the photoshop darkroom 2 creative digital transformations

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Copyright © 2011, Harold Davis and Phyllis Davis.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Davis, Harold, 1953-
The Photoshop darkroom 2 : creative digital
transformations / Harold Davis, Phyllis Davis.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-240-81531-2
ISBN-10: 0-240-81531-9
1. Adobe Photoshop. 2. Photography Digital

techniques. 3. Photography Retouching. 4. Photography,
Artistic. I. Davis, Phyllis, 1963- II. Title.
TR267.5.A3D36 2011
006.6’96 dc22
2010037557
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
ISBN 978-0-240-81531-2
For information on all Focal Press publications, visit
our website at www.focalpress.com
11 12 13 14 15 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in China
Harold Davis
Phyllis Davis
Creative Digital Transformations
The Photoshop
®
Darkroom 2
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON
NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
6 Introduction
8 A Ballet with Reality
10 Work ow and digital asset
management
12 The RAW advantage
13 Shooting RAW and JPEG

at the same time
14 In which Ed’s feet make
an appearance
16 Multi-RAW processing using
Lightroom
19 Multi-RAW processing:
Lightroom or ACR?
20 Bringing a  ower to life
22 Layers and masking
23 Painting on a layer mask
25 Using Screen blending mode
27 Using Multiply to darken
28 Creating a high-key image
30 Cloning and retouching
35 The Patch Tool
37 Checkpoints and work ow
38 Content-aware  ll
40 Spiderweb studio
43 Soft Light blending mode
46 Creative coloring and toning
48 Desaturating with black
and white
58 Welcome to the real world
66 Transformations are for
people, too!
68 Multi-RAW processing
a glamour shot
68 Contrasting a  gure with
a black background
74 Using hand-HDR to get a

completely black background
76 Photographing kids on
a black background
78 Smoothing skin
80 Head, shoulders, knees,
and toes
84 Glamorous gams
86 Alice works out at the
virtual gym
88 Eyebrows
90 Eye checklist
94 Painting catch lights
98 Making the Unseen Visible
100 Photographing  owers
in water
106 Photographing on a lightbox
108 Hand-HDR imaging for
transparency
110 Creating a transparent poppy
medley
112 ACR or Lightroom for RAW
conversion
113 Automated HDR vs. hand-HDR
for transparency
115 Lightboxes aren’t only
for  owers
117 Variations and inversions
118 Combining layers for
transparency
125 Using HDR to create complex

imagery
126 Revealing details at night
129 Blending in the moon
130 Faking star trails
132 Stacking star trails—the
real deal
134 Onward & Upward: Beyond
Reality
136 Photo compositing to create
a world in a shadow
138 Photographing to create
the shadow
140 Creating a translucent
marble and its shadow
141 Thinking about content,
color, shape, and scale
142 Inserting a new world
146 Marble of power
147 Shadow play
148 Photographing the
in nitesimal
150 Building the Impossible
152 Harold’s manifesto: Losing
the chains of reality
154 Creating an abstraction
160 Stairs à la Escher
162 Steps toward the impossible
164 Creating the basic building
block
166 The compositor’s cafeteria

168 Creating the “Twisted Stairs”
171 Fixing the mesh point
174 Creating the “Stair Knot”
178 Complexity vs. simplicity
180 Do plants think?
185 A poke in the eye
186 LAB: The neglected color
space
190 LAB channel inversions
and equalizations
195 Using different color spaces
to add color effects
196 Creating a world in a
pine cone
198 Creating a magical portal
200 Onward & Upward: This
challenge is for you!
204 Glossary
206 Index
Contents
6 The Photoshop Darkroom 2
Back in the old days, working in a chemical
darkroom, I could only have dreamed of a post-
processing tool as wonderful as Photoshop. But
for me that’s exactly what Photoshop is—a tool.
It’s a tool that helps me as a professional image
creator. The image is what matters, not the tool.
The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital
Transformations looks at the features of
Photoshop as practical aids in making great digital

