The first rule of shooting
Always shoot RAW. Pulling highlight and shadow detail from a RAW image smooths the workflow of any photographer who uses Photoshop to edit the tonal range and color values of a photograph. There is no other way to shoot your photos. This is an inviolate rule. Shoot RAW!
Original photo loaded into Photoshop through Adobe Camera RAW using the default settings. I usually begin an editing session with the original unedited image as the background layer. That way I have a process-free original quickly at my disposal when needed.
Layer One – Streaks of light on the field
The first editing step on this photo increased the contrast in the center of the frame where the light, modulated and shaped by the crest of the trees along the edge of the park, hits the fog. Increasing contrast also increases color saturation. Sometimes the effect can be overpowering. In this photo it was just slight enough to warm up the light just enough.
The layer used for this step was created by right-clicking on the layer name and choosing “New Smart Object via Copy.” The new layer is an unlinked, disconnected, exact duplicate of the original layer. It has all the original RAW information.
What makes this type of layer copy different than a normal layer copy (using ctrl-J on the keyboard or Image>Duplicate… from the menu, is that it stands alone as a RAW file. It may be edited without affecting any other layers. A normal copy duplicates the original layer and stays connected to it. Any edits that happen in that new layer is also changed in the original layer.
That’s not what you want. You want a separate, editable layer that does not have a connecting relationship with any other layer.
Double-click the Layer thumbnail. Adobe Camera RAW opens with the complete editing dialogue. Edit the file to effect only that portion of the image that is important for this edit.
With this photo I knew there would be masked layers above this one so the only edit I made was for tonal values and contrast in the streaks of light and to the foreground where I used the Adjustment Brush lowering the brightness by 80 points. Other portions of the photo ended up being too dark or flat. None of that would show after I created and masked another layer.
Layer Two – Darkening the sky and Masking
Duplicated Layer One as a new Smart Object, again opening it for editing in Adobe Camera RAW.
Edited this layer to lower the overall exposure to retrieve RAW photo data in the sky. Moving the cursor over the highlights showed me there was exposure values for each color layer. The only spot without data was directly on the sun. Not a problem.
Decreased the exposure by two stops pulling down the sky tones. Added a Graduated Filter from the near-top center of the photo at about a 15-degree angle to the horizontal center of the photo. Decreased the brightness by about 80 points and the exposure by 1/4th of a stop.
This can be very subjective with the only warning to avoid toning that may compress and posterize broad areas of similar colors such as the sky. In this case it works because the tones are dark enough to inhibit posterization.
The layer is fully masked by holding down the Alt key and clicking on the Layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers Menu. The layer disappears behind a linked Black Mask.
Select the Brush from the menu icons or press B on the keyboard. Because this mask is black, your foreground color needs to be white. Adjust your brush size by press the [ or ] keys on the keyboard. You can also adjust the size and amount of feathering using the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Don’t worry about messing up. The edits are reversible by switching to black for the foreground color and erasing your mistakes.
I moved the brush across just the sky and the edge of the trees erasing the black mask so it was the only unmasked section of the layer.
The result is two edited layers. One for the middle and foreground. A second layer is masked with only the darkened sky revealed.
The result is a much more evocative photo than what the original data showed.
Using RAW files and masked Smart Object layers is the simplest way to get from the unedited image in the camera to the result you intended when you shot the photo.
Breaking the Rules – Photojournalism
The only time this technique may be a problem is if you are a news photographer or are shooting for newspapers. Smart Object editing can be radical just as it was in this photo. So radical that your photo might not be selected for publication.
If published and it is later determined that your edit was so severe that it modified or altered the original so much that it inaccurately portrays the event, you have a problem. Your photo will be eliminated from all archives and you will be prohibited from shooting for news organizations.
So, use very carefully and be prepared to tell the editor up front, before the photo is published, that you edited the original for tone, color and contrast.
