Benjikan is my hero! 2 pic comparisons using his workflow

Published by: admin 2010-03-16

AD, yes, I too have tried the effect on photos that ended up looking strange, while others looked much better with the technique. As with any tool, there are some things that the technique is good for, and some things that it is not (especially pictures with little detail and smooth gradients that should stay smooth).

Ashford, remind people that even using a flash/strobe is an "unnatural", yet useful effect. Dodging and burning in film photography is an "unnatural" but sometimes useful effect. There are a lot of things we do in photography that should be considered "unnatural", yet they result in better photos; either better representations of what we saw when we took the photo (photographer as documentor), or the artistic impressions of what we saw through the viewfinder (photographer as artist).

Oh well.

I'd like to ask Ben how he came up with these "dual layer plus soft light" sharpening techniques...was it a seed of an idea of what should work plus trial and error for what numbers to try?

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I used Benjikan's workflow method provided on this forum and I'm super happy with the results. I'm not sure it's meant for landscapes - but my pictures look better than what they did (IMO).

So THANK YOU BENJIKAN!! :hail::hail::hail::hail: Now I'll have to play more to get things right.

I'll post the original, then the processed using workflow pic for 2 different pictures taken this morning. Let me know what you guys think I can do to help these out more. Are the new ones too harsh?

1a.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/ashfordphoto/newcameracanoneos004546546576.jpg

1b.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/ashfordphoto/newcameracanoneos00454654workflowfr.jpg

2a
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/ashfordphoto/newcameracanoneos034e334565465.jpg

2b
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/ashfordphoto/Gatekeeperfinalframed7.jpg

Isn't that why we are here, to pass on our knowledge to others to pass on to the following generation. Your images really "pop" very 3D...They are gorgeous. Amazing..Really!

What I can share I will..

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As I am a more hands on Photographer, I can''t always be of great help when it comes to very specialized technical areas of concern. What I can do, is share my experience, my passion and my love of this craft. I can give you more of my heart than my head. I can talk about the "Biz" in general from my perspective. I can give you advice if I am able and try to guide you in a positive direction. But don't think it isn't fatiguing...it is. I can be pragmatic when it comes to very specific questions about the workings of the profession.

Ben

shrunken JPEGS on these :blushing:

too harsh for me. a little less would have done a much better job IMO.

very awesome - thank you thank you.

I used the mins. I didn't notice the haloing until you showed it to me. That definitely does need to get fixed - I also see it around the kissing camels rock in the background against the sky.

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Should I do all parts in different layers? Or just worry about it starting with the mins and taking them down some so it's not so dramatic?

Thanks for your critique & tremendous help!

well in the second set of pictures, the process has accentuated some aberation as well as created haloing on the needles of the tree.

if you are doing this in layers I'd just adjust the opacity of the sharpened layer until the haloing dissappeared and aberations weren't as noticable.

What numbers did you use from his workflow, max? min? somewhere in between. I'd use the min and work from there.

You've got great pictures to work.

EDIT: also make sure you are applying his process to full sized images if you can. sharpening the smaller resolution pictures will lead to more artifacts sooner.

Hm, I was just coming on the forums to try to find out more information about Benjikan's technique and I found this. Ashfordphoto, I didn't notice the haloes until Kyle pointed them out, either. I really like this technique, but I'm having a hard time trusting my eyes with it. It seems like if I make any other adjustments, particularly curves adjustments, adding Benjikan's workflow gives it too much punch. Is there a guide that should be used when making adjustments to photos? I like the post-processed look on these and on my own photos after applying this technique, but I wonder if I only like them because I like the look of alternative processes, and this technique adds a touch of strangeness to certain images? (Not in a bad way-- like I said, I like it.)

But seriously folks. Another approach I use and am doing on the "Diva" story is this..

When the Raw image has been imported in to Camera Raw, I Sharpen at between 25-30 on the slider and 50 on Color Noise Reduction, Luminance Smoothing at Zero. Click OK.