images. I don’t focus on the latest and greatest
Photoshop menus and palettes. For the most part,
the Photoshop techniques shown in the book can
be done using the core features of Photoshop.
These features have generally been available
going back many versions. Think of it this way: in
a lm darkroom the recipes for developer changed
over time, but the underlying idea of how to
develop lm and paper stayed the same.
The goal of The Photoshop Darkroom series is to
inspire you and provide you with techniques to
try. A digital image starts with a capture or a scan
and proceeds through post-processing towards
its nal state. How well your image comes out
depends upon your mastery of the craft of digital
post-processing and—far more important—your
imagination. I’d like The Photoshop Darkroom
books to be your guide and companion on this
exciting journey.
A digital camera is a special purpose computer
attached to a lens and a scanner. It makes sense
to process imagery in the more powerful context
of a desktop computer (and Photoshop) rather
than in the camera.
It also is just common sense to make the best
photos you can using your camera. Relying on
Photoshop to x sloppy photography is a waste
of time and creative energy. Therefore I’ll give you
pointers about how to photograph with digital
post-processing in mind—which is very different

than being a lazy photographer.
The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital
Transformations follows The Photoshop Darkroom:
Creative Digital Post-Processing and can be read
either as a sequel to the rst volume or on its
own. We’ve worked hard to make this volume
self-contained—however, we didn’t want to
be overly repetitive of material that is amply
covered in the rst volume. Where appropriate I’ll
provide page references to the earlier Photoshop
Darkroom book for more in-depth coverage of
certain topics.
The emphasis in this volume is on creative
transformations. This involves a wide range of
image creation challenges from cleaning up an
image that is “almost there”—and requires a little
retouching—to creating entirely new fantastic
digital images that are derived using compositing
and other techniques.
As with the rst Photoshop Darkroom book, I
make no claims that the techniques I present
are the only way, or even the best way, to do
something. Photoshop is an incredibly rich
and complex software environment with many
moving parts and many ways to do anything.
The most I can do is to show you the way I work
in Photoshop on a daily basis as a professional
photographer and image creator. If you can nd
a better or more fun way to accomplish the same
tasks, more power to you—and please drop me a

line to tell me your technique.
Once again, I am blessed with the perfect co-
author, Phyllis Davis. Phyllis makes me complete
in many ways. She is also a great antidote to my
tendency to wave my hands about the details of a
process—because she insists on complete clarity
and wants every step to be explained carefully.
I love spending time behind the camera and I love
spending time working on images in Photoshop.
It’s my hope that this book helps inspire you to
work on your digital imagery in post-processing
with as much joy as I do—enjoy!
>> Introduction
7Introduction
A Ballet with Reality
10 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
*
   but were afraid to ask
>> Everything you always wanted to know about Digital Asset Management (DAM)
*
Workow roadmap
Workowreferstotheentireprocess
ofcreatingadigitalphotographfrom
themomenttheshutterispressedto
thenaluseforyourimage.Italsoin-
cludestheveryimportanttopicofhow
youstoreandpreserveyourimages.
Ifyouthinkthatarchivingandbacking
upphotolesisabigpain—well,

maybeyou’reright.Butdon’tdoit
andyou’lllivetoregretit!Adigital
photoisnotatangibleobject.Itonly
existsaslongasthecomputerle
thatholdsitsdataissafeandcanbe
accessed.
Also,youneedtobeabletonda
gosh,darn%&#@imagelewhen
youneedit!
Anyonewhoworksseriouslywith
digitalphotographswilltellyouthat
whenitcomestoworkowandDigital
AssetManagement(DAM),planning
andorganizinginadvancehelps.
ApproachingDAMasaglobaltask
thatneedstoencompassallyour
digitalassetsandactivitieshelpsto
lessentheproblemsandheadaches
youwillencounter.
Getting Photos from Camera to Computer
Hardwareoptions:Cardreader(PD1:14)
 Cable(USB)directtocamera
 Wireless
Softwareoptions: Finder(Mac)/Explorer(Win)
 iPhoto,etc.
 Lightroom
 Cameravendorsoftware
2
Beware of software such as iPhoto that 
only copies images into its database without 

placing individual image les on your computer
Archiving Original Files
Fileformats: DNG(PD1:12,PD2:13)
 RAW,e.g.NEF(Nikon),CR2andCRW(Canon),etc.
Software: StructuredlesystemusingFinder(Mac)/Explorer(Win)
 Lightroomcatalog
 Othersoftwaresolutions
Formoreaboutsavingandnaminglesonyourcomputer,takea
lookatPD1:24–25.
3
Be redundant!
You may not want to go into 
the Photoshop darkroom 
with every capture
Processing RAW Files into Photoshop
Multi-RAWprocessingviaACR(PD1:15–67)
Multi-RAWprocessingviaLightroom(PD2:16–19)
HDRwiththirdpartysoftwaresuchasPhotomatix
Camera-vendorRAWprocessingsoftware
Othersoftwarealternatives
•
•
•
•
•
4
Shooting Photos
Consider: Multi-RAWprocessing
 Extendingdynamicrange
 HDR/Hand-HDR

