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The purpose of this page is to provide information and/or links to information that will be useful for nature photographers as a whole, and to California nature photographers in particular.

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Location-Specific Resources or Information.

Nature Photography Tips, Tricks, and Related Information


 Remove Color Cast Using a Blur Layer in Photo Shop (from Preston Birdwell):

  1. Open your image in Photo Shop
  2. Create a copy of the background by choosing Layer>New>Layer Via Copy...
  3. Select Filter>Blur>Average (Your image will now be one solid color. Don't worry!)
  4. Create a Curves Adjustment Layer above the blur layer
  5. Click the Grey 'Eyedropper' in the Curves dialog box
  6. Place the 'eyedropper' anywhere in the image and then click to sample the color. (The image should now be some shade of grey)
  7. Discard the blur layer by dragging it to the trashcan in the layers palette (Your image should be visible with any color cast removed)
  8. If the color of the image is not quite what you want; say, it's now too blue, you can adjust the 'blue' channel in your curves layer to reduce the blue.
  9. Save the corrected image file
  10. Continue with further processing.

Using LAB Color and Lightness Channel in Photo Shop for Sharpening for Print (from Reno DiTullio):

  1. Open your image in Photo Shop
  2. Flatten the image by choosing Layer>Flatten
  3. Next, go to Image>Mode and select LAB
  4. Create a copy of the background layer by choosing Layer>Layer via Copy
  5. In the Layers pallet, and with your new layer active, select Channels>Lightness (your image will look faded and monotone)
  6. Next, go to Filter>Unsharp Mask
  7. Set the Radius at 1 px, Amount to 80, and Threshold to 4. Click OK
  8. To apply more USM, use Ctrl+F. Repeat as necessary to achieve the desired sharpness
  9. Flatten the image
  10. Go back to Image>Mode and select RGB
  11. Make a proof print to assess your sharpening and color.

Sharpening for the Web in Photo Shop (Marc Adamus technique, from Harley Goldman):

  1. Duplicate your 'master' file and save the duplicate
  2. Flatten the duplicate file
  3. Convert profile to sRGB
  4. Convert 16-bit file to 8-bit, if needed
  5. Re-size image to 72dpi, 1800 pixels on the long side
  6. Sharpen twice using the "Sharpen" option under the Filter>Sharpen menu
  7. Re-size to 720 pixels on the long side
  8. Save using "Save for Web", picking the desired file size. For NPN, I get as close to 200 KB as possible without going over.

Note that the number of pixels on the long side in STEP 5 needs to be experimented with to get the correct amount of sharpening. Using 1700 instead of 1800 will yield a sharper image. Using 1900 will give you a less sharp image. I try different number of pixels on each image until I get the look I want. I use the history and go back when trying different amounts.

Sharpening Using the 'Luminosity' Blending Mode on a Layer In Photo Shop (from Preston Birdwell):

  1. Duplicate your 'master' file and save the duplicate
  2. Flatten the duplicate file
  3. Size the image as needed
  4. Create a new layer: Layer>Layer Via Copy...
  5. Set the 'blending mode' of this layer to 'Luminosity'
  6. Sharpen as needed, using Unsharp Mask or another filter
  7. Flatten image
  8. Save the sharpened image

This technique does not affect color or saturation. If you do not like the results, you can either delete the USM states in the 'History' palette, or discard the layer.


 "15%" Cloning Technique in Photo Shop (from Harley Goldman):

  1. Create a new layer above the background layer
  2. Select your cloning tool and set the opacity to between 7% to 20%. (12% is a good starting point)
  3. Find an area in your image that has a similar color, but has tone and texture compared to your blown area for your cloning "from" selection
  4. Using a soft brush lightly clone over your problem spot until it has the amount of color/detail/texture that you desire.
This technique is easy to do, and is very effective for fixing small areas. If you do not like the results, you can safely discard the 'cloning' layer you created in step #1.


Links to Tips, Procedures, or Tutorials:

Links To Other Resources of Interest