I "had" no interest in cityscapes but a fine photographer can make the ordinary into the extraordinary. What a fine demonstration video, simple and complex at the same time. Near the very end I found my hands wanting to come up and applaud. Thank you very much, my view points of the city have changed dramatically.
John Glavey - Thank you. Joel has actually seen the video and said that he enjoyed it (his comment is above somewhere), which blows my mind that it has reached him. I appreciate your kind words about my teaching methods.
Thanks Julio - I am going to create some fine art using my iPhone to see if I can deliver a good looking image using minimal equipment - just to see if that statement is true!
Most helpful--and unexpected--was the drawing as preparation, showing the simplest depiction of light and shadow. Reminds me of the drawing lessons on RUclips called, "The Barnstone Method." Yes, the great cinematographers, too, were artists in their earlier years. Love it. If I understood you properly, one must create one's vision or see it in your mind's eye first. Then execute. Love the focus not on specific application techniques but on vision and concepts. Loved this tutorial.
Wow. Never would have suspected there was so much involved (I'm a fine artist and very un-pro photographer). Very impressive. As someone who puts a lot of work into his art I'm heartened to know that true fine-art photography isn't just point and click and apply some filters. There's obviously a hell of a lot of work in it when it's elevated to a level.
Crap. I thought I was free for the rest of the day, but now I've got to go pawing through dozens of photos and applying all the fascinating ideas you've so graciously shared. Well done, mate.Cheers!
I love the point about leaving it be for while, and then coming back to it with fresh eyes. I used to do that with video. I'd be up all hours editing something fancy, then watch it in the morning like "It was better before and I wasted hours".
Thank you. It is evolving - new tutorials coming soon. Make sure you subscribe because I am always making content around this subject. Have a great weekend!
Cheers, absolutely. I don't think I will ever be 100% with software making my selections and dictating where the highlights and shadows go. Manual all the way! It takes a long time, but worth it!
Awesome job. Just had a look at your folio and am very impressed. As an architect I am sure you have forgotten more about photography than a lot of so called pro's ever knew. Awesome work, logical workflow and a great vision. WOW.
Thanks Pete. I am in a lucky position to be able to design buildings and photograph them. Other Architects have to brief the photographer about the journey, the concept and how they envisage light passing over the facade. I get to capture it all myself.
Welp, you did it. You finally pushed me to get out mid-day and try out long exposure black and white architecture. Thank you so much for your videos and the inspiration!
I came to watch this video thanks to an email you answered me earlier today. I really enjoyed it because you made of this a fun matter and it looks simple and plain now. Now it is time to put it to work and see what happens. I also bought Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodorou and I found it fastactic too. Its a great starting point and I will watch the tutorial. Regards José Monroy Mexico
Thank you Howie. There are many many tutorials on photoshop online. For general PS skills I tend to watch Phlearn. He has a lot of content and really high quality.
Hi Dheli - I do indeed. I made a video about it. Check out the video that I published late December 2020 about resources and also the below video on selections. Enjoy! ruclips.net/video/asFQkih4OTQ/видео.html
Hi Ben, Thanks very much for your tutorial that I have just found. I am drawn to contrasty B&W architectural images and have been trying to do this with Lumenzia but up until now I have not had the necessary filters to allow the long exposures which I think is essential. You can see on of my early attempts in the Spring 2019 edition of Practical Photography. I also need to go through the thought processes which your tutorial has highlighted rather than just adjusting sliders. So thanks very much, I think your tutorial will inspire the next generation of my work.
Hi Jim, it is interesting to try to define how these images look. I call them fine art, because that is what they are known as amongst photographers. Contrasty images typically miss the graduated blend between the highlights and the shadows that you get in this manually manipulated process. Once you get to grips with the editing process you realise that you are creating light and direction, interest, focal points etc. You can photograph in all manners of lighting and weather conditions.
Thank you so much for sharing.. so nice to see that is not that much a technical process but more about the vision of the photographer !! greetings from San Francisco.
Thank you Jose, it is very much that - which is why I don't mind sharing my techniques, as two images would never be the same; even if I supplied the raw file.
Good video. And I really liked the pics and the concept that you use, but really wish you had more details around how exactly you edited it to add the contrast. Needed more details for that please
Sandeep - thanks for your comment. The contrast comes from ‘painting in’ some of the highlights and shadows from the various layers. I have a good video coming up that will show another before and after fine art image. Make sure you sub to see the videos.
Enjoyed it. I bought the book from Joel a while back. One thing I noticed in the video is you didn’t mention SIlver Efex Pro plug-in when you switched. I happen to have it so I recognized layout, but if someone is not familiar with it they might have missed that important step. Thanks for a great video! You’re correct, it is much easier to follow in a 20 min video than to read through several hundred pages!
Hi Michael, yes I have responded to a few comments in the thread about how I got to the three images. I should have explained how I did this, although silver efex isn't key to producing these images, it certainly speeds things up! Amazing software considering that they made it free!
I'm going to try and do this on some shots I took of the Titanic Museum in Belfast this Spring... I haven't done anything with them because I just thought they were boring. But if I can "control" where the rye goes that might really make em pop. Ty!
