Getting the Most Out of Your Reef Tank Photos: Photoshop Processing

Tonal Correction

White Balance Correction

Shortly after I began taking interest in reef tank photography and posting information on the various forums, I began receiving emails and private messages from people who wanted help improving their pictures. Some people blamed their cameras, others their lack of experience... but when I spent some time looking at their photos, I found that quite a few of them were really good. One of the most common problems, though, was poor post-processing. Photos that could have been spectacular were just OK, photos that could have been salvaged were almost beyond recognition.Everybody knows that you can do just about anything imaginable with your images in Photoshop. Many people have an aversion to doing anything beyond cropping and re-sizing, thinking that they're corrupting their photos if they adjust the color or exposure. The fact is, though, that if you're not getting a final photograph that accurately reflects what you see with your own eyes, it's more honest to make the proper changes in post-processing to make it match your expectations.In this regard, Photoshop (or any other photo editor that you use) should be considered an integral part of the photographic process, much like the photographic lab was 15 years ago. When I shot film, I knew which films would give me the best greens and blues and which would give me the most vibrant reds and yellows. I knew how to process my black and white film to get the most shadow detail, and how to dodge and burn in the darkroom to get the most tonal range in my final print. As a journalist, I had to use these techniques in order to produce a photo for publishing that accurately depicted what I saw, knowing that my Tri-X film was going to over-react to blues and wash out the sky, for example.Similarly, you can't expect your camera to simply produce an accurate representation of the world. Even if you set the white balance correctly and expose your photo correctly, your sensor simply isn't going to react the same way that your eye and your brain do. Your camera is going to need your help to get it right... and knowing how to do that is the difference between owning a camera and being a photographer.Of course, most of what can be done is beyond the scope of what I can get into a few videos. It is also true that most of us arejournalists, and we're perfectly free to enhance our photos as artwork rather than documentary. So take the following videos for what they are; simply a peek through the keyhole at what is possible.All of the following videos are screen captures that are in wide-screen high definition (720p). To get the most out of them, make sure that your youtube frame is set to 720 and that you full-screen (or otherwise enlarge) the video to show all of the necessary detail. If you find that you have a photo that you like, but think could use some work, feel free to email it to me, and I'd be more than happy to produce another video showing you what I might do with it.These videos go through the process of using curves to correct the tonal range and color of reef tank photos, among other things. The first pair of videos (really one video cut in half to fit youtube's guidelines) is a relatively slow walk-though of a single photo being processed. The video is about 18 minutes long. If you're already familiar with Photoshop, you might consider skipping ahead to the second video.[All of the following videos were uploaded to YouTube in 720p HD, and they'll be pretty hard to see if you don't watch them at full size. You can also download the videos for later viewing from my blog, where they were originally posted.]The second video goes through the same general process, but faster.This video was made as a reply to a specific topic at another forum, and specifically covers how to correct white balance in a photo using Camera Raw or adjustment layers. Keep in mind, however, that using a "correct", neutral color balance may not always be the most honest way to process your photos.As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Also keep in mind that there are dozens of ways to achieve the same results in Photoshop, and some work better that others, depending on the situation. If you don't own a copy of Photoshop, please don't try to pirate a copy; you're likely to get unstable results or viruses. Instead, try the photo editing software that came with your camera, or GIMP! http://www.gimp.org/