Advertise

Write for Us

About

Usage

Home

Tutorials

Articles

Tips

Sessions

Basix

Videos

Premium

Search...

RSS Subscribers

11,618
Videos \ Post-Processing
Twitter Followers

Bring a Photograph to Life Using Levels With Zones

Jose Tomas Tocino on May 10th 2010 with 13 comments

10,265
Facebook Fans

7,854

Tweet

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

How to Take Great Photos

Whether you've got a simple pointand-shoot, or a professional camera, you'll learn the basics of what every photographer needs to know to make their shots count! Find Out More

Follow Phototuts+ and Tuts+ on Twitter

To the heavens http://enva.to/hs1OD9 How to Set Up and Shoot an Enchanted Photoshoot in the Woods http://enva.to/ch19Wt Nature Masterclass: Shooting Hummingbirds and Butterflies Photo Premium http://enva.to/g5K3u9 Water Lily http://enva.to/iavFLZ

Top Selling
on Themeforest

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 1 / 15

CircloSquero Premium WordP ... only $35.00 by DMThemes

Alyeska Premium WordPress Th ... only $35.00 by ThemeBlvd

New Tutorials
on Tuts+ Marketplace Create a Retro Electronic Sa ... only $4.00 by PsdPremium

In this tutorial youll learn how to use levels in Photoshop to add a spark of life to an otherwise dull photograph. Well divide the image into different zones in order to process them independently, achieving an interesting look. Lets get to work!

Create an A-10 Warthog, Char ... only $3.00 by VectorPremium

Watch the Video

Armageddon - More

Freelance Jobs
More Freelance Jobs

Photo Basix
Just getting started? Start with our basix tutorials on the fundamentals. View All Basix Tutorials

Other Plus Sites ...

Step 1
The first step is to open the image to pre-process it with Camera Raw. If you have a raw file (like .CR2 files on Canon cameras) just open it in Photoshop. If you are using a JPEG image to start, go to File > Open As, choose Camera Rawas the file type and open your file. Then the Camera Raw dialog will appear.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 2 / 15

Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!

Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Phototuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More

This is the original image:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 3 / 15

Step 2
Increase the temperature using the first slider. Were looking for a warm look, so choose a value close to 8000k. Also, decrease the saturation to give it an older look. Do not change Contrast or Blacks as we will be changing them later using levels and curves.

Step 3
Go to Lens Correction and add some Lens Vignetting by moving the Amount slider down to -21. Then hold Shift and the Open Imagebutton will change to Open Object. Click it.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 4 / 15

Step 4
Before starting to tweak levels and curves, remove anything you dont want in your final image. In the example image there was a girl in the bottom left corner that I had to remove using the Clone Stamp Tool (S). Right-Click the layer and select Duplicate Layer, click OK and then Right-Click the new layer and select Rasterize Layer. This way you will keep a copy of the original raw file that you can edit in Camera Raw just Double-Clicking on the layers thumbnail. Do your cloning and healing process in the new layer.

Step 5
Now we will start working with the different zones of the image. We can divide our image in 5 sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The left walls in the foreground. The right walls in the foreground. The white building in the background. The road. The sky.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 5 / 15

Step 6
We will start with the 4th zone: the road. Choose the Pen Tool (P) and select the Paths option (second button) in the upper toolbar. Now draw the shape of the road.

Step 7
Once you finish with the Pen Tool, Right-Click the newly created shape and select Make Selection. Make sure Anti-Aliased is ticked and Feather Radius is set to 0px, then click OK. Now go to Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels and create a new levels layer called Road.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 6 / 15

Now lets adjust the levels. Double-Click on the Road Levels layer and the Levels Adjustment window will appear. Now move the black handle to the beginning of the histogram, and the white handle to the end of the histogram. This increases the contrast of the area, as the white point of the histogram matches the white point of the area, and the same with the black point. However, you have to be careful because the smaller the area between the black and white handles, the less information you leave on that area. Move the middle handle to the right until it looks good.

