Idaho Airships, Inc.

This is another “sneak peek” into what I’m proffering as judging criteria for PAPA‘s Iron Photoshop Context this coming February in Tampa. Typically, practitioners aren’t forced to use Adjustment Layers though it is one of Photoshop’s most established “Best Practices.”

For any intermediate or advanced contest participant, Adjustment Layers are mandatory to facilitate reviewing the decisions made in image preparation. You’ll be required to submit your image (which will be provided for you in Canon RAW/.CR2 format) as a .psd, with all Adjustment Layers intact and descriptively named.

Obviously, this will require a familiarity with Layers in general: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-78e4a.html . Ignore the section on Layer Comps, and if necessary, refer to the specific manual for your version of Photoshop (e.g. CS2, CS3).

Here’s a link to an Adobe TV segment on Layers: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshop/articles/lrvid4285_ps.html

I cannot recommend CS4 strongly enough if you are participating in the contest, primarily because of the local control advantages in Adobe Camera RAW 5.2 and the speed advantages of working with the new Adjustments Panel.

Of course, if you are a beginner or intermediate Photoshop practitioner your contest participation will be at a much more basic level-please don’t let these matters intimidate you. With that said, these matters are a wonderful baptism by fire into manipulations that you do want to eventually master, and I strongly encourage you to at least read them if only for familiarization.

Now, for a little strategy:

• Remember that RGB Curves adjustments are not a simple Luminance adjustment: http://www.idahoairships.com/2007/08/15/a-review-mark-d-segals-exploration-of-curves-and-hue-shift/ .
• While your selection of White and Black points out of RAW will be obvious in your Background image Layer, decision made in your Adjustment Layers will likely fine tune your image for your output profile. Curves Adjustment Layer Dialogue Boxes (e.g. Adjustments Panel) do not offer a “W” option or Show Clipping Check Box, though there is an option to “Show Clipping for Black/White Points” in the fly out menu… For a review on “W” in Curves: http://www.idahoairships.com/2007/10/04/w-in-curves/ .
• I personally don’t have any objections to a bit of judicious clipping as long as it’s understood that for print output clipping is to paper white and ink black (you’ll want to understand Soft Proof and Gamut Warning to really command the process). If you, for whatever reason, use Unsharp Mask (there are much better ways to introduce Local Contrast) don’t allow USM to clip much if any.
• If you use an external Document to prepare a Layer Mask, include that Document as a Layer (as a Smart Object Layer in CS4) and annotate it with items like the Radius you used in applying a Maximum or Minimum Filter or your Threshold. I, for one, will be very impressed!
• Do not neglect Blending Modes, and don’t hesitate to use Blending Modes on Fill Layers made with the Blending Mode’s neutral color for image prep. A Curves Adjustment Layer (AL) in the Hard Light Blending Mode is great for Contrast, a Curves AL in the Screen or Multiply Blending Mode can be used for Luminance, and a Gray Fill Layer in the Soft Light Blending Mode can be painted with various colors for a Painting With Light effect.
• That last point is a hint for the rare aerial photographer who finds themself dealing with atmospheric haze.

Finally, no Channel Operations (“ChOps”) will be allowed in the Iron Photoshop contest. Selective Color is not a ChOp.

L