PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL

Enhance the detail in your scenic shots using colour luminosity

Enhance detail in your scenic images by using a Black & White Adjustment Layer

“You can enhance the detail in your scenic images”

Photo editing is full of contradictions and surprises; the deeper you delve into Photoshop, the more advanced the techniques become and by combining Adjustment Layers with Blending modes you can create some incredible effects. So, in this shot of some coastal mudflats, we’re going to take a look at how you can enhance detail in your scenic images using a Black & White Adjustment Layer to control colour luminosity.

1 CREATE THE WORKING LAYER

Click on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon and select Black & White from the list of options. When the dialogue opens the image will turn black and white, but by changing the Blending mode from Normal to Luminosity, colour will return.

2 ENHANCE THE FOREGROUND

For this image, the Reds were reduced to -45 and Yellows to 20 to darken the mudflats and create greater contrast with the wet edges of the pool of water in the foreground. Blues were increased to 100 to lighten the sky reflection on the surface of the pool.

3 MASK OUT THE SKY

Make sure the Layer mask attached to the Black & White 1 Adjustment Layer is active by clicking on it. Press B to activate the Brush Tool, D to set the palette colours to black and white, and press X to toggle black into the foreground and paint black over the sky area.

4 MAKE A SELECTION

Hold Ctrl (PC)/Cmd (Mac) and left mouse click on the mask attached to the Black & White 1 Adjustment Layer. Create a second Black & White 1 Adjustment Layer and when it opens press Ctrl+I to invert the mask and change the Blending mode to Luminosity.

5 ENHANCE THE SKY

To enhance the sky in this image, the Yellows slider was increased to 40 to counter the darkening of this colour channel when the Blending mode of the Layer was changed to Luminosity. To darken the clouds to make them moodier, Blues were reduced to -15.