 Shootingpiecesforcompositing
Formoreaboutshootingfordigital,takea
lookatPD1:104.
1
Don’t try to edit using your camera’s LCD. 
Decisions about which images to delete or 
work on should be made at the computer 
where you can really see them
Think digitally!
11ABalletwithReality
References used in this book
Manyofthetopicsshowninthisworkow
roadmaparecoveredinthisbook,orinthe
rst Photoshop Darkroombook.Whenthereisa
cross-reference,it’slistedwiththeabbreviation
forthebookandthepagenumber.
PD1: 15–17meansThe Photoshop Darkroom:
Creative Digital Post-Processing
(FocalPress:
2010),pages15–17.
PD2: 123–125meansThe Photoshop Darkroom 2:
Creative Digital Transformations
(FocalPress:
2011),pages123–125.
Keeping Track of Files
EXIFdata
Keywording
Structuringstorage(PD1:25)
Cataloginginthelesystem
Lightroomcatalog

Specializedsoftware
Usinginternetresources
suchasFlickrasacatalog
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
7
Go forth and 
print and publish !
Beredundant!
Youcan’t
havetoomanycopies
ofyourimportantimage
les.However,whenyou
havemanycopies,youneedtobevery
clearaboutwhichofyourredundant
lesisthemasterlethatyouworkon.

Harold sez
Backing Up
Backupsoftware
Synchronizationsoftwareforredundantbackup
Hardware:RecordablemediasuchasDVDsare
perishableandnotbigenough.
 Harddrivesarethebestbet butall
harddriveseventuallyfail.

 Youhavetobackupyourbackupdrives!
 RAID5(goodbalancebetweenperfor-
mance,safety,andcost,seePD1:27)
8
Be redundant!
Saving Photo Files
Followaconsistentworkowfor
archiving
Saveamasterversionwithlayers
Flattenthenalversion
Sizeappropriatelyforuses
SaveinRGBandCMYKasneeded
SaveJPEGsfortheweb
•
•
•
•
•
•
6
Be 
redundant!
Enhancing Converted RAW Images in Photoshop
Multi-RAWprocessing(PD1:15–65,PD2:16–26)
Hand-HDR(PD1:106–119,PD2:108–121)
Retouchingandcloning(PD2:30–37,68–95)
Adjustingexposure(PD1:72–73)
SpecialEffects
Filters
LABcolor(PD1:150–197,PD2:184–195)

Sharpening(PD1:198–201)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
5
The sky’s the limit!
Anything you can 
think of you can 
probably do in 
Photoshop
12 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
A RAW le has potential
If there’s one single point
that I want people who
take one of my workshops
to understand about digital
photography and the Photo-
shop darkroom, it is the RAW
advantage.
When you capture a digital
photograph as a RAW le,
you are saving all the data
that was available to the
sensor. This is in contrast
to other kinds of digital

captures, such as a JPEG
capture made by lower-
end cameras. With a JPEG
capture, a great deal of data
is simply thrown away.
Your RAW capture is just a
le by itself. It can’t be print-
ed or displayed as part of a
website. You need to process
the image before you can do
almost anything with it.
Think of it this way: a RAW
le is simply potential
information that you can
use to create your image
from. The really, really,
really exciting thing is that
you can process the same
photograph—the same RAW
le—more than once.
Then, when you combine the
different processed versions,
you can use the best bits
from each. This leads to
extraordinary image making
power. Using RAW lets you
take advantage of the power
of digital.
>> The RAW advantage
Here’s the JPEG and here’s the 

version I made from a RAW le
JPEG vs RAW
WithinasingleRAWleisahugerangeof
exposurevaluesandcolortemperatures.
It’smucheasiertocorrectproblematic
exposureandcolortemperatureissues
intheRAWconversionprocessthan
downstreamonceyou’vealreadynished
convertingtheimage.
TheonlyadvantagesthattheJPEGlefor-
mathasoverRAWisthatitiscompressed,
andfasttoworkwith.
IftheJPEGisgood,youcanjustsenditoff
toaclientwithoutfurtherwork.
Ontheotherhand,it’slikelm.Whatyou
seeiswhatyouget—andyouonlyhave
oneopportunitytogetitright.Youdon’t
havethechancetoteaseelusivevalues
outofthelethewayyoucanwithRAW.
There’snovirtuetoshootingJPEG—and
havingtogetitrightinthecamera—as
opposedtoRAW.Itallcomesdownto
commonsense:what’sthemostexpedient
waytogettheimageyouwant.
How your camera thinks about RAW
MostcameramanufacturershavetheirownproprietarytypeofRAWle.Inother
words,there’snosuchthingasastandardizedRAWle.Forexample,Nikon’sRAWle
formatproducesimagesintheNEFleformatandCannon’sRAWlesareencodedas
CRWandCR2les.Asjusticationforsavingdatainproprietaryformats,thecamera
manufacturerssaythattheyuniquelyunderstandthecharacteristicsoftheirown

sensorsandthereforeknowhowtoencodetheRAWdatabetter.
13ABalletwithReality
The DNG le format
DNGlesareaneffortatcreatinga
universalRAWformat.Inmyopinion,
there’slessthanmeetstheeyeinthis
effortbecausepartoftheDNGformat
specicallyreserves“hidden”areasfor
eachmanufactures’proprietarysecret
sauce.
None-the-less,therearesomereasons
toconsiderarchivingRAWlesin
theDNGformat(asLightroomwilldo
automaticallyforyou)—andit’sfar
betterthannotarchivingatall.For
moreabouttheimportanceofarchiving
yourimageles,turntopages10–11.
Shooting RAW and JPEG at the
same time
MostcamerasthatshootRAWwilllet
youshootJPEGandRAWsimultane-
ously.Thispossiblygivesyouthe
advantageofbothworlds.IftheJPEG
leisgoodenough,you’realldoneand
cansenditofftoaclient.Buthaving
theRAWlegivesyoutheopportunity
tomakecorrectionsintheconversion
processifyouneedto.
Ialwayswanttokeep
myoriginalles.So

convertingtoDNGisne,
butIstillwanttoarchive
myNEFles.ThismeansthatifIuse
DNG,Ihavetwosetsoforiginallesto
archive(NEFandDNG).Twiceasmuch
storagespaceonmycomputer.Why
bother?Idon’tthinkNikonorCanonare
goingoutofbusinessanytimesoon(an
oftenheardpro-DNGargumentisthatit
islikelytobearoundlongerthanany
cameramanufacturer).

Harold sez
14 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
What’saphotographertodo?
Iwasstuckatthetopofastairwell
inadecayingtenementinHavana,
Cuba.Now,thistenementwasalso
anartdecobeautyandonceupona
timeshehadbeenne.
Thisstairwellwascallingouttobe
photographed.IknewIwasnotlikely
tobebackinthislocationanytime
soon.SoIpulledoutallthestops:
tripod,sheyelens,andaprogram-
mabletimerforalongexposurein
thedimlight.Ievenfoundanold
toilettanktoclimbonforabetter
pointofview.
Lookingattheresultsinthecom-

puterafewweekslaterandafew
thousandmilesaway,thebestshot
wasawed.Notonlyweremytripod
legsvisible,butworse,Ed’sfeet
wereinthephoto.
That’saperilofshootingwitha
sheyelensinlow-lightconditions.
¡HolaEd!
My tripod leg (yes, I really was ve oors 
up on this railing   —  don’t tell Phyllis!)
©
EdBerlien
Getting ready for the 
shot before I found the 
toilet tank to stand on
Ed’s feet
A sheye lens helps 
emphasize the curvature 
of the stairway
>> In which Ed’s feet make an appearance
15ABalletwithReality
Looking at the photos a few weeks later, 
this sheye shot was the best composition, 
but there were a number of problems, and I 
couldn’t go back to reshoot the stairwell
This capture is underexposed, 
but that’s something that is 
easy to deal with
Next Steps: What to do about the exposure,
Ed’s feet, and my tripod legs

