* Happy Birthday Bike * by Canon DSLR Challenge


09-JUL-2005	Earl Waud

This was the BIG present for my daughters 8th birthday.

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
1/45s f/19.0 at 28.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Guest		24-Mar-2015 05:07
oui

Guest		11-Jul-2005 19:53
Yes. This one definately looks much better. And no artifacts... Nicely done. -Cat

Canon DSLR Challenge		11-Jul-2005 18:56
Thanks Olaf. You are right about the time of day thing. I'm re processing the image as you suggested and it looks much more natural. So I am going to replace my entry. Thanks again. Here is the 1st version for comparison:

Guest		11-Jul-2005 18:50
PS. I actually prefer the image as it was before going through a) to f) below. The bright foreground seems to pair better with a somewhat bright sky. We can see that the image is backlit (in shadow, rim of light and flare-spots), so we expect the sky to be bright!

Guest		11-Jul-2005 18:43
Simplest thing was the selective curves adjustment suggested below. If you still want more color in the sky after that, here is one way you could achieve that: a) After you've added the curves adjustment layer, use the eyedropper tool to clicking in the lower right area of the sky (puplish color) for the foreground and the upper right (sky blue) for the background color. b) Option-click (not sure of PC-shortcut) on the mask of the curves adjustment layer and the same selection is activated. c) Create a new layer and add a mask by clicking on the layer mask icon. d) Click on the layer thumbnail of the new empty layer. e) Select the Gradient tool and make a gradient by dragging from the horizon to the top of the frame. f) Change the blending mode of the new layer to multiply and slide down the opacity of the layer to 30% Result: natural looking sky, but even more colorful.

Guest		11-Jul-2005 18:23
You know what, I like the bike image you just provided a lot more than the one where you've changed the sky. The sky-shot is taken at a different time of day and just doesn't work with the lighting in your foreground. Here's what I would do (I tried it), and it is simple: 1) Duplicate the background layer. 2) Select all of the sky with a few clicks with the magic wand tool set to 25% tolerance (don't worry about getting all the small "holes" in the tree). 3) Feather the selection with a radius of one pixel. 4) Create a mask by clicking on the "Add layer mask"-icon at the bottom of the layers palette. 5) Change the blending mode of the upper layer to "Multiply" This should be enough in my opinion. The sky still looks realistic but is a bit more colorful. Alternatively, instead of duplicating the background layer and using multiply you could just make a Curves adjustment layer after you've made your selection and feathering. Suggested Curves setting: add just one point to the RGB curve at input/output=181/102. Done!

Canon DSLR Challenge		11-Jul-2005 17:40
Olaf, Thanks. You are pretty close on your diagnosis. What I actually did was competely replace the background sky. It was an overcast day and there was no sky detail. I spent a lot of effort to mask the sky out and I tried to get rid if the halo, especially on her hat, but didn't get it to go away. I'll see if the shadow/highlight tool will help. If you have any other suggestions, knowing what I am working with, I'd welcome the input. Thanks! -Earl Waud Here are the images I combined to make the bike image, on the bike: and here is the sky

Guest		11-Jul-2005 09:59
Great colors and composition! I don't know what you did in post-processing, but it looks like you've tried to darken the background and lighten Madison. It looks a bit unnatural and there is bright halo outlining her. I suspect, you did not use the Shadow/highlight tool (fill flash tool in Elements?), but would recommend you trying that instead...

Canon DSLR Challenge		11-Jul-2005 06:21
Great happy shot! Nothing better than a bike for your birthday. I still remember my first bike. It gave me so much freedom and fun. Congrats to your daughter. She looks like she's loving it. Ann C

Gayle Knowles		11-Jul-2005 05:27
What a great shot, and happy birthday to your girl! My daughter got a new bike for her 11th birthday.....she LOVES it and rides it every day. Gayle