General Definitive Map Picture Gallery Coastal Path Coast to Coast Inland Trails Vectis Trail Walk the Wight All Walks Various Attractions Links
 
 

Image Post Processing

 

Images straight out of the camera vary in terms of their saturation, sharpness etc depending upon the style of the camera in use

Compact 'point 'n shoot' cameras employ much more internal processing than 'prosumer' cameras or dSRL which leave the image basically unprocessed so that the user can apply the appropriate amount; a heavily 'in camera' processed image CANNOT be reverse
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction

When I first started using digital media, a 2 mega pixel Canon S20, quality wasn't too impressive and, in my naivety, I just resized them to fit the format required for publishing here on the web i.e. 600x400.  Memory cards were also expensive and limited in size to 64M, so the temptation was to use a low resolution setting.  It soon became apparent that images had to be taken at their maximum resolution with the least amount of JPEG compression in order to obtain the best possible start; resized images done with a graphics package produce better web sized images.

Progressing to a Fuji FinePix 4700, then a Fuji FinePix S602 resulted in better quality images but still lacked a certain 'bite'.  Taking advise from work colleagues and comments in user forums, I soon discovered how to maximise the quality by incorporating post processing.

When I considered a further upgrade, resulting in the purchase of the Pentax *istDS, a 6 mega pixel dSRL, I was initially puzzled by apparent poor image quality from these more expensive cameras; the reason being as previously stated - less 'in camera' processing.

Adobe Photoshop CS has been used to process the follow image; other graphics packages can also be used with similar effect.
The process used to get the image from camera onto the web
 


 
Image straight out of the camera - note the sloping horizon
 


 
Using Edit/Transform/Skew to pull the left bottom down & right top up to straighten out the horizon
 Some might say that this distorts the image.  Alternatively, use Edit/Free Transform to level out the horizon followed by Crop or Edit/Transform/Scale to enlarge to eliminate blank spaces
 


 
Use Image/Image Size to set the image size to match the resolution of your monitor
 


 
Resized Image
 


 
Use Image/Adjustments/Levels to adjust the histogram
The left hand slider adjust the dark level, the middle slider adjust the mid tones & the right slider the light levels
 


 
Image after Levels have been applied
 


 
Use Image/Adjustments/Shadow Highlights to adjust the these levels
This technique is useful in bringing out detail in a dark foreground (Shadows) and emphasising cloud detail (Highlights)
 


 
Image after Shadow Highlights have been applied
 


 
Use Background/Duplicate to create a second layer
Then set to Soft Light and adjust the Opacity to suit  - somewhere between 18% & 95%
 


 

Image after Background/Duplicate has been applied
 


 
Now Flatten the layers
 


 
Now apply Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask to sharpen the image to suite
The values used in the example above work reasonably OK
 


 
Image after all processes have been applied including USM
 
Processing to remove spots on the image sensor using the Spot Healing Brush Tool
 


 
Using the Spot Healing Brush Tool
Use the square bracket keys [ ] to make the tool diameter larger or smaller to fit over the spot, then click the mouse
Sometimes this doesn't work too well especially when the spot is adjacent to something else
Use the Clone Stamp Tool by selecting a section of sky adjacent to the spot, then press the 'ALT' key to 'grab' the selction, then move the mouse to the location of the spot and press the left mouse button moving the Clone Stamp Tool across the spot.
 
Processing to remove unwanted detail using the Clone Stamp Tool
 


 
Using the Clone Stamp Tool
Sometimes it necessary to remove certain detail i.e. power lines that run across the sky or, as in this example, a garish image
 


 
Using the Clone Stamp Tool
Select areas of detail that match the background , then by slowly repeating the process, the character can be easily removed
 


 
Using the Clone Stamp Tool
Select areas of detail that match the background , then by slowly repeating the process, the character can be easily removed
 
Processing to remove unwanted detail using the Magic Lasso Tool
 


 
Using the Magic Lasso Tool to tone down the background
Trace around the shape using the Magic Lasso Tool, then select 'Edit in Quick Mask' & use the Brush Tool to add/remove, then, with the Magic Mask Tool selected, use the Right Mouse button to select Inverse.  From the Filters Menu chose the desire filter (Gaussian Blur works well) & apply the amount required - not too much as it creates too false an effect, then the background can be darkened using Image/Adjustments/Levels
Alternatively, once the area has been selected with the Magic Lasso Tool, use Edit, Copy, Paste to overlay a copy on top of the original, then select the background layer to apply the changes leaving the copied layer untouched.
 


 
Using the Magic Lasso Tool
Here's the finished effect
 
Processing to remove Vignetting & Chromatic Aberration using the Lens Correction Tool
 


 
Using the Lens Correction Tool
Most photographic lenses exhibit optical vignetting to some degree; the effect is strongest when the lens is used wide open & will disappear when the lens is stopped down by a few stops.  Optical vignetting causes a gradual darkening of the image towards the corners; this illumination falloff often goes unnoticed but it may become disturbing when the subject has large faces with an even colour or brightness.
 


 
From the Menu Bar, apply Filter/Distort/Lens Correction & adjust the Vignette/Amount sliders to suite
Chromatic Aberration (purple fringing) can also be compensated for using the Fix Red/Cyan & Fix Blue/Yellow sliders to suite
 


 
Using the Lens Correction Tool
Here's the finished result
 
Please note that these pages are 'graphic intense' and will take time to download
These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox with a screen resolution of 1920x1080 pixels

Pictures taken with Fuji FinePix 4700, Fuji FinePix S602 & latterly, Pentax *ist DS/K10/K5 with Tamron 18-250mm lens

Original images taken in RAW format, post processed in Adobe Lightroom & enhanced in Adobe Photoshop, then resized to 1630x1080 and reduced to a final size of 900x600 for web publishing
Unfortunately, images on these pages will appear at reduced quality

Images may ONLY be used for NON-COMMERCIAL purposes and credited to WightCAM
Please contact WightCAM for COMMERCIAL USE

If any images fail to download, right-click on the mouse button and choose 'Refresh' for Explorer or 'Reload' for Firefox

 Sponsors to WightCAM for licensing Ordnance Survey maps and web hosting costs providing unlimited web space & unlimited bandwidth
 Menu code © Brainjar