photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 62: Low light or low key (hosts: Victor Engel & Olaf.dk) >> Eligible > tulip *
previous | next
26-FEB-2006 Michael Puff

tulip *

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
1/15s f/9.0 at 70.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time26-Feb-2006 18:49:52
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 20D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length70 mm
Exposure Time1/15 sec
Aperturef/9
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias-1 1/3
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
share
Canon DSLR Challenge07-Mar-2006 21:39
Hi Michael! There seems to be a lot of tulip shots around at the moment - must be the time of year - but this one is particularly successful, I think because of the fact that the flower is horizontal, as they so often are, rather than vertical, as they are so often shot. It's a curiously soothing image. Tim A.
ctfchallenge06-Mar-2006 17:30
I agree with the rest... this is the best version -Cat
Guest 05-Mar-2006 21:56
Yup, that's the best version...
Canon DSLR Challenge04-Mar-2006 21:02
I have to say this version is my favorite of the lot. And thanks for linking to the other versions. -- Victor
Guest 04-Mar-2006 17:28
I've uploaded a completely new edit. I decided to approach the image fresh with what I've learned over the past week. I think this version contains more elements of low-key style than the original. Previous versions are available at http://www.pbase.com/mtpuff/tulip . Thanks all for your comments and input. -Michael
Canon DSLR Challenge03-Mar-2006 04:23
Michael, I like this composition though the leaf seems a bit too stiff perhaps. The softness of the white petals comes through nicely. ~kt
Guest 01-Mar-2006 21:38
Thank you, Olaf, for the extensive instructions. I think many of us will find the write-up very informative. I too use layer masks extensively but I'm not at all familiar with the effect of step #4, the Edit>Fill on the mask. I look forward to trying it tonight and no doubt there will be another version of this image in the next day or so. Again, many thanks for your effort, it's deeply appreciated. -Michael
Guest 01-Mar-2006 19:19
I could have been more clear, sorry. You probably already know most of this stuff, but let's take it from the top:

When you create an adjustment layer, a layer mask is automatically generated along with the adjustment. If you've made a selection before you create an adjustment layer, the selection will automatically be turned into a mask (otherwise the mask will just be all white). In this instance, for example, if you've selected the background before creating the levels adjustment layer, the layer mask will be a black tulip on a white background.

The rule to remember when working with masks is 'black conceals and white reveals'. In this instance that means only the background is affected by the levels-adjustments (at this point). Now lets advance from only pure black and pure white on the mask to any shade on the greyscale. For example, a 67% black would mean that the layer will be 67% concealed and 33% revealed.

My goal then, was to leave the flower petals (black on the mask) unaffected by the levels adjustment, the background (white on the mask) fully affected (well 75% at least, as the opacity of the adjustment layer was set to 75%) and the stem and leaf slightly affected. To make the stem and leaf slightly affected, we need to make the black stem and leaf on the mask grey instead. There are a number of ways of doing that. In fact, I did it one way and described it slightly differently. To be consistent, here's the way I tried to describe, but in more detail:

1. Select the flower petal with the magic-wand tool for example.
2. Invert the selection. Now the background, stem and leaf are selected.
3. Make sure you are on the levels adjustment layer. There is a mask icon showing in the second column from the left in the layers palette.
4. Now, fill with white at a 33% opacity. To fill, either use the keyboard shortcut (shift-delete or shift-F5 on a Mac) or go 'Edit>Fill...' in the main menu. The white will 'paint' on the mask of the adjustment layer. As the flower-petals are not selected, this area will not be affected, it will remain black on the mask. What's white on the mask will not be affected either - white on white is still white - but the stem and the leaf will. When you fill with white at 33% opacity on top of black, the result is a grey which is 67% black. That translates into the adjustment being 67% concealed and 33% revealed on the stem and the leaf part of the image.

To see the mask you've created in full size, you can 'enter' the mask. On a Mac this is done by alt-clicking on the mask thumbnail of the layer, in the layers palette - I don't know if it is different on a PC. You can also edit the mask in this view, much as if it were a greyscale photograph. I did some fine-tuning of the mask here, as the first magic wand selection in my process had left the left edge of the leaf kind of jagged. I just chose a soft brush of suitable size and painted with a grey of 67%-black along the edge. To get out of the mask view, simply alt-click (Mac) on the mask-icon once again.