Step 8
Now repeat the process with the first, second and third sections (refer to Step 5). Use the Pen Tool (P) (or any other selection tool you prefer) to select the area, make a new Levels Adjustment Layer and move the handles to match the histogram. Sometimes, like with the left wall, its good to make more than one adjustment layer: one for the whole area, and another one for a smaller area within. For instance, for the left wall I used a layer for the whole building, and then another layer for bottom floor of the first building.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 7 / 15

Step 9
Once the road and all the buildings have their own Levels Adjustment Layer, lets work with the sky. RightClick on the first layer (the original image, not the rasterized one) and select New Smart Object via Copy. Rename the layer to Sky Layerand move it to the foreground. Double-Click it to edit it in Camera Raw and use the following settings:

Notice that we have decreased the temperature, in order to cool the sky a little bit. Also we have decreased the exposure and increased the contrast in order to get some details in the clouds. Now use the Pen Tool (P) to select the sky, bordered by the buildingsroofs. Right click the new path and choose Make Selection, and use the selection as a mask for the Sky layer. Its good to feather after having set the mask rather than before, as you can see how the different values for the feather work in real time, using the Masks panel.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 8 / 15

Step 10
The buildings are very bright, and the sky is quite dark, so lets ease that difference a bit. Create a New Smart Object via copy from the original one and use these adjustments in Camera Raw:

Rename the layer to Sky surroundingsand Ctrl-Click on the mask of the Sky layer. Go to Select > Modify > Expand and use a value of 100px. Choose the Sky Surroundings layer and then click on Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection. Now its time to feather the mask a little bit using Select > Refine Edge. A Feather value about 70px is OK, but experimenting is key.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 9 / 15

Step 11
To end up, make a loose selection of the sky and make a new Levels Adjustment Layer to tweak it a bit. Optionally you can add a global levels layer. Now go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, name it General Curves, and choose Linear Contrast from the dropdown menu on the Adjustments Panel. It will increase the general contrast a little.

Finally, lets add a black border: Go to Image > Canvas Size, disable Relative, and use 50px as width and height. Click OK, create a new background layer and fill it with black. Were done!

Conclusion
Although the process is pretty simple, the results are quite impressive. Here you can compare the original image and the final one.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 10 / 15

And the final result:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 11 / 15

Thanks for reading, and let us know whether you feel this effect is useful for any of your own images!

Tags: Videos

Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues! Tweet

By Jose Tomas Tocino Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Related Posts

Discussion 13 Comments
Ricardo
May 10, 2010 at 2:06 pm

Add Comment

I cant help but to feel like Ive been stabbed directly in the heart everytime I see a photography tutorial which relies so much on hard and zone manipulation. As a photo piece, the final result means very little to me, and I liked the visual result before I knew what was going on here. Its the process itself that killed it for me and removed all of its photographic value. Sorry I just had to let it out. Your tutorial is very good at a manipulation level, with some good tips on dealing with RAW. Indeed useful. But the whole thing makes me a bit sad watching what photography has become; zone manipulation and clone tool.
REPLY

Jacob

May 10, 2010 at 4:56 pm

Hey Ricardo. I dont really agree with what youre saying, though I see what you mean. Although I myself try to avoid zone manipulation and cloning, I would say that photography is an art-form. A photo is just the basis upon which you can express your vision (like a painting or sculpture) so the means, although it sometimes seems like cheating, isnt really important. If you take photos more for like, documenting a memory or photojournalism or something, its a different story though.
REPLY

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 12 / 15

Patareco

May 11, 2010 at 4:21 pm

You just expressed my thoughts on the subject! Thanks!

REPLY

Steven Davis
+1 to this

December 9, 2010 at 11:50 pm

REPLY

Joaquin

May 11, 2010 at 6:57 pm

You are quite right.

