Tinkering with Light Tutorial

Step 1 : My friend Sunil Mukhopadhyay took this photo of Buddha's statue in Arunachal Pradesh on a recent visit. He had not intended to create a silhouetted effect. He wanted the image to show up. But as he will not be visiting Arunachal again and the picture has not turned up to expectation he asked me how it could be corrected? Photoshop obviously is the answer. See how it can be done below.

Step 2 : First I will use the Levels Tool. It can be accessed by clicking on Image>Adjustments>Levels as shown above.

Step 3 : The Levels dialogue box has opened. The left hand eye dropper icon is to set the Black Point or to choose a point in the image which has some black or dark color in it. The one on the extreme right is to set the White Point. This is used to click any white portion appearing in the image. The eye dropper in the middle is to set the Gray point and is only used in case of B & W images. Also see the two sliders above and below Output levels. If you drag the extreme right arrow on the slider above the Output Levels the image will brighten as you push it towards the left. The middle arrow is to pump up the highlights. The arrow on the left will darken the image. Similarly the arrows below Output Levels have the same function. But here if you drag the left arrow to the right it will brighten the image, the left slider will darken it.

Step 4 : Now I intend to use the eye dropper tool (Set White Point) at the place I have circled with red. Let us see what happens.

Step 5 : The image has become clear, it's actual color can be seen. But a problem has occurred. The background sky has almost become white.

Step 6 : Now we first have to make the Background layer editable. By default it cannot be edited. To make it editable just double click the Background as shown.

Step 7 : This dialogue box opens. Click OK.

Step 8 : Notice now that the Background has changed to Layer 0. It is now editable as any other layer.

Step 9 : Now it is time to use the Magic Wand Tool. Select it and click on any portion of the white background. The area will be selected with dotted lines indicating the extent of the selection.

Step 10 : Now hit DELETE on your keyboard. The white portion is deleted and a transparent background shows through. Go to Select>Deselect. This will deselect the column of marching ants.

Step 11 : Go to File>Save as. You must save this in a psd format.

Step 12 : Save the image in PSD format as shown. This format allows you to save layers.

Step 13 : Now I have reopened the image in psd format as well as the original image.

Step 14 : Now I will drag the original image on the psd image. The original image will now cover the psd image.

Step 15 : The original now hides the psd image behind it.

Step 16 : Go to Layer>Arrange>Send to Back. This will send the original image behind the psd layer.

Step 17 : Here is the image, now quite visible. Some people can also be made out below the base of the image now. They were earlier not visible.

Step 18 : One last step is necessary. With the original image layer selected go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast

Step 19 : When the Brightness/Contrast dialogue box opens, drag the sliders to the right suitably. That's it. Now you try. I'm sure you will be able to follow the steps. Any problem email me.