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> Links | Advanced Photoshop: Sequences
Rafa Ortiz, Indus River, Pakistan.
Nikon D200, Nikkor 50mm 1.8 @ 1/1250 F7.1 ISO 100.
In my opinion it's rare that a kayaking shot is worth
sequencing. Most of the time one image tells the story, but not on all
occasions. The process of putting together a sequence is one of the
less understood so I feel it deserves some attention. I've never taken
Photoshop classes and am sure there are people better at this than I,
so please remember that I'm illustrating how I put sequences together,
there are other and possibly better ways, but this works for me. This
process takes a lot of computer processing power, especially if you
shoot raw.
While high speed sports need a 10fps camera to do
sequences, boaters tend to be moving at a slower pace. 2.5 fps (frames
per second) is often adequate, and I generally have to skip frames from
5fps sequences, because the paddler tends to overlap. It would be
easiest to do a sequence using a tripod, but the bulk of one keeps it
out of my boat. Shots eligible for sequencing have the paddler moving
across the frame while the camera is held in one position. Shooting
waterfalls from downstream is an obvious situation that fits the bill.
In this case I'll start with ten shots of Ryan Knight on the South
Branch Feather, but I'll probably only use 4-6 images combined for the
sequence.
Anything in italics referrers to the menu system in Photoshop.
Step 1: Open and edit all the images at the same time in
photoshop. Use shift-click or ctrl-click to select all the images to be
opened. Once open in the raw editor be sure to click "Select All" in
the top left so we are editing all the files in the same exact way. I
then apply standard editing touches as necessary, in this case +25 Fill
Light, +50 Vibrance, +10 Saturation. Alt-Click to open all and wait
while they load, depending on your computer this might take a while.
Step 2: Adjust the Canvas Size for the first image in the sequence. Use Alt-Ctrl-C or Image > Canvas Size
to open the Canvas Size dialogue box. We're going to make the canvas a
little larger here because the photographs won't line up perfectly, and
this will give us some breathing room to end up with a larger final
image. Switching from pixels to percent in the drop down menu, I
increase my canvas size by 120% width and height.
Step 3: Copy, past
and align. I find the next photo that I want in the sequence, ideally
one soon after the first image, but with the paddler not overlapping.
In this case I skip a shot and go to the third image of the sequence,
looks like it wont overlap and I like that I can see Ryan's face.
Ctrl-A or Select > All
to select the whole image. Ctrl-C or Edit > Copy to copy the image
to the clipboard. Switch back to the original image tab and Ctrl-V or
Edit > Paste to past the image over the original. Make sure your
Layers window is open via F7 or Window > Layers. Now that the layers window is open, adjust the opacity slider to around 50%.
Now find a well
defined point in the photo, in this case I used a crack in the rock.
Zoom to 200% and align the image using the Move Tool, when things look
perfect you can't tell it's at 50% opacity because it looks like the
same image, excepting water which is always changing, ignore the
misaligned splashes.
At 200% zoom and 50% opacity it looks like a good line up.
I then zoom back
out with Ctrl-0 (zero) and make sure that Ryan isn't overlapping. If he
was I'd choose the next image in the sequence and start over. He isn't
so now I'll adjust opacity back to 100% and flatten the image via Layers > Flatten Image.
Checking to make sure Ryan isn't overlapping.
Step 4: History
Brush. The history brush is a tool that works like the Brush tool, but
instead of applying a color, it "brushes in" the image from a previous
state in the image processing history. Select the History Brush from
the tools menu on the left. Make sure your History Window is open; Window > History.
In the history window set the source for the history brush back to
where we adjusted the canvas size by clicking the box next to Canvas
Size.
I like to keep my
History Brush hardness set at 0%. This helps things blend in a natural
way. This is adjusted under the brush settings in the top left corner.
Now I bring Ryan
back from the original image into the new one, using the history brush.
The larger the diameter of the brush, the larger radius of softness. If
I am working on two objects close together, I'll make the diameter of
the brush smaller by using the "[" shortcut. Pressing ] increases brush
size respectively. After brushing Ryan in with the history brush, I
increase my brush size and check to make sure that the edge of the
images makes a smooth transition. If things are not perfectly aligned,
using the history brush on sharp edges will clean them up.
Once this is done I save the image and start the process again with the
next appropriate frame, increasing my canvas size as necessary. In this
sequence I ended up using seven of ten images.
Ryan Knight, "99 Problems" on the South Branch of the Middle Fork Feather River.
Nikon D200, Nikon 75-150 "E" @ 150mm 1/1000 F5.6 ISO 100.
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #1: Intro
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #2: What is the right exposure?
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #3: Getting the right exposure.
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #4: Low Light Action
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #5: Focus
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #6: Basic Lighting
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #7: Composition
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #8: Gear Picks
Whitewater Photography Tutorial #9: Post Processing
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