That is exactly what I did. Raid your hard drives for photos of architecture that you have taken on your travels and you should have plenty of images to work on.
Stumbled across your channel after searching for Fine Art portraits. Found it very fascinating, be an admirer of Joel's and Julia's work for quite a while. I like the idea of the new software you mentioned later on in your channel. looks complicated so holding back for now. Going to watch more of your later tutorials.
Hello. Yes, I followed up this video with quite a few fine art tutorials and resources, and Joel appears in one of them! I think I have provided a well-rounded set of tutorials that cover the ideas, selections, software and the hardware I use to create the images. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi. There is a Facebook group created by Joel for users of the panel by the way. If you haven’t already seen it I made an intro video to using the panel. ruclips.net/video/M4q0dmykZoE/видео.html
Most interesting I found the "vision" that leads to the result. I think this is the essential part, because finding a way to get there can be figured out when the basic Photoshop tools are known. Same with landscape (luminosity masks are easier to create on the one hand, but having a "vision" looks a bit harder … or not …). Thanks for sharing!
What a superb video! I love that you gave the drawing lesson in the beginning to explain light/shading/contouring. I'm still working through Joel and Julia's book.
Alicia TangoTweety - their book is a really good starting place, and I believe that they now how video tutorials that you can purchase. I don’t know what their editing flow is, which would be interesting to see how it compares...
Hi very beautiful explaination and very beautiful tutorial,loved it you showing dimension and composition of an image.If you can tell which editing software you use it would be very useful as Im an novice in the field of photography.Cheers Buddha bless you and your sweet family always🙂❤❤❤
Hi. As per the video screen capture, I use lightroom to catalogue my images and make minor adjustments, then I use photoshop and silver efex for fine art editing.
@@benharveyphotography Hi thank you so very much it helps me a lot as a starter and a novice like myself your tutorial really helps me and guides me towards my passion for fine art photography.Cheers plz keep up the good work going and keep making such beautiful videos coz it helps a lot of people who are just starters like me.Buddha bless you and your sweet family🙂❤❤❤
Hi Ben, we have seen fine art editing in monochrome but am interested to see a video from your side where you give the fine art treatment in a color image! looking forward to that episode of yours...
Hi Rajiv, thank you for leaving a comment. I don’t believe I have made any fine art colour images. Joel Tjintilaar has a video tutorial series (to purchase) on how to edit colour fine art images, which I made a video on what resources are available. Link here. ruclips.net/video/a2ZAc5jfTiU/видео.html
Very nice video and examples, I love the work of Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou too, so inspiring. What building is the one you show the print @5:29 ?
Giovanni Farina Hello. That building is next to Norman Fosters office in Battersea (London), facing the river. You can walk all the way around the outside of the building, there is a promenade there.
Just happened to stumble upon your channel Ben and a very pleasant surprise👍 Looking forward to your previous videos and future ones as well. Now, it's on to the website. Cheers!!!
For starters: thanks for taking your time to elaborate the procedures involved, it‘s very much appreciated! Well, as winter with dark and short days is coming and so more time to work out things at home, I think I‘ll plow into this and give it a try. I believe, as you said, that thorough planing is in order as to avoid strange looking lights and shadows for instance.
Coming very late to the party on this. Fabulous, confident tutorial Ben. What I just don't get is why you created 3 B&W images, but then only chose the low key to work on. There's nothing out there explaining how one would make use of all three types. Can someone enlighten me please? Thanks!
Hi Mark, the three different exposures just gives you options. Sometimes I only use two, sometimes all three depending upon the image, how I want to shape the light on the building and what the tones were like in the original. You could therefore only use two, say shadows and highlights, but then you would be missing out on subtle mid tones of the original was quite contrast or generally and high key or a low key image. I hope this is clear? But note that this is my old workflow, I use the Artisan pro panel now (which I have tutorials on) and this uses only one layer with adjustments within the plugin.
@@benharveyphotography Thanks so much Ben for your quick reply. I did see your blog on Artisan Pro. Thought I'd try understanding the basic workflow before dipping my toe in further. Keep up the great work. Very inspirational.
I am new to this field of long exposure fine art photography. So I will ask here although there were many videos where I could have asked this question. What is the criteria for the length of time on the long exposure? I have used long exposure on water but here I assume its for the clouds. They move more slowly than water obviously so the exposure time must be fairly long. Is there a way to judge how long the exposure needs to be and therefore what ND filter to use?
Hi Phillip, its a good question and the answer is it depends. As you say the speed that motion is happening dictates how long you might want an exposure to be, and of course what you are trying to achieve. For example if you were outside a very touristy building and you want to remove people from the composition then you would want a long and exposure as possible, to remove people that stand still for a long time taking selfies etc! Then you have the speed at which the clouds are moving. I have shot a 5 min exposure before but the clouds were moving so slowly that it was not really registering. Then you have other factors such as changing light conditions, which might dictate whether you can in fact shoot at F11 at ISO 100, but if it is too bright then I would personally avoid stopping down to f22 and shooting a shorter exposure. And you also have noise to consider, and whether there is a lot of wind that might force you to shoot a shorter exposure. Since I generally shoot at sunrise and sunset, I can usually get a long exposure at F8, ISO 100 at around 2 minutes, using a ten stop filter. But ideally I aim for about 3-4 minutes. Not too long if the exposure is off, but long enough to wait! I hope this helps! Ben
Hi Ben, congratulations for your b and w work which I think is unique. Would you say that b and w conversion from Efex pro is the best way to get a subtle b and w ?
