Brutalism 2 Post Production
Hi All
This post is really aimed at the photographers from the Brutalism 2 workshop but may still be of general interest.
A few techniques etc. from discussions on the day. Except for removing the crowd image, all were adjusted in Adobe Camera Raw, not Photoshop, so Lightroom also applies:

Left is jpg SOC (Straight Out of Camera).
Middle shows -5 exposure & -100 highlight recovery which produces grey whites with no detail, so totally unrecoverable.
Right shows the raw version of the same left jpg with Exposure -1.25 & highlights -100. Dodging of shadows/mid-tones with adjustment brush.

One for Darren, looking for exposing for highlights in areas of shadow and making the shadows deeper in post production.

Identifying smaller compositions: detail areas, lighting & small colour variations that can be enhanced in post production.

RHS original.
LHS crowd & lamps removed.
Additional ceiling downlighters added/cloned.
Extensive work in Photoshop Layers/Masks/Cloning



Pulling detail out of shadows in post production.
Dodging using the adjustment brush.
LHS Jpg SOC – RHS Raw file dodged & burned

LHS: New texture slider used with the adjustment brush on the graffiti. Adjustment brush on tower with extra vibrance slider
RHS: Colour Pop using adjustment brush and negative saturation slider. Then adjustment brush on graffiti for texture and vibrance.

B&W with negative blue adjustment
Radial filter for highlights ( a quick way rather than cutting out elements separately)
Adjustment brush to dodge wall


Getting a natural starburst. Peeking the sun just past the edge of a building at small a aperture. Make sure you have no dust on the front lens or filter. Highlights on the right are from dust on the front element, not natural flare!

Following our chat on the Golden Ratio.
https://artignition.com/golden-ratio-in-art/

Stuart spent some really useful time in this ‘nasty’ spot as we discussed light, angles and balance. A really difficult spot to get a workable composition. Several shots taken as we explored (sketched) the elements. Here is a shot I took in colour. A B&W is below but the colour version does seem to work better. Does it need a dab of colour on the RHS?? See below




Original – Selected Sky – Sky behind cut out architecture – Motion blur added to sky.
I mostly replace my skys. I can get the correct sky. Place it where I want it. Change the density. Add just the right amount of blur.
Have the wind direction of blur go in the direction I want for the image.
YES ITS CHEATING 🙂