Curvemeister Forum

OK, Here's two Ellis Island. One RGB the other Lab. Neither is very good.

Joann,
I'm going to take these on one at a time first the LAB.

If you did this without the Wizard then you are making good choices so far...the highlights are a bit of a problem but heres how to solve that...Shot 1 is your acv file as posted...applied to my copy of the image.

In Shot2 I have used the threshold feature of CM to show the brightest tones in the image.  Shot 2 is where you have it set in the ACV file you posted.  As you can see there is a lot of overblown area to the left of the water tower.

In Shot3 I moved the threshold a bit to the left.  Notice that the edge of the water tower is now the only thing that is highlighted...If you go by the histogram you will get fooled because the histogram is a calculated value set from the image. the threshold feature shows you the brightest pixels in the image not necessarily "pure white" pixels but the brightest ones.  They can and often are colored.  The end result of this move so far is that the "color noise in the sky is reduced and the water tower has a defined edge.  Overall the contrast gets better.

In shot 4 I finished the correction for this image by doing two additional things.  1st I set a neutral.  To do that in CM without the wizard just right click on the image and select set neutral from the menu.  I picked a reasonable neutral by looking a the HUE clock in the upper right corner of the CM window.  After that I cranked up the saturation in LAB using the saturation slider.

On of the side effects in LAB is that when you adjust the L channel you tend to desaturate the colors so CM has a saturation slider to help you restore the colors after the lighting is right.

Try the changs I have shown you and re-post the image...BTW I just noticed the neutral in Shot4 is off a bit.  The area of the pier is generally a good spot to look for a neutral...I missed for the screen shot.

So Far so Good...
Greg

OK, now for the RGB.

This is a better overall correction and I'm betting you use RGB most of the time.  Again, in this instance your highlights are an issue.  I used the threshold feature again because it gives me such great feedback.  Shot 1 shows the thrshold line in the elipse and my mouse with the double headed arrow is circled.  The ara on the image that is circled is the highlight area.  I would even push it further out but I wanted you to be able to see the effect on the water tower.

To get the threshold just place your mouse on the blue dashed line in the curve window and left click whrn the mouse is a double headed arrow.  Drag the line left or right as needed and watch the image.  The effect is the opposite for the shadows...you will see dark blotches show up when you are getting to the darkest parts of the image.

The second shot is again a neutral.

Greg

I watched the thresholding video and it was very helpful. I've redone Ellis Island but I think it should still be brighter. Are these any better? I did not use the wizard.
JoAnn H

RGB First
The highlights are much better....

Now..the next issue is the shadows....As you increase the contrast you have to open the shadows sometimes...This is why it looks so dark.  This is where the "curves" part comes in...If you take the mouse and place it in a shadow area you want to improve while looking at the composite RGB curve you will see the "worm" on the curve grid.  The worm shows you the range of the correction you are going to make if you adjust the curve line.

In Shot 2 I have your ACV file loaded again.  The circled area of the curve is where the adjustment is needed to open the shadows with the same tonal value as those under the mouse pointer.  The circled point on the grid is where I have set an adjustment point and will adjust for the shadows.

Shot 3 is the adjustment to the curve.  Move the point to the right by clicking on it and using the arrow key or dragging it tothe right.  Try not to go up or down at all  Those adjustments are certainly possible but for now just move it to the right.

The net effect to the lighting is seen in shot 4.  Again I set a neutral and made some small adjustments to the red and blue channels to make the sky look better.  The neutral is circled.

Greg

Here are some thoughts on the LAB version....

Good news...the LAB version has the same issue as the RGB version and the solution is the same.  Shot1

Added twist...You can "mark" the curve so that you know where to adjust by right clicking and choosing the "mark" command.  This leaves a marker on the curve so you can go right to the adjustment area and quickly adjust.  Shot2

The LAB correction is much smaller.  I only had to use 1 arrow key to the right to make it look much better.  Shot3  The dot is where the curve used to be.

Hint.  Drag the window frame to the left on your screen to make the curve grid much larger and that will make some of the adjustments easier.
Good Stuff...Really...
Greg

OK, thanks, back to the drawing board.
JoAnn H

Oh not that far...just a step further....
The trick is to go far enough but not too far...

It takes a bit of practice...Remember the monitor cannot possibly show you all the detail in the image.  The threshold tool give you some advantage over what your cannot show and youe eye cannot see...

Greg

Here's my new try. Hopefully, it's better.
I hope I'm not double posting. I tried to post and my files were to big, then I made them smaller and when I tried to post I got a message that I already posted.
I don't see either post so I'm going to post again.....

JoAnn H

Joann,

They look much improved over the first few.  I think the RGB looks better than the LAB right now.  It's saturation in LAB but you certainly have improved in the contrast and tonal range areas which is more than enough for this image.  This is one of the tougher first week images.  You have done just fine.

Greg