Overexpose that snow, and clean up the image

Andy

OK - this started with a SmugMug customer, kinda scratching his head :scratch why isn't my big print of this scene printing well?

Here's what he started with:


Well, we have the The SmugMug Guarantee which says, we'll either reprint, or refund, whichever. This customer wanted a reprint - but I thought I could improve the shot so, I first asked him for his raw file and I brought it into Adobe Camera RAW for conversion:



Remember: Your camera's meter gets fooled by the snow, so You've Got to Overexpose That Snow :lol3

So, a bump of just over a stop and two-thirds in RAW:


And then into Photoshop. From there, it's pretty simple. First, I used a curves adjustment layer to bring up the exposure even further - by using the white eyedropper, and clicking on the snow area until I had nearly ALL white, just enough of the groundline to differentiate between the ground and the sky. It's easy, just keep clicking until you get it the way you want it. Flatten. Now, we have to clean it up. I used a combination of the spot healing brush and the clone tool. The key here is again, work in a new layer, so you can easily see (and undo) what you are doing, via a layer mask. Use a fat, SOFT EDGE brush with both the healing brush and the clone tool. Work slowly and methodically, it takes time but it's well worth it.

Oh the final step here, was to remove all the color (turning to bw) by virtue of Channel Mixer adjustment layer (50, 50, 0 and check the monochromoe box). This is the way the customer wanted it, after seeing a version with the color and without.

This was printed at 20x30 (Lustre).



Enjoy (a really nice wintry scene) photography,

John Mueller

Excellent Andy.
I found your tut on white background worked well with snow also:D

Andy

Molsondog wrote:

I'm the Smugmug customer that sought help from the "help line" when I received the original print. What I hoped for was some simple feedback on why my work flow did not produce the results I intended. I was ready to try again because I liked the image and wanted it on my wall. It's a typical Minnesota winter scene.

What I received was remarkable personal service from Smugmug and the "house pro". I've sent this story to everyone I know who owns a camera. I'm sure that several will sign up for Smugmug upon hearing the story.

Smugmug and Dgrin could write the book on service excellence. Each time I log in and read the posts on Dgrin I learn a little more.

Thanks to all.

Who could refuse a requst for help from a Golden Retriever slobbering in my ear We love dogs, as much as our customers here!

It was fun working on your image - and I'm so very pleased that you liked the big print. The best of the Holidays to you and yours!

Andy

Molsondog wrote:

Who can resist a Golden. BTW, they don't slobber.


Neither do these guys unless there is a tennis ball in the jaws:

Man those are gorgeous dogs, and gorgeous shots! The snow is *mint* perfect in the first one btw

Andy

Molsondog wrote:

OK, OK, just one more then I'm done.

No! Don't stop I grew up with Goldens - had three of them as a young lad. Then my lovely wife turned me on to Samoyeds:

livinginoz

Andy wrote:

No! Don't stop I grew up with Goldens - had three of them as a young lad. Then my lovely wife turned me on to Samoyeds:

beautiful, but you must like brushing dogs :

4labs

Great dog shots all around!