Sucker Punch - Eagle Creek, Oregon

Along with the new design of my Smugmug Portfolio, I have introduced some new print options. Head on over that way or check out my Buy Prints Page for more details. PS: There are some really nice new prices;)

And on to post processing & the world of Photoshop. Emails constantly come in, many star photography related, but overall post processing related, asking me how I process the shots on this website. Well there really isn't a straightforward answer. Most of the time it's a new creative process for each picture. I do provide some tutorials on my Learn Photography Page which covers a bunch of this stuff, but why not provide some more info from time to time with the actual pictures? Well here ya go...

The Shot

Punch Bowl Falls located a few miles up Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge is an amazing place to capture some nice photos. Just remember, bring your chest waders. I was able to capture the full dynamic range of light with three bracketed RAW files then blend them together in Photoshop using the process below.

Post Processing Info

Processing Time: 2 hours

Music: Miles Davis & Thelonious Monk Playlist

Drink: Ninkasi IPA

Lightroom 4 

1. RAW file adjustment for each of my 3 exposures at -1EV, 0EV, and +1EV.
2. Export all (3) files as JPEGs.

Photoshop CS6

1. Hand blend (3) JPEG files using Tony Kuypers Luminosity Masking Actions & Techniques to create (1) well exposed .PSD file. 
2. Apply color correction 
3. Apply overall contrast adjustments and glow using Nik Color Efex Pro 4
4. Apply selective color, contrast and glow adjustments using OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 ( Love this program!! ).
5. Luminosity adjustments once again using Tony's Actions
6. Apply final vignette using darken/lighten center in Nik Color Efex Pro 4
7. Final curves / lighting adjustments, and painting out a few pieces of sensor dust using clone tool. 

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