Toning In Layers

Sorry I am late with a post, but a busy week.

I have been toning my images the same way for a lot of years. Just opening up a JPG in Photoshop and doing my thing using Levels, Curves, and sharpening
using the Lightness channel in Lab Color.

This has always been speedy and efficient for newspaper work, as well as my personal stuff. Of late I have been playing with Layers. A lot more time consuming, makes for a bigger file, but I kinda like what I have been getting as an end product.

The first two images are new ones from an assignment last night. The first was done in Layers, the second was my old method. Supposedly using layers does not degrade the image as much as doing the work to the actual image. You are working with overlays.




The bottom image had a lot of Photoshop help and held up quite well. It is also a product of my new toy, a Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye. A really cool lens that behaves quite well for a fisheye. Not like my old Nikkor 16mm. More on that later.
Anyway, just google you a photoshop tutorial and give the layers thang a whirl. I am probably the way behind the curve in just discovering this.

Heck, I may have to start shooting RAW. Who knows.