LDS Temple Photography - Taking Better Images, Part 3

LDS Temple Photography - Taking Better Images, Part 3

This is the 3rd and final installment in this series to improve LDS Temple Photography. In this article, we'll explore some of the more complex processes in post production. This is not a how-to guide, but instead, information so you can see the possibilities that exist in the current environment. 

The amount of processing is a personal choice based on many factors. Some photographers are realists and want to replicate the original scene exactly, whereas others will replace anything, including shrubs, cars, and skies etc., to add as much visual interest as possible. We all know what a fake photo is but where is the line in the sand that defines this? It's a personal decision we all have to make.

Pro photographers will shoot their Images in RAW format (rather than jpeg) which will contain much more information and detail in the file. However RAW files usually look a bit washed out and hence will need some coaxing to bring out the original color, clarity, contrast or other enhancements you have in mind. This is done through a RAW Converter with the most popular being Lightroom but many other programs exist and each do a great job.

Layers are a wonderful way to make corrections to an image nondestructively. If you make corrections to a layer and decide later you don't like it, simply delete the layer. Making changes to an original image is problematic because many of those steps cannot be undone. Photoshop is probably the most widely used editor, but again, many other programs have great capabilities.

Focus Stacking: The style in landscape photography today is having everything in the frame completely in focus. To render those blades of grass in the foreground along with the clouds in the background with complete clarity can be difficult. Focus stacking can be done in-camera in the field on most prosumer cameras or can be accomplished by taking several images at different focus points, then loading the images into Photoshop as layers and blending them together.

Luminosity Masking: This process breaks an image into a black and white mask showing every value from pure black to pure white. Total black in an image has a numeric value of "0" with pure white as "255" with all values of gray in-between. Luminosity masking allows you to select a range of lights or darks and make corrections only to those light values. As an example, if you wanted to darken just the lightest part of the sky or lighten the darkest portion of shadows, you can select that specific range and apply the necessary corrections. 

Time Blending: This is the process of taking multiple images over time then blending them together as layers in Photoshop. Example: Take an image of the Temple with the lights on before the sun rises. Next, shoot the colors in the sky as the sun rises. Lastly, wait for the sun to spread dappled light over the gardens and then combine all 3 images in Photoshop. The outcome is an image with Temple lights on, color in the sky and dappled light on the beautiful gardens. Many photographers in landscape photography will shoot the sunset colors, wait several hours for a milky way shot and paint the milky way in above the sunset to show the best of both worlds. 

However you decide to proceed, good luck and good light to you!

I specialize in LDS Temples, Landscape Photography and Indigenous Cultural images of the Southwest. See my work at https://www.davidwilliamsphotography.com or follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/david_williams_photography_/