Hi Jerome, it depends on what you are editing. I wouldn't use it for subtle portraits of my children, but there are presets within silver efex that are subtle; and if you are using photoshop (or any software that has your silver efex pro on a layer) you can change the opacity or blending mode. I hope that answers your question...
I didn't know Tom cruise had some of the greatest Photographic tutorials i have seen! :D - please make more like this this is amazing, and makes it understandable to someone who wants to learn but havent picked up the keen eye for what looks great and what works just yet. Please Keep it up Mr. Harvey - I subscribe !
Thanks for the comment Oussama, and I am glad that the tutorials make sense. I try to approach it from a beginners perspective - as if I were learning a new skill/technique.
Cheers Paulo. Glad you enjoyed the video. I have made a few more fine art tutorials following this. Check out my tutorials playlist if you want to learn more about this genre. Thanks again. Ben
Hi Ben. Excellent video and has helped to clarify how it is done. Bit of a lightbulb moment. Perhaps you could clarify one thing though please. When you have added a layer mask you open up a selection and use the gradient tool which I understand for each selection. if I have a second selection for example that I want to use for the same version ie lights over shadows how do I save the first so I can go back to it later and how do I set up the second? At the moment I just end up with multiple selections on the same layer mask. Probably just my inexperience with photoshop but hoping you can help. Many Thanks and keep up the good work
Hi Matthew, a very good question. I am sure that there is a way, but it isn't the way that I edit my images. I have my layers and I pick and choose what I want from those layers using one layer mask. I suspect you would have to create groups where there is a heirarchy in PS or a similar tool. I do sometimes have selections (where I want pure white for example) just sitting on top of the layer mask, but that is the only reason why I need additional creative control. I hope this helps...
@@matthewmallett4718 it varies from image to image, but I like to keep my editing workflow as simple as possible - I prefer being out with my camera. I therefore like to keep the layers down to a minimum and if I need to influence the shadows or highlights that are on multiple layers and using the one layer mask is not working, I might save as and flatten the image - if I am confident that the edit is 'nearly ready'.
@@benharveyphotography I'm sure it's addictive and I believe I will fail at beginning. Did you try this technique on different subjects than architecture?
i found it complicated but that is mostly my lack of photoshop knowledge. But it is pretty awesome that you share your skills that you gained over years.
Very cool. I'm not much for architecture photography myself, but I love the way you presented the concepts and your initial sketch on paper is sheer brilliance. Very fitting that you use art based concepts to demonstrate fine art photography. I don't believe I've seen that on RUclips before. Well done. Oh, and... gotta say you remind my of a younger English version of Tom Cruise, LOL! Cheers.
Thanks Kevin T, I am an Architect, so it would be rude not to throw a sketch in there! But it should have been a better sketch! PS the aviators in most of my videos are not accidental :-)
Thank you ! Do you mind telling us how you got a neutral, over-under-exposed picture in Efex pro? Opening 3 times or is there a trick yo open 3 presets at once? Could you please explain slowly the magic of your masking tool? Thank you!
Hello. At the time of making this video I was creating these images using a very ‘manual’ process, utilising Silver efex pro. You can batch process images in Silver efex Pro, but you would have to create three versions of the original in order to create three in one hit. Although you can still follow this workflow in my video, I prefer to use Joel’s Artisan Pro panel to create my edits now, which I have made a tutorial on (but it has massively evolved still) but the principles remain the same. The masking is also a manual process for me, now using the pen tool to make selections. Check out this video and others in my tutorials playlist. ruclips.net/video/asFQkih4OTQ/видео.htmlsi=lJ7mTuD-G9Lcuve7
Hello. Thanks for making this video. Very good work. It's not apparently clear how you got the different exposures into photoshop. At first you have one image that you've created selections off of and then there are suddenly 4 more images with different exposures. Could you explain this please?
Hi, I open the raw file in photoshop and then I use silver efex to create three varients of the same image. One 'normal' exposure, one 'under' and one 'over' and then I take the best bits from each layer to create the final image. If you dont have silver efex you could just edit them accordingly in photoshop.
Thank you for this, it’s really inspiring. I feel like going back through my old architecture photos and seeing if they can be brought to life through this.
I'm an architect and a photographer and never thought of it this way. This is eye-opening and the end result is marvelous! I'm also into streetscapes, nature and still life. Would you say this technique could work on these genres? I'm guessing the lighting would be more difficult than having one light source on one building...
Ninad Sethi I am sure it could work on many genres - especially if you have a soft light in the first place. It opens up going out shooting on overcast days a lot more! It depends how much you like being sat in front of your computer making selections!
Thank you uwattie. Fine art will have many descriptions and explanations across various genres of photography and other medium - but when it comes to architectural photography, