Night shots

**raynerj1** · 23 September 2007, 07:03 PM

Cute... but I think telling a group of bikers to "freeze" would put em more on a defensive posture than asking one of em to let you pose your duckie on his bike.

**Mike Bailey** · 24 September 2007, 02:52 PM

I am one of those bikers you guys are talking about. I don't have to use a tripod, or say freeze, If I want someone to pose I just say "Smile". I have been asked plenty of times let someone sit on my bike for a picture, its usually some girl who wants to take her cloths off so her boyfriend can get a picture of her boobs on my Harley.

Attached is what the image looks like straight out of the camera, then after postworking with photoshop. I don't need to spend a lot of time in PS to get the details that are hidden in the darkness to show up in the image. It amazes me that if I have a very dark area on an image, when I brighten it up in an image editor the details are in there, works with scanned images as well.

**geminiguy** · 24 September 2007, 08:18 PM

actually, I like the darker pic more.... Is there a way to keep the dark (which shows up the neon signs better....) and only lighten the areas with the bikes, etc.??

**Mike Bailey** · 24 September 2007, 08:59 PM

Is there a way to keep the dark (which shows up the neon signs better....) and only lighten the areas with the bikes, etc.??

Yes, by selectively brightening the area of interest. What I do is I brighten a copy layer 100%, then adjust the opacity until the overall brightness level is what I want. Then I mask out those areas of the brightness layer to allow the dark image to show through to some degree.

It took 5 minutes to adjust this image bringing the neon lights down to the original brightness.

**geminiguy** · 24 September 2007, 09:41 PM

Thanks. Wow, now that's a really unique lookin pic! I like that alot! So... if one were to really take the time, you could do that to "just" all the lights, individually?? That would be rally wild lookin

**raynerj1** · 24 September 2007, 10:53 PM

I found I like xara better for this type of selective adjustment... create a bitmap copy of the original and pway with both in xpe..... then feather the edges between the two so you don't loose the glow.

**Mike Bailey** · 24 September 2007, 10:58 PM

I found I like xara better for this type of selective adjustment...

What version of Photoshop do you have?

**RTK** · 25 September 2007, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by raynerj1

I found I like xara better for this type of selective adjustment... create a bitmap copy of the original and pway with both in xpe..... then feather the edges between the two so you don't loose the glow.

In English that means what? Mini-tutorial please?

Please use the imagery in this thread.

Originally Posted by Mike Bailey

I have been asked plenty of times let someone sit on my bike for a picture, its usually some girl who wants to take her cloths off so her boyfriend can get a picture of her boobs on my Harley.

Hah!

The agreement I had with my wife was this - I agree to have a third one - I get a Harley. The third one has been around for 2 1/2 years now, and he is a prize... But my wife says she can't risk me going head-on, or wipe-under a lumber truck by accident - so, no Harley for Risto!

I have told her many times that I would not drive in to a lumber truck on purpose (even when she is being a nagging bi******* ***** ******** = bilingual french canadian...

Didn't help...

Mike, seeing the upside of things... I would make a great biker, as I'm very accomodating to women who wants to take their clothes off for me.

However, I couldn't grow facial hair even if stuck in a 70s Vietnamese prison camp for a few years... As you are on the "in" on the biker side of things - is that a real handicap, or could I work through it by shaving a Shih Tzu + super glue or something like that?

Just curious.

Risto

**geminiguy** · 25 September 2007, 05:50 AM

My recommendation to those who wish to create that "biker" look, yet can't grow facial hair is..... get a tattoo on your neck. Something completely vial and obcene and which is of great offense to others, and which you will absolutely regret as a grand-parent.... (hahaha)
Funny note on offensive tats.... One of mine (which is on my right forearm) is a symbol which represents my sign (gemini) It is actually two of such symbols mixed together, the main symbol I got from a book on alchemy which represents "mercury" (as a metal compound) I use it for mercury which rules gemini (I know it's the planet, not the metal) but it looked better.... The second id the more common II symbol, which together looks like this......
I get more comments (positive and negative) on this one tattoo... than all my others Younger people love it and older people think Im gonna rape their chiuauah

**raynerj1** · 25 September 2007, 07:16 AM

Per Risto's Request... The The signs in the 1st picture are almost overexposed, whereas the rest of the shot is very under exposed. So we need to brighten most of the shot and tone tone the signs...

1. Import bitmap... size to 600 pix across. (Just for making posting here in the forum easier)

2. Create a bitmap copy of the shot. (You can not do another copy of the same bitmap. You need a 2nd copy of the same bitmap. xpe works on the bitmap in the bitmap gallery... since we intend to lighten one and darken the other we need 2 distinct bitmaps.

3. Place the second bitmap on another layer directly over the first bitmap.

4. create a general shape of the bright areas... slice and dice it from the top bitmap. The is now technically a shape... so you need to use utilites=>bitmap editor to call XPE...

5. Adjust the bright areas down... (If the bright areas are totally saturated pure white... You have nothing to work with... max is max...) When you are done adjusting... the sliced bitmap is changed.

6. Feather the darkened shape to blend with the bitmap below it.

7. Create a true color bitmap of both bitmaps...

8. Adjust the new image in XPE... to bring out what you can...