Problem in removing light leak in background layer of image.

[popcorn]

Hi,

I attach a jpg of an image I am trying to edit.

My intention was to cut out all the background.

I wanted to take photographs of owl feathers floating to earth.


I need a large DOF because the path of the feather was erratic and I needed detail focus over a wide area.
The subject was moving to I needed a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion.
Noise would be a problem so I needed a low ISO.

It had to be indoors because the slightest breeze deviated the feather,



To establish a constant dropping point I attached a button to a thread and hung it from the ceiling, so that it hund directly above the point that I hoped to freeze the feather.


I was using a Macro prime lens so I set up my camera far enough from the thread to try and get as much of the frame filled with the falling feather, while retaining reaction room.

I ended about 1,8m away. The background was the closed heavy draped curtains about 3m behind the thread.



I set up a flash at right angles to my field of view, about 1m from the thread. The flash was set to manual at full power.

I synced the flash to the camera shutter release using a radio trigger. 


I set up my camera at 1/250th, f=22 ISO 100. Fully Manual. I was trying to cut out all ambient light and use the duration of the flash as my exposure speed.

To pre-focus, I had my son hold the feather just below the button on the tread and took a photograph.



Trying to synchronise the shutter release with the moment the feather passed through the field of view took a little practice.

I was able to get a few acceptable images.



When it came to processing I found that I liked the the image of my son's hand holding the feather more than the others.

This the image attached.



I have processed the image in ACR leaving the WB as shot.

I then adjusted the Colour in Elements 2018 Editor, using the Auto adjusted levels method.

Unfortunately, in the clour corrected image there are bands of light visible which seem to correlate with the folds in the background curtains.
Some light from the flash must have bounced off the walls and ceiling.

I need to find some way of removing these.
 
I can't adjust the shadows without changing the Colour balance ( or can I ? )

I have tried, unsuccessfully, to select the subject detail so as to be able to adjust only the background to obtain a perfect Black.



Any help in removing the banding will be appreciated.


Has any research been done on which of the many methods of correcting the colour balance, without the use of a grey card, provides the most realistic interpretation.

I would like to use the method available in photoshop where, the black & white points are found, and marked on the image, using the Threshold layer. 

You then determine the 50% grey point by adding a blank layer filled with 50% grey and changing the "Blend Mode" to "Difference". 
This point is also automatically numbered by Photoshop.

In photoshop, each point in numbered and retained on the background layer, so they can all be located simultaneously.
These can be transferred to a Layers panel by using the correct colour picker for each point.

This appears to me to be the most reliable because you determine all three settings.

A similar method is available in Elements, using the guide grid to mark the spot.
Unfortunately this will only work to establish either Black, White or 50% grey, as only one set of guide lines are available.
There does not appear to be any method of retaining and numbering the points in Elements.

  

[caspa]

Nov 9, 2021 10:20:30 GMT popcorn said:

...

Any help in removing the banding will be appreciated.
...

Something like this maybe?

[popcorn]

Hi Casper,

Could you please enlighten me?

I am just a little worried, there appears to be a loss of detail in the shadows and of the detail on the back of the hand.
Unfortunately the Jpg file may not be sensitive enough to show small differences.

I achieved a similar result by just toning down the shadows, but there was a definite loss of detail and a colour shift towards
brown (red ? ) which is apparent in the feather itself and the skin tones in the hand.
There does not appear to be a link to your amended file so I can't see what you did to the image..

Even in my original file, The feather appears too solid. In real life it is translucent and almost ethereal.
I still have it on my desk in front of me.
I am also not sure where the little streak of light below the thumb comes from. There is nothing to reflect off in that position.
A little spot healing will soon solve that, but I am interest to know what caused it.

[hmca]

That was quite an elaborate and well thought-out set-up that you have described, popcorn.   It seems that the jpeg isn't showing what you had wanted addressed.  You could always use we transfer if you wanted to share the original RAW file.

[fotofrank]

Give this a try

Make a ruff selection around the hand and feather.
Feather the selection
Copy it to a new layer (Ctrl/CMD+j)
Add a new layer underneath this selected layer
Fill the new layer with black

[BuckSkin]

Nov 9, 2021 16:05:40 GMT fotofrank said:

Feather the selection

Feather by how many pixels ?

