@afre@gadolf - sorry, I overlooked the fact that in the video (by the way, I am the author of it) I was working on layer masks… indeed, in recent versions the grain extract and grain merge blend modes have been disabled for masks, as I saw very little use of it.
By the way, the complex procedure shown in the video is not needed anymore in current versions of photoflow, because the gradient tool has a built-in option for bending the gradient shape. For this, one simply inserts one or more control points in the horizontal or vertical line that is shown when the gradient tool is activated. Dragging the control points up or down (or left-right if the gradient is horizontal) creates a “curved” effect, like this:
Now I’m getting closer, but I still have too figure out how to mask those two buildings at both sides of the image, as well as to give it a smoother transition, especially for the trees on the slope, since a single gradient line doesn’t seem to handle it.
UPDATE: As for the left building, I could include it completely inside the mask by adding a second gradient, this time horizontal, and setting its blending mode as intersection:
@Carmelo_DrRaw Just a suggestion that I have hinted on before: maybe it is time to retire or at least add a notice to some of your old materials (videos, blog entries, etc.). E.g., you may have noticed that people keep on asking you about certain subjects like batching (myself included).
Not totally satisfied, I feel it kinda flat, and I would like to boost the exposure, but since I’m working with a tiff, couldn’t find it available.
Please, feel free to criticize.
I really felt more comfortable working with PhotoFlow rather than RT or DT. I felt it more intuitive - at least for someone who has always been tweaking with Photoshop, as a casual photography lover.
I really hope it thrives.
As for Gimp, it’s also easy to use (and obviously powerful), but I mostly do my (simple) stuff on raw.
For the first time I can think of life without PS
And this forum rocks!
Where does this TIF come from? An export from ACR? In any case, you should be able to adjust the exposure using the Exp. comp. slider in basic adjustments.
Also try using tone mapping
Nicely framed photo, if it is yours.
– Edges of the masks are distracting, especially where the trees and roofs touch the sky on the left. They are dark where the mask doesn’t reach.
– Edges of the image have black bars that need cropping. Might be because PF doesn’t automatically crop after a lens correction, etc.
– Halos along edges; e.g., where the left building touches the sky. Maybe a result of ghosting due to stacking or camera movement?
I’m really glad to hear you like the philosophy of the software, and that you find it intuitive…
If you want to post you r initial image and your .pfi file, I can play with it and see if I can come up with a better solution for blending the sky and the foreground.
Exposition/tone mapping: You’re probably referring to the latest appimg, right? Actually I worked with the standard ubuntu ppa version, where neither the exp slider nor tone mapping exist, and when I try to open the pfi file from the latest appimg it crashes. I’ll take some time to migrate it and see what I can do.
Yes, it’s mine and no, no ACR involved. It’s 100% FOSS workflow.
And I agree with the issues you raised. As for the last one (halos on the left building), it’s a lens distortion issue, I got that on all my pictures. You see, I’m using a rather old and simple PS powered by CHDK, hurt by time and (mis)use: the zoom no longer works and bad pixels are a plague. Anyway, I can still get some interesting results (specially when I stack many frames, where I get a boost in resolution and definition), and the possibility of getting raw files from there is a plus (thanks to CHDK devs). I don’t call it a camera, I like to think of it as my photon collecting device, a cheap one.
@gadolf How did you stack the frames, and obtain the TIFs? With CHDK or another app?
I don’t see the edge problems in the original TIF. I mean, they are minor. Must be your processing technique. Don’t worry about that though. You just need some practice. A good way to do that is via the PlayRaws.
@afre The images were handheld acquired, so I was expecting alignment issues.
I did the stitching in Hugin.
Thanks for the tip on the PlayRaws section.
Maybe I’ll post this one there.
@gadolf If you decide to share, please provide the actual raws, not the TIFs. Also refer to @patdavid’s excellent post on how to license your work. It would be a fun image to play and tinker with .
@Carmelo_DrRaw I see what you’ve done to smooth the transition, thanks!
Regarding the crash, please take note that I started working on this image with the latest appimage, then downgraded to the ppa version because it was crashing after some tweaking I don’t recall anymore, then I upgraded again because of @afre tip on the Exposure slider. Not sure if this go back and forth may have inserted some inconsistency in the data. I should have notified you on the first crash, but I was focused on getting some results
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