REPLY

Mike

May 10, 2010 at 4:49 pm

Excellent tutorial, thank you very much indeed! @Ricardo; Photography has always used this method. Dodging and burning would be used in the darkroom to achieve the desired effects. Ansel Adams, generally considered to be one of the greatest photographers the world has ever seen, was a master at working with zones. The only difference is, now its done digitally. Are you saying that any manipulation to a photograph is wrong? If so, how can you say that the final result means nothing to you? The Beforephoto is a RAW file. Therefore it hasnt had any of the kinds of influence added to it that would have been present, had it been shot on film, or as a JPG. In the past, a photographer would have to choose what he wanted the final resultto look like and based on that, would decide what film to use and what areas to dodge and burn when processing it. Now we can take a shot and make those decisions once we get them on to the computer. If you think that the photos of old that make your jaw drop through the magnificent range of exposure werent manipulated in the darkroom, then you need to do some reading, my friend.
REPLY

May 14, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Adams zone system has nothing to do with this technique at all. Not even a little bit. The Zone System you refer to deals with properly exposing a photograph in the first place. This tutorial is about altering an image via artistic expression.
REPLY

oldred

May 21, 2010 at 10:50 pm

But Adams did selectively burn and dodge sections of his photographs to achieve the look he wanted, similar to what this tutorial has shown. Read the third book in his photography series, The Print. It talks about how he would create and manipulate the print to create his photos.
REPLY

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 13 / 15

Stephen

May 10, 2010 at 7:58 pm

Nice tutorial on how to use some of the tools inside of Photoshop to edit levels though you can achieve the same selective adjustments to tone exclusively within ACR. Im not sure I particularly like where you took the image though. The edges of each area are harsh and obviously unnatural. The human eye knows how things are supposed to look and will quickly catch transitions from natural to manipulated. Particularly around the satellite dish and edges of the buildings with the sky theyve practically gone black. I dont agree with editing the girl out. I think that you should either have waited for her to pass and take the picture again or better wait for her to make it further into frame and use her as a compositional element. She would help add a feeling of life to the image which I think would have made for nice juxtaposition with the pretty drab and dead scenery.
REPLY

TJ

May 11, 2010 at 6:30 pm

The ability to manipulate an image on Photoshop is in essence no different that the manipulation by the photographer when he/she composes the image in the camera. The photographer/artist is at that instant capturing a portion of world/environment that they wish to capture for themselves or to convey to others in the form of a photograph. They are manipulating the environment through the technology of the camera (film or digital) and capturing a mere sliver of the world around them and presenting only that sliver to the viewer. This manipulation with evoke thoughts and feelings, some of which the photographer intended and some that were not intended. Some viewers will focus on the simple beauty of the image, some will focus on the lines, some will focus on the architecture, some will focus on the colours, some will focus on the textures and some will focus on the sky or the weather. Following the logic of some of the comments a true purist would take a camera, set it on automatic, take a 360 degree sphere panorama and then let the viewer choose which portion of the image they wish to look at. If one chooses to take photographs then one is choosing to manipulate the environment because the exposure latitude of the camera sensor will never equal the exposure latitude of the human eye and can therefore never capture the true essence of that moment in time and space which will include the sounds, smells and weather conditions of that moment. As with most art if you dont like it then dont look at and/or go out and take the image yourself and post it.
REPLY

byrn

May 14, 2010 at 7:39 pm

digital photography. There must be a reason on the word digitalthere Just my personal opinion. RAW images contain more info than the jpegs, these infos are meant to be used in processing the pictures. Previewing it would not make a difference comparing to a jpeg. If one dont fancy digital manipulations, I would suggest using a film camera instead.
REPLY

Daniel

June 9, 2010 at 6:17 pm

My version of an image by playing with zones and levels from this tutorial http://www.flickr.com/photos/denisart/4685095122/
REPLY

Steven Davis
principals

December 9, 2010 at 11:48 pm

Great tutorial. Would be much harder on a landscape shot with less hard lines, but nice

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 14 / 15

REPLY

Add a Comment
Name Email Address URL

Your Comments
5

Add Comment

Copyright 2011 Envato

Advertise

Suggestions

About Us

Icons by WeFunction

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/bring-a-photograph-to-life-using-levels-with-zones/

Page 15 / 15