If you have an image where you have a really bright sky and/or a really dark foreground, do this in Photoshop:
1. Duplicate image to a second layer.
2. Image->Adjustments->Desaturate second layer. (Make it black and white.)
3. Image->Adjustments->Invert second layer. (Make it a negative.)
4. Do a 64 pixel gaussian blur on the second layer. (Low pass filter. Prevents loss of high frequncy contrast on surfaces.)
5. Set the second layer to soft light.
This will make the bright portions of the image darker, and dark portions of the image lighter. This also gives the image a lot more realistic look.
Too lazy to do those step’s yourself? Grab the Photoshop Actions File
Thanks to Elliuotatar for the tutorial.
7 Comments so far
Skip to comment form
Mykal May 16th, 2007 at 4:06 am
(Quote)
Setting the second layer as an overlay works well too (if not better imo). It adjusts the contrast nicely. But that may only be for certain photos. I’ve only tried it on a couple so far.
labrat May 16th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
(Quote)
Thanks for the tip mykal, any options to better the process is always welcome
denmuel August 2nd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
(Quote)
Thx for sharing this tips,…
i also have tutorial video on the same subject
http://denmuel.blogspot.com/20.....oshop.html
feel free to watch
denmuel
photoshopfreevideo.info
Fake HDR o como hacer que mis paisajes luzcan mas cool « PabloBD September 18th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
(Quote)
[...] la foto, cambiar la exposici?n artificialmente y hacer el proceso normal. Pero encontr? uno que tiene un truco muy interesante. Esta explicado bastante sencillo, y ademas uno se puede bajar el archivito para utomatizarlo en el [...]
Chilangolandia October 19th, 2007 at 3:18 am
(Quote)
Yo no te entend? ni media chingada Pablo… ?como est? eso que tu madre es prostituta?
Si no te gusta el resultado y lo ves fake mejor vete a buscar otro lugar donde te den por culo.
orbit December 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
(Quote)
Great move!!! I had always did it different but this way is Supacool … if you do it right…
ernesto ortiz January 3rd, 2010 at 8:59 pm
(Quote)
Agradecería mucho si explican con más detalle el paso No. 5, pues no está claro el procedimiento. Muchas gracias