When in Photoshop, go to Layers and make a Duplicate Layer. Now Desaturate the image. Go to the Layers Menu and click on Soft Light. Now, because you didn't use the Contrast Unsharp move, i.e. 10-15 percent at 40-60 pixels you can push the Opacity and Fill sliders much harder. 60 to 90 percent. When back in PS you can now push up your overall Saturation if so desired by +5 to +10 to compensate in the loss of Saturation produced by adding the B&W layer. I don't, I like that Desaturated look. It's a matter of taste..

Ben

okay - so here is a high-res (aka big and long download, sorry!) starting point. I tried my hand, but it would be super if you had at it and tried to give it some pop. :)

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/ashfordphoto/newcameracanoneos034111.jpg

"EDIT: also make sure you are applying his process to full sized images if you can. sharpening the smaller resolution pictures will lead to more artifacts sooner."

ashford, can you tell us if you shrank the photos and then applied the effect, or did you start with hi-res photos with the effect applied, which were then shrunk down?

The more I look at the halos, the more it looks like you are sharpening JPEG artifacts from the photo.

"I used Benjikan's workflow method provided on this forum"

Can you post a link to the thread that had the workflow? I tried 'search', but could find no reference to it. Thanks!

(PS Love the first pic!)

===

UPDATE: Silly me, it was right there!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74450

Ah! Garden of the Gods. I used to rock climb there often when I was in college. Thanks for the memories.

The sharpening looks good, because your first images are a bit soft/blurry. The soft layering technique to bring up the colors is a bit much though, the sunset on the rocks is color enough.

shrunken JPEGS on these :blushing:

I posted an addendum here:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76476

Ben

Surprise, surprise: I was doing it wrong.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=21836316

In my raw processing program, I switched it from the default "standard" (which includes sharpening) to "faithful." Big difference.

And thanks Benikan, I will try the technique you describe above as well.

Aquarium, Interesting observations regarding this. I think it's something that I'm dealing with too - I'm trying to find the balance between a great post-processing vs. natural (looking). I hope people don't bring the natural stick down on me - but I enjoy post-processing and am visually a graphic person which is why I enjoy the pop and awe of workflows like this. Finding that balance is key, and I don't think I've been able to do it yet.

awesome. thank you all! Learning new techniques is always fun, I just need to learn how to not over-do it :)

very awesome - thank you thank you.

you bet. if you are still having problems, post up a higher res version (the higher the better) and I'll take a crack at making it pop if youd like.

I used the mins. I didn't notice the haloing until you showed it to me. That definitely does need to get fixed - I also see it around the kissing camels rock in the background against the sky.

Should I do all parts in different layers? Or just worry about it starting with the mins and taking them down some so it's not so dramatic?

Thanks for your critique & tremendous help!

Im not sure as I haven't tried Benjikans process yet myself.

You could try to do it in seperate layers, but it looks as if the whole thing needs to be toned down, so 1 layer would suffice. Just modify a duplicate of the background, and then you can change the opacity on that layer to add or subtract the effect.

yeah I'm thinking that too. I just got excited is all :wink: I should mention that in the fullsize images it doesn't seem as harsh as these scaled down ones. But, I'm still thinking harsh.

how much is a little less in your book (eyes)? You think a solid mix of the two is good?

Trust your "Eyes"..What does your gut tell you?...Your gut, not mine. It is what pleases you.

Everyone will give you a different opinion. By the time all of the opinions are in you will have what is called a consensus. If that is what you want, that will be what you will get. That is not a bad thing. It happens all the time in my business, between the Art Director, Client and myself. But I fight like an M F'er to get what I want...

This technique works very well on high res images but should be applied sparingly if you plan on resizing much smaller for the web. It produces over-contrasty, over-sharpened images quite easily on these smaller iamges.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3641/newcameracanoneos034111hq3.jpgI don't think I'd even use that surface sharpening technique here. These seem as vivid as you would want them.

I might try editing these to bring out a little detaif in the shadows in the background.
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