This is an older image shot in 2014 (left side is original) that I experimented on using TK color sketch, but rather than following instructions, I changed the blending to Overlay, then moved the Levels adjustment almost all the way to the right, lastly lowering the opacity to 18%.
I’m showing this because on bright white birds, this is a way to tone down the brightness while maintaining good detail. The edit is on a 72 dpi jpeg but am currently working on another Great Egret using the same technique and so far getting even better results.
In this comparison I used the new editing/masking tools in ACR against the TK options and while they are pretty close to one another, I found I had easier control over the BG. However, while the Great Egrets are very close in comparison, the ACR took more steps to go from ACR to PS. Maybe it is a toss-up and maybe because I still have a large learning curve in TK8 Combo, I am just scratching the surface.
Is this a composite: Yes
No clue as to info on the original but as to being a composite, only in the sense of putting two images side by side in the same frame.
Hi Chris! Thanks for posting this. After reading Tony’s newsletter I was considering doing something very similar on one of my images. You’ve encouraged me to go for it, as well as a different path than I was planning to follow.
Dave Kelly over at the The Joy of Editing (Youtube) has a great tutorial on using color sketch and B & W sketch in the new TK8 panel. Looks really cool. When I get the right photograph for this technique I am sure I will use it. Looks great on this egret photo.
In ACR, I just used the “Select Sky” option for the BG because it provided a far more detailed selection as opposed to the TK select sky option. Generally, I use the select and mask tool in PS but in this case since the selection was so good (though in both the TK panel and ACR selection, I had to add a mask at the end of the beak since it blended so well into the BG. Everything else with done using the TK Color Sketch exactly as I described.
I find this tool useful but it has some issues that are correctable as I did in this image.
I’m going to have to go back and have a gander at my layer history to see. I’ve done so much editing since this was done, can’t say right off the top of my head.
