Adding atmosphere in photo processing

I am experimenting with several programs to process photos. My previous post, Photo Processing Adventures with a Heffalump, outlines using several programs with an old JPG file. This week I re-noticed a photo challenge by Ryan Photography called the Before and After Challenge, to take a given photo and edit it. I decided to have a go, using two different methods to add atmosphere.

Here is the original image:

I decided to try for a late afternoon in late autumn, golden hour type feel. Adding atmosphere by increasing the drama of the sky, making the castle a bit brighter, as if hit by the low angle of the afternoon sun, and making the moat moodier.

Luminar 3

I first tried Luminar 3. For that edit I used 4 layers:

• Original photo + lens corrections + 61% of the Accent AI Filter + 100% of the AI Sky Filter + Saturation 10.
• With only the sky area un-masked I applied a Tone Filter with exposure -0.78, contrast 10, highlights -19, shadows -16, whites 6, blacks 10 settings.
• With just the castle and foliage un-masked I applied the Aerial Golden hour “look”.
• To the entire image I applied the vignette filter with amount -35, size 50 settings.

Open source options: RAW Therapee + GIMP

I’ve been studying and practicing with open source photo editing options lately. For this image I used RAW Therapee and GIMP to see what I could do with them (more experienced and knowledgeable folks can probably do way more than I can even imagine. However, beginners like me might find the instructions below interesting.

RAW Therapee

Because GIMP cannot read RAW files I use RAW Therapee to create a TIF. I used fairly minimal adjustments in RAW Therapee: in the exposure tab “compress highlights” at 150 + a “film like” tone curve; in the sharpen tab I turned local contrast and noise reduction on, default settings for both. The geometric adjustment was only the automatically selected option for lens distortion. At this point I output a TIF file.

GIMP

The GIMP steps I took to add atmosphere were as follows:

• Read in the TIF file output by RAW Therapee.
• Made a working copy in a layer above and turned off the original, to preserve a before and after.
• In the working (copy) layer I removed the branches on the right hand side using the free select tool and the Filter>Enhance>Heal option (this uses the resynthesizer plug-in). After removing the bulk of the branches, I then used the Heal tool to clean up the edges.
• I then used the Colors>Exposure panel to decrease the exposure (-0.2) and increase the black(+0.03).
• I made three masked layers:
  • Sky only
  • Castle and foliage
  • Moat
• Before adjusting each layer I Select>All, so that if I change the mask later the image automatically adjusts the changes to the new mask.
• Sky layer adjustments:
  • Used Colors>Curve to darken the sky overall and reduce the highlights.
  • Used Colors>Brightness and Contrast to increase contrast using the slider.
• Moat layer adjustments:
  • Colors>Exposure settings exposure -0.2, black0.02.
  • Colors>Saturation set at 1.2
  • Used Colors>Curves to darken the moat.
• Castle Layer adjustments-I created a layer set
  • Colors>Exposure exposure 0.3, black 0.01.
  • Colors>Brightness and Contrast brightness -0.2
  • Created a high-pass filter layer to bring out details of the castle. (steps below).
  • Created a new layer with the side of the castle on the left masked, with a gradient on the round tower so the next effect was gradual.
  • On the new layer I used Colors>Brightness brightness 0.3.
  • To create a golden hour effect I added a new transparent layer with overlay blend mode and opacity 80%. On that layer I created a gradient of transparent to amber (#ffbf00), with an opacity of 30%, the transparent to amber transition was across the round tower at the left.

The order of the layers, from lowest to highest is:

• Adjusted copy of original image.
• Castle set of layers:
  • Whole castle with adjustments.
  • Just the Entrance side of the castle unmasked with adjustments
  • The amber gradient.
  • The high-pass filter layer (made from the first layer, but moved up).
• Moat layer with adjustments
• Sky layer with adjustments

In summary

I could fiddle with this photo forever, it has so much potential. But I need to get on with other things.

Even though the results were different both methods bordered on successful.

I would likely mess about with both of them more…Possibly create a hybrid: I really like the sky from Luminar. But I don’t have the skill to get that out of GIMP yet (and maybe, given that Luminar has the AI Sky filter, it would never be possible).

Luminar, with its various looks, does a tremendous job of adding atmosphere. The Luminar edit had a great atmospheric feel, but some weird color artifacts in the castle, and the top of the castle seemed rather dark.

I was happy with the way the light seemed directional in the GIMP edit.

It was a great exercise for me to use someone else’s photo to test out different techniques and programs. Thank you to Ryan Photography for this great Before and After challenge.

To create a high-pass layer in GIMP:

• Copy the layer you wish to bring out details in.
• Zoom in on the area you most want to sharpen.
• De-saturate the new layer. Try out the available modes for de-saturation to find the one that gives the best detail in the area you want to improve.
• Filters>Enhance>High Pass
• Choose a blend mode for the filter layer that gives you the results you like from the overlay group. In the Bodiam Castle image I used Linear light.
• If it is too much you can reduce the opacity of the filter layer, if it is too little you can make one or more copies of the filter layer to adjust to your taste. In the Castle I just used the one layer and left the opacity at 100%.