Contrasting colors in a photo

[HectorD]

The importance of contrasting in aviation photgraphy.What many people dont realize is that aviation photgraphy isnt as easy as it looks. People have come to me over the years on how to take a great aerial photo. Apart from having a good camera I also tell them the importance of contrastiong. The problem with aerial photography is you always have a window between you and the shot. Unfortunetaly I donot have the connections to be able to use a helicopter made for aerial photgraphy. I usualy take my cessna in my free time to take photographs. The dificulty in this is the fact that I cannot fly and shoot at the same time so I usualy bring along a friend. But he doesnt have my brain and I sometimes have to get in unusual positions to get my shot. This results in my picture being greyish. This is where contrasting comes in. see the difference.

[another view]

Huge difference! How do you do it - if you don't want to give up specifics I understand, but does this have to do with Levels or Curves in Photoshop? I'd also be curious to find out if you're shooting RAW or jpeg for this. I would think that RAW would be a big advantage here because of the color bit depth. Welcome to the site!

[HectorD]

Huge difference! How do you do it - if you don't want to give up specifics I understand, but does this have to do with Levels or Curves in Photoshop? I'd also be curious to find out if you're shooting RAW or jpeg for this. I would think that RAW would be a big advantage here because of the color bit depth. Welcome to the site!

thank you.
I have no problem in saying how I do it because it aint thayt big a secret.
Photoshop is really what you need.


look at the photo. THATS IT. play with the settings for they all differ from photo to photo but thats the key.

[Photo-John]

Try using Photoshop Adjustment Layers. They accomplish the same thing but do it as a separate layer that you can save in a TIFF file. That way you never touch your original file and you can edit it again at a later date if you want to fine tune it. You can also use masks on your adjustment layers. That will be especially helpful for you if you get glare off of water or sun flare. I do all of my corrections using Photoshop adjustment laters. Most of my images have at last two adjustment layers and most also use masks. That's the digital version of dodging and burning

[HectorD]

Try using Photoshop Adjustment Layers. They accomplish the same thing but do it as a separate layer that you can save in a TIFF file. That way you never touch your original file and you can edit it again at a later date if you want to fine tune it. You can also use masks on your adjustment layers. That will be especially helpful for you if you get glare off of water or sun flare. I do all of my corrections using Photoshop adjustment laters. Most of my images have at last two adjustment layers and most also use masks. That's the digital version of dodging and burning

I see thanks for the tip. :thumbsup:

[Photo-John]

I see thanks for the tip. :thumbsup:

No problem. Happy to have an aerial photographer on the site. I used to work at a custom lab and had a bunch of aerial photography clients. This was before anyone had digital cameras or even film scanner. So we used to have to correct a lot of contrast, glare, and falloff problems in the darkroom.

Where was the photo you posted taken? Are you in the Carribean?

[HectorD]

No problem. Happy to have an aerial photographer on the site. I used to work at a custom lab and had a bunch of aerial photography clients. This was before anyone had digital cameras or even film scanner. So we used to have to correct a lot of contrast, glare, and falloff problems in the darkroom.

Where was the photo you posted taken? Are you in the Carribean?

Yes. Puerto Rico.

[Jaedon]

Have you ever tried using a polarized filter to reduce the glare? It does require the use of your off hand being able to turn the filter to get the glare reduction youre looking for but it saves a lot of post work and also cleans up the original shot in places you might not have noticed before.

I use one when shooting over water to reduce the glare at the shot level.

This one is the no filter shot:


This one is with the filter in place and adjusted accordingly:

[SmartWombat]

I can't see any pictures in this thread.
Wonder what I'm doing wrong?

[another view]

Have you ever tried using a polarized filter to reduce the glare?

I thought about this too and think in some cases it would help. I've heard that a lot of this is mostly done during mid day to keep the shadows to a minimum (both lit and shot from overhead, not the case when on the ground) and in that case a polarizer won't be as effective just because of the angle of the light versus the camera. Good examples of what it can do, thanks for posting that.

Paul, I still see the images - did you try logging out and back in? Just a thought.

[Asylum Steve]

SW, sometimes my browser loads pages with red x where the image files should be. I usually just need to hit refresh and the pics appear...

[Asylum Steve]

Used "straight up" (IOW directly on a layer), PS tools Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation are quite degenerative, meaning by using them, color and image information is lost forever.

Now, if you're working from a copy file, and/or all you care about is a one-time final image, it's no big deal, but if you'd like to be able to easily back track or undo any edits to try other things, adjustment layers or copy layers are the way to go...

[Jaedon]

I thought about this too and think in some cases it would help. I've heard that a lot of this is mostly done during mid day to keep the shadows to a minimum (both lit and shot from overhead, not the case when on the ground) and in that case a polarizer won't be as effective just because of the angle of the light versus the camera. Good examples of what it can do, thanks for posting that.

Paul, I still see the images - did you try logging out and back in? Just a thought.

Anytime I can help I try.. still just an amature but I always try to offer constructive comments when I can.

Now as to the shot being from above and the angle of light vs. the camera I am not sure how the filter would help... but I know that when I have shot through glass at ground level I can almost completely eliminate the glass glare with the filter and then adjust for the image glare later in PS if need be.

Theres one spot at my local zoo where I love to shoot the lions from. It is in a small walkway underneath the enclosure where they have a windo looking in and up at them. Depending on the time of day the sun can be a terrible hinerance when shooting here because it glares off the concrete floor and up onto the glass, yet with a twist of the filter it's as if the glass was no longer there.

So if you use the filter in the plane is may help reduce the glass glare from the windows / windscreen.

[Photo-John]

Have you ever tried using a polarized filter to reduce the glare? It does require the use of your off hand being able to turn the filter to get the glare reduction youre looking for but it saves a lot of post work and also cleans up the original shot in places you might not have noticed before.

I use one when shooting over water to reduce the glare at the shot level.

That works great when your close to your subject. But aerial photography has its own set of problems. The biggest is actually haze. Using a polarizer is standard, I think. I would be surprised if Hector wasn't using one. Even with a polarizer I would expect to get a flat, undersaturate image like he got. Although, that one was pretty thin.

[Ronnoco]

The problem with aerial photography is you always have a window between you and the shot.

Not me. I have shot in open cockpit planes and even leaned out of them without a parachute.

Ronnoco

[Ronnoco]

The problem I see is that contrast adjustment reduces detail in dark areas and blows out the highlights.

Shooting in RAW, using curves to keep and improve the tones, as well as the detail in both dark areas and highlights and then saving in TIFF until you are absolutely finished the post-processing works for me. End off with selective adjustments, sharpening and perhaps some noise reduction.

Ronnoco