ConfrontedwithachallengelikethisCubanstairwell,
it’simportanttobecarefulabouttheorderinwhich
oneproceeds.(Formoreaboutworkow,seepage10.)
Therstthingtodoistogetthepost-processedexpo-
sureright.Thismeansusingoneofseveraltechniques
togetlights,darks,andcolorrightintheimage.There
areanumberofgoodwaystogoaboutthisstarting
withaRAWimage.Multi-RAWprocessingusingAdobe
CameraRAW(ACR)isperhapsthebest-knownandis
explainedindetailinPD1startingonpage30.
Thisexampleusesanalternativeprocesswithdiffer-
entvirtualcopiesinLightro0mtoadjustexposureand
thenexportsthevirtualcopiesintoPhotoshopasa
layereddocument(pages16–18).
Aftergettingthispartoftheprocessright,thenand
onlythen,canwebegintodealwiththeissueofEd’s
feet(nottomentionmytripodlegs).CloningoutEd’s
feetisshownstartingonpage32.
16 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
raw rescue, part 1: the lightroom raw conversion
>> Multi-RAW processing using Lightroom
Pre-visualizing and making
a plan
Itisimportantanytimeyouare
processingaRAWletohavea
strategy.Inordertohaveastrategy,
youneedtopre-visualizewhere
youwantthephototoendup.The
purposeofthestrategyistoplan
howyougetfromthedefaultRAW

conversionoftheimagetowhereyou
wantittogo.
Thestrategyforthisimageistostart
withadarkbackgroundandlayersuc-
cessivelylighterversionsontopusing
masksforspecicareas.Thisisone
ofthemostcommonRAWconversion
strategies.
Othertypicalstrategiesaretostart
withaversionthatistoolightand
placedarkerlayersontop,orstart
withanaveragerenditionoftheRAW
captureandlayerlightanddarkareas
ontop.
Whichstrategyyouchoosedepends
upontheimageandhowyoupre-
visualizetheoutcome.Tondout
moreaboutcreatingaRAWconver-
sionstrategyplan,takealookatPD1,
page40.
This is the way the 
RAW image opens by 
default in Lightroom. 
It is easy to see that 
it is much too dark
Click here to open the image 
in the Develop module
InLightroom,
chooseFile
►   Import

PhotosfromDisktoopen
theRAWcaptureinLightroom.
ClickDeveloptoopenthe
imageintheDevelop
module.
1
17ABalletwithReality
SelectPhoto
►   
Create
Virtual
Copytocreateacopyoftheimage.
Thiscopyappearsselectednexttothe
originalimageintheFilmstripatthe
bottomoftheLightroomwindow.
3
Virtual copy selected 
on the Filmstrip
I also used the Saturation and Vibrancy 
sliders to increase the overall color 
saturation of the image
Startbylighteningthe
imageusingtheExposureslider.
Movetheslidertotheright.
Youwantto
takecarenotto“overexpose”anyareaofthe
image.Soonlymovethesliderfarenoughto
therightsothelightestareaoftheimageis
properlyrendered.Ifanyareaseemstoolight
orblownout,youhavegonetoofarfor

thisrststep.
2
18 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
raw rescue, part 1: the lightroom raw conversion
Holddownthe
Shiftkeyandclickboth
versionsoftheimageinthe
Filmstriptoselectthem.
5
FromtheLightroomPhoto
menuchooseEditIn
►   
Openas
LayersinPhotoshop
6a

Andthetwoversions
appearastwolayersin
Photoshop.Bydefault,bothlayers
arenamedusingthelename
fromLightroom.
6b
The two versions 
appear as layers in the 
Photoshop Layers palette
Withthevirtualcopy
selectedintheFilmstrip,use
theExposureslidertomakethe
copyfarlighterthantheoriginalversion.
Don’tworryaboutblow-outswiththis

copybecausewhenthetworenderings
arecombinedas
layersinPhotoshop,
thedarkestversionwillbeblended
intothelighterareas.
4
The virtual 
copy is selected 
in the Filmstrip
19ABalletwithReality
Renamethelayers
“Lighter”and“Darker.”
7
Multi-RAW processing:
Lightroom or ACR?
ThisprocessusingLightroom
couldhavebeendonewithAdobe
CameraRAW(ACR)andmulti-
RAWprocessing.Formoreabout
thisseePD1,pages30–62.The
choiceisyours,andtheunderlying
processingengineisthesame.
Yougettothesameplace.Either
way—LightroomorACR—you
areopeningmultipleversionsat
differentexposuresofthesame
imageandcombiningthemas
layersinPhotoshop.
SomefolkspreferLightroom,some
folkslikeACR.Ifyouareusing

