One Four Challenge Wk 2 – Click to Embiggen
Last week was interesting, half the people liked the actual Wk 1 entry which was the BW version and half the people liked the base colour image!
So I had a cunning plan for One Four Challenge Wk2 – merge the two using layers and a mask and get the benefit of the BW tree detail with the colour background. Up til the point I had to paint AROUND ALL THE BRANCHES!
Crashed and burned at that point.
I already had the two layers together so then mucked about with blending them and came up with this variation – I call it STORMLIGHT
Post Processing steps:
1. Lay both images out, colour on bottom and BW on top
2. Blend the BW on top of the colour with Darken mode set around 65%
This darkens the sky and tones down the sea colour but adds more drama and texture to the tree branches.
3. Bring back into LR and add a subtle vignette in the corners with the radial tool and darkening the exposure.
It feels to me like that brief break in the clouds, or light from an oncoming storm 🙂
All tips, tricks, comments and feedback welcome.
Learning to See Light 
I love old trees along the waters edge, I am enjoying your site!!
Thanks Jim, glad you are enjoying my images ☺️
The drama on those branches is great! The image seems more alive to me this week 🙂
Thanks Sarah, it’s a different feel to last week and I like it too
It’s a great image to start with!
Thanks Sarah 🙂
You captured the essence of “stormlight” perfectly. This is my favorite edit so far. Painting around those branches would have been an awful pain, but I think idea of it made for an amazing edit this week.
You are not wrong, the painting was a real turnoff, I may need to invest in a Wacom tablet if I continue to have such silly ideas !
I think it was a great idea :). The Wacom tablets are wonderful. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be coordinated enough to use them! Lol. I’ve tried, but I do better with a mouse. Everyone I know that has one thinks it is the best thing…ever!!
I have always wanted one but havent spent the money because im not sure if it would “work” for me with using the pen.
I wish they had a way for you to do a 30 day trial to see if it would work. I had the Bamboo Create for awhile, but just couldn’t get the hang of it.
I wish they did too!
Stormlight…you should patent that 🙂
I love it. Definitely the qualities of the 2 from last week are able to co-exist.
I haven’t blended two variations of the same image before like this so it was an interesting experiment, I think the intense colours hold up against the addition of the bw
Stormlight, I love it!
This is really effective Stacey and has lots of drama. You do wonder what’s going to happen next… a massive thunderstorm?
I like combining BW and Coloured layers. It usually offers something different and this one works.
A fabulous second edit 😃
I have never combined two layers like this before so it was a really good learning experience, I have done two colour layers on top of each other to reinforce a particular effect in the image, but not this.
It really is effective Stacey. I use it the other way around too, to knock back colour – BW layer on top, Blend mode normal and then change the opacity to what you like best 😃
I think this method worked really well with your image this week!!
I did it that way with the BW on top for this one too, its what did all the darkening. I should swap to see the difference LOL
Absolutely! Its fun experimenting and we never know what we’ll discover 😜
Really love the resulting image – such a stormy mood, and the perfect title. I know with my Vietnam boats I had to erase all the details of the boats off of my stormy sky layer and that was a real pain that I wouldn’t want to repeat too often – I can just imagine what these branches would be like!
Yes it was more pain than I realised and wasn’t in the mood for dealing with when I sat down. Still I got this instead, so Im happy with that 🙂
Brilliant title and a perfect image created for it Stacey.
Thanks Lee, it was a surprise image this week as it wasnt what I intended to do 🙂
Nice surprise 🙂
Great work Stacey, I love the drama of the sky and the colour in the water, and the tree really stands out. It is also really interesting to see that you have combined the B&W and coloured images… Food for thought for me for another image I am fiddling with!
The combining was sheer serendipity given my original idea didn’t work, and I had these two layers just sitting there, so I played 🙂
Love this image, the ‘aliveness’ of it! I need to have a go at combining monochrome and colour layers…..
Yes it was an unexpected positive result ☺️
😀
Beautiful toning, quite cinematic. I really like it.
Thanks Ben, its not bad for a stumble upon concept 🙂
this is such a dramatic image! Lovely process again!
Thanks Cybele 🙂
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I love what you have done this week. The tree really does pop out a bit more, like a ray of light has caught it after a storm.
That was the concept so yay 🙂
I like this version Stacey. It has a feeling of tension, maybe like a storm is just about to roll over.
Thanks Katie, that was the kind of feel I was after, the darker dramatic sky helps a lot there I think.
You did it! I am so impressed. This is such a gorgeous image. The water color and the stormy clouds, wow. Great edit, I love it.
Thanks Carrie
Nice work Stacy! I’d have run before getting into all that painting! But the effect is great! I love playing with the same image in layers – so many possibilities!
Yes I have had a play with this im PS for next weeks image and I quite like it
There is so much drama here, a powerful image. It almost reflects the struggle you had in post- processing, although I see no struggle at all.
Thanks Lore, its been an interesting image to edit, thats for sure 🙂
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Great edit! It’s wonderfully dramatic. 🙂
What a difference a change in the lighting colour makes 🙂
A great edit … it’s hard for me to decide between this weeks and last! Both are stunning! BTW I read about your accident and so happy everything came out well! 🙂
Well the car still needs to be fixed but it’s not costing me a small fortune in taxis in the mean time!
A total pain .. so sorry!
stunning colours and tonal contrasts with excellent composition …. like it!
Thanks, yes the combination of the BW and colour made a real difference