[popcorn]

Hi hmca and fotofrank,

I will send the Raw & xmp for the hand held and one of the floating feathers.
I would welcome your help and criticism.
Please give me an address to send the WeTransfer to.

Thanks fotofrank, your solution gives me the best result to date.

[hmca]

popcorn, I am sending you a PM.

[hmca]

My first thought on reading this was the same as Frank's. It seems an easy solution to your issue.

[Chris]

Well done with this image Popcorn! It's very creative. FotoFrank has given an effective solution. I cannot actually see the problem you are describing; maybe the raw file will shed some light. You can also correct this kind of problem with the healing brush or clone tool. You can also use the magic wand tool to select a specific colour (or black) in the image and adjust accordingly.

The bands you describe may well be due to stray light reflecting off the curtains as you suggest. I have also come across some strange artefacts on my Canon sensor with underexposure and high iso that look like a venetian blind effect. But I don't believe that is the problem here.

You will probably not see any transparency because the main source of light is flash from the front and there is no light from behind. The image looks fine as it is. But if you wish to experiment with transparency, I believe you would probably need a lighter background or some backlight. Or you could experiment painting in some transparency over the feather with PS Elements. Or try "Blend if" if you have the elements + add on.

Kind regards
Chris

[Sepiana]

Nov 9, 2021 19:16:39 GMT popcorn said:

Nov 9, 2021 16:05:40 GMT fotofrank said:

Give this a try
Make a ruff selection around the hand and feather.
Feather the selection
Copy it to a new layer (Ctrl/CMD+j)
Add a new layer underneath this selected layer
Fill the new layer with black

Thanks fotofrank, your solution gives me the best result to date.

popcorn, fotofrank's technique is just what the doctor ordered -- nice 'n easy and effective. It has been added to my go-to list of techniques.

[fotofrank]

I am glad that work.

tp answer the one question - I feathered the selection by 5 pixels so as not to get a hard selection edge.

popcorn - you may want to look into flagging your flash, instead of sending light everywhere.

[caspa]

Nov 9, 2021 13:05:37 GMT popcorn said:

Hi Casper,

Could you please enlighten me?

I am just a little worried, there appears to be a loss of detail in the shadows and of the detail on the back of the hand.
Unfortunately the Jpg file may not be sensitive enough to show small differences.

I achieved a similar result by just toning down the shadows, but there was a definite loss of detail and a colour shift towards
brown (red ? ) which is apparent in the feather itself and the skin tones in the hand.
There does not appear to be a link to your amended file so I can't see what you did to the image..

Even in my original file, The feather appears too solid. In real life it is translucent and almost ethereal.
I still have it on my desk in front of me.
I am also not sure where the little streak of light below the thumb comes from. There is nothing to reflect off in that position.
A little spot healing will soon solve that, but I am interest to know what caused it.

I can see the light streaks in the curtains in the jpeg when I look at it full size.  The original raw file would be better.

I basically just made the background solid black like fotofrank also suggested after my original post but I used just a single Levels Adjustment layer with a layer mask masking out the hand and feather.  Fotofrank's suggestion is the same as mine earlier but he used a different method.  You can fine tune the details on the edges of the hand by painting black or white on the edges in the layer mask.

I moved the black point slider to the right to blacken the background.

That little streak of light you mention appears to have skin texture.  Maybe a part of the hand?  Does it appear in the raw file as well?

Otherwise maybe it was accidentally introduced by some of your post processing?







Another simple way to blacken a background is to use a black filled layer with a layer mask for the foreground.  Either way you need just a single layer to blacken backgrounds.  You can then fine tune the layer mask to suit.

[popcorn]

Thanks all.
I will send the Raw files, it is very obvious there.
Thanks hmca, but I am not sure what an MP is, or where I will find it when you send it !!

In retrospect, I should have anticipated the problem and fixed it in camera by using flags on the side and top as suggested by fotofrank.

[BuckSkin]

Nov 10, 2021 4:42:27 GMT popcorn said:

Thanks all.
I will send the Raw files, it is very obvious there.
Thanks hmca, but I am not sure what an MP is, or where I will find it when you send it !!

In retrospect, I should have anticipated the problem and fixed it in camera by using flags on the side and top as suggested by fotofrank. and hang a taut black sheet behind the subject, such as black landscape plastic.

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