That was a lot of words describing something I did in a matter of seconds, lol. I find masks indispensable - use them all the time - to do selective editing, be it color-balance, sharpening or anything else. I use a Wacom-tablet and pen to paint on the masks. Now that I'm used to those tools, photo-editing would be sour without them.
Guest 01-Mar-2006 06:27
Thanks all. Olaf, I understand the goal and agree with you in theory...but you lost me on the last step. I can create a mask on a layer and apply the levels adjustment, but I'm lost on your last suggestion with the white fill. Is this done as a new fill layer? I'm confused, but would really like to understand this last step. -Michael
Guest 01-Mar-2006 05:52
Now we're splitting hairs, but here's what I like even better: after doing what I suggested in my last comment, select all but the white flower petals and fill with white at 33% opacity on the mask (mask will now be white on background, black on petals and grey (67% black) on the green parts of the image).
Guest 01-Mar-2006 05:52
Michael, I'll tell you what I prefer and you'd think it'd be what I've already suggested, but no. My main 'problem' with the warmth is in the background, so I tried a new version, which leaves the flower as is but darkens and neutralizes the background: same levels-adjustment as described below, still at 75% opacity, but with a mask applied to the flower, stem and leaf, so that only the background is affected. (Easy way to select flower, stem and leaf: select the background with the magic wand and invert).
elips01-Mar-2006 01:04
I still like the original best. The light on the tulip is the softest and the leaf looks the best. The only change I might make to the original is to make the background a more uniform, dark shade. ~Sharon
alexeig28-Feb-2006 22:43
I personally like more with level adjustment. But original is also great
Guest 28-Feb-2006 21:38
Thanks Sharon. Victor, nope, I hadn't thought of a flower only crop as I like the curve of the stem so very much.

I've created a gallery for side-by-side comparisons. It contains this original version, a version with Olaf's suggested levels adjustment, and a platinum toned b&w version. I think I've looked at these so long that I've lost the ability to decide on one over the other. While Olaf's suggested levels adjustment gives the image more punch and is likely closer to what one expects with low-key, I think it has lost a bit of painterly softness I was striving to acheive. The b&w version might be the closest to low-key, but I'm not convinced of that.

Anyway, the gallery is http://www.pbase.com/mtpuff/tulip . I'll go look at other folks photos for awhile and let people comment on the variations if you'd like to do so.

Thanks to all for your comments. -Michael
elips28-Feb-2006 05:04
Michael, while I would be interested to see what else you do with this, I love it just the way it is. I was blown away when I opened this image, just beautiful! ~Sharon
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Feb-2006 02:31
Low key white, eh? Nice challenge. Have you thought of a crop of just the flower? -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Feb-2006 01:46
EV is 9.2
Guest 27-Feb-2006 21:35
Thanks, Olaf. Yes, the warm color balance is intentional. I was going for a warm "peach blush" in the tulip, but considering that you see it as a warm color balance rather than a flower color tells me a lot, LOL!

This evening I'll try your level adjustment recommendations on this image. Also, I'm working on two other versions of this image. A color version with the white balance corrected in the raw converter (so that the tulip is white) and a b&w version which I suspect might be the strongest for low-key. I'll post links when I finish those versions. -Michael
Guest 27-Feb-2006 17:48
Michael you've captured the delicate tones and textures in the white petals very nicely here. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the whole color balance is a bit warm. It shows in the background as well, as the background is not all the way black.

I think this image improves with a Levels adjustment layer that brings down the background to nearly black. I used the black eye-dropper tool in different areas of the background until I saw something I liked. Result: Red blackpoint slider set to 35, Green blackpoint slider set to 23 and the Blue blackpoint slider set to 9. After that, I played with the opacity of the adjustment layer and it ended up at 75%.

Perhaps I only noticed the warm color balance due to the fact that the luminosity of the image background is so close to that of the web-page background, which is neutral.