Lightroomastheengineforyour
digitalworkowtokeeptrackof
yourimages,thenitreallymakes
sensetouseLightroomforthis
kindofconversion.Ifyoudon’t
alreadyuseLightroom,thenACR
maybethebetterchoice.
Next Step
CombinethelayersinPhotoshopbyaddinga
layermasktothe“Lighter”layertomaskoutany
blow-outsandpaintincontrast(pages22–24).
The two layers are stacked one 
 
on top of the other in the Layers 
palette. This means that at this 
point you can only see the “Lighter” 
layer since it is at the top of the 
stack. On pages 22
–
25, you’ll use a 
layer mask and painting to blend the 
two layers, making the best parts of 
each layer visible.
Now you’re in Photoshop

Harold sez
I’manindividualist
andIlovePhotoshop!
Ifyouhadapainter
outtherewhodid

onegreatpaintingaweek,you
wouldsaythisisareallyprolic
painter.
Peopleexpectmorevolumefrom
digitalphotographersanddigital
imagemakers.It’snotreasonable!
IshouldbereallyhappyifIcreate
onegreatimageaweek.I’mnot
avolumeoperation.I’mafter
quality,notquantity.Therefore,
usingPhotoshopbyitselfwithout
Lightroommakesmoresensetome
forthebulkofmyworkow(when
aclientneedsmetobatchalarge
numberofsimilarimagesfora
specicproject,IdouseLightroom).
Lightroomisagreatprogramand
Ireallyunderstandwhymany
photographersliketobasetheir
workowaroundit.
Highlightslayer—RAWcaptureat+3.0f-stop
exposureadjustment
Overalllayer—RAWcaptureat+1.5f-stop
exposureadjustment
Darklayer—RAWcaptureasshot(about2f-stops
underexposed)
MaskforOveralllayer
Layerspaletteshowingthe
layersandtheirmasks
MaskforHighlightslayer

Bringing a Flower to Life
IshotthisbeautifulAsiaticRanun-
culuswiththeowerinabudvase
wrappedwithablackvelvetcloth.
Previously,Imentionedtheimpor-
tanceofpre-visualizinghowyouwant
yourimagetocomeoutandhaving
apost-processingstrategy(page16).
Withthisower,IknewthatIwanted
ittoappearlikeajewelonacom-
pletelyblackbackgroundandthatI
wouldneedagoodpost-processing
strategytocreatemydesiredeffect.
SinceIwantedthebackgroundof
theimagetobeadeepblack,my
post-processingstrategywasto
startwithaverydarkversionforthe
backgroundwherethevelvetwas
veryblackandtheowerwasbarely
visible(bottom).Thisversionbecame
the“Dark”layeratthebottomofthe
layerstackintheLayerspalette.
Next,Iprocessedanoverallversion
thatwastheprimarybasisforhow
theowerwasrenderedinthenal
image(middle).Iaddedittothe
Layerpaletteabovethe“Dark”layer
asthe“Overall”layer.Then,Iadded
aHideAlllayermasktothe“Overall”
layerand“painted”intheower,

leavingtheblackvelvetbackground
fromthe“Dark”layerintact.
Someareasinthecenterofthe
owerstillneededmorepunch.
SoIpreparedalightversion(top)
andaddedittothetopofthelayer
stackintheLayerspaletteasthe
“Highlights”layer.Finally,Iaddeda
HideAlllayermasktothislayerand
selectively“painted”inafewbrighter
areas,mainlyontheedgesofthe
petals.
AnysingleversionfromtheRAWle
wouldnothavecapturedmyvision
ofthisgorgeousower.Butcombin-
ingthethreeversionsfromthesame
RAWle,createsthejewel-likeimage
Isawinmymind’seyewhenIcom-
posedthephotoinmyviewnder.
22 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
raw rescue, part 2: the photoshop layer experience
Understanding layer masks
Alayermaskisusedtocontrolwhich
partsofalayerarevisibleinthenal
image.Whenyouapplyalayermask
toalayer,blackareasinthemask
hidethelayer,whiteareasrevealthe
layer,andanythinginbetweenblack
andwhite—gray—ispartiallyrevealed.

Youcaneasilyrememberthisusing
therhyme“blackconcealsandwhite
reveals.”
WhenyouaddaHideAlllayermask
toalayer,thelayermaskstartsout
completelylledwithblack,making
thelayercompletelyinvisible.When
youaddaRevealAlllayermask,the
maskislledwithwhite,makingthe
entirelayervisible.
Whichkindoflayermaskyouchoose
toworkwithdependsonthesitua-
tion,howyouliketowork,andyour
overallstrategyfordealingwiththe
image.
Thereisahugerangeoftoolsyou
canuseinPhotoshoptoalteralayer
mask.ThetwoIusemostoftenare
theBrushandGradientTools.
>> Layers and masking in Photoshop
If you are new to layer masks, 
there’s a detailed case study in 
PD 1 starting on page 34
Now that the “Lighter” layer has 
a Hide All layer mask attached to 
it, the “Lighter” layer is invisible. 
What you see in the Photoshop 
window is the “Darker” layer 
A black Hide All layer mask 
appears on the “Lighter” 

layer, completely hiding the 
“Lighter” layer
Since the “Lighter” layer is 
on top of the layer stack 
in the Layers palette, only 
that layer is visible in the 
Photoshop window
Make
surethe“Lighter”
layerisselectedinthe
Layerspalette.
1
OntheLayermenu,choose
LayerMask
►   
Hide
All
2
23ABalletwithReality
For more information about 
Brush 
Tool 
settings and 
presets, 
see PD 1, pages 48 
– 
49
Here’s how
>> Painting on a layer mask
Getting rid of blow-outs and

adding contrast
Thepointofusingalayermaskfor
thisimageistoselectivelyremove
areasthataretoobrightandtoadd
contrasttoareasthatneedtoseem
darker.
Thisisaccomplishedbyaddingthe
“Lighter”layeroverthe“Darker”
layer.Thoseareasfromthe“Darker”
layerthatneedtocomethroughare
madevisiblebypaintingwithblack
onthelayermaskattachedtothe
“Lighter”layer.
Thepartsofthe“Lighter”layerthat
needtobeinthenalimageare
madevisiblebypaintingwithwhite
onthelayermask.
Selectthe
Brush
Toolfrom
the
Toolbox.
1
Clickthelayermaskon
the“Lighter”layertomake
sureit’sselected.
2
Makesurethe
foregroundcoloris
settowhite.

3
MostofthetimetheBrush
Tool’s
Opacity,Flow,andHardness
settings
shown
belowarethe
onesIstartwith.
Therearemany
morewaystosetuptheBrush
Tool,butthisis
generallyagoodplacetobegin.

Harold sez
Now to paint on 
the layer mask
Ontheleft
sideofthePhotoshop
OptionsBar,clickheretoopen
theBrushPresetPicker.
4
SettheOpacityto30%
andtheFlowto50%.
SettheMasterDiameterto
400pxandtheHardnessto0%.
5
When painting on a layer mask, 
I usually work with a very soft 
brush (Hardness = 0%)
6

You can nd different brush shapes 
and select one by clicking in here. Some 
brushes 
have harder or softer edges. I 
usually use a soft, round brush 
24 ThePhotoshopDarkroom2
raw rescue, part 2: the photoshop layer experience
Since the layer mask in the “Lighter” 
layer is selected in the Layers palette, the 
“paint” you are applying with the Brush 
Tool is going on the layer mask not onto 
the actual layer. As you paint, you will see 
your painting strokes appear on the layer 
mask thumbnail in the Layers palette
Here’s what the layer mask 
looks like after painting on 
it. The black areas hide the 
“Lighter” layer and the white 
areas reveal the “Lighter” layer
You can see what parts of the 
“Lighter” layer are visible if you hide 
the “Darker” layer by clicking the 
eyeball next to the “Darker” layer in 
the Layers palette 
PaintwiththeBrush
Toolin
theimagewindowtomakespecic
areaslighterandaddcontrast

totheimage.

7
Next Step
Nowthatyouevenedoutthetoneofthe
imageusinglayersandmasking,it’stimetomake
selectiveareasevenlighterusingtheScreen
blendingmode(pages25–26).
The Brush Tool 
at work