and painting instead of Photoshop filters. However, there are times, as with the Butterfly image, that these Photoshop filters are hard to beat. They are kind of like a cheep sugar rush. You don’t want to overdo them or you’ll get an ice cream headache. But sometimes it’s hard to pass up a brownie all-the-way with ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

>> Filters in Photoshop

To create Papaver Fireworks, a core of a poppy gone to seed, I used approximately 24 different LAB channel inversions and equalizations.

I could have accomplished the same result by selecting the poppy, cutting it out and placing it on a white background. This wouldn’t have been impossible, but it was easier to do an inversion. Cutting out the hairs on the stem would have been particularly difficult. Using the inversion meant that I did have to paint the colors of the flower back in.

LAB L channel inversions aren’t just for photographs on a white background. I photo-graphed this Papaver Rhoeus ‘Falling in Love’

on a black velvet background (see page 68 for an explanation of this technique). Using an L channel inversion, I flipped the poppy image so I had a second version on a white background.

I could have accomplished the same result by selecting the poppy, cutting it out and placing it on a white background. This wouldn’t have been impossible, but it was easier to do an inversion. Cutting out the hairs on the stem would have been particularly difficult. Using the inversion meant that I did have to paint the colors of the flower back in.

LAB L channel inversions aren’t just for photographs on a white background. I photo-graphed this Papaver Rhoeus ‘Falling in Love’

on a black velvet background (see page 68 for an explanation of this technique). Using an L channel inversion, I flipped the poppy image so I had a second version on a white background.

I PHOTOGRAPHEd A BUTTERFLY specimen using a lightbox to create a transparent background as shown below. The finished image on the right was created using LAB channel operations, several Photoshop filters, and direct painting on a layer.

It’s a very long way from the photo to the finished butterfly image. This process shows that you can add a great deal of color into an image that starts out fairly plain.

I think the finished image, which has been published a number of times, is as much a digital painting as it is a photograph.

I PHOTOGRAPHEd A BUTTERFLY specimen using a lightbox to create a transparent background as shown below. The finished image on the right was created using LAB channel operations, several Photoshop filters, and direct painting on a layer.

It’s a very long way from the photo to the finished butterfly image. This process shows that you can add a great deal of color into an image that starts out fairly plain.

I think the finished image, which has been published a number of times, is as much a digital painting as it is a photograph.

188 The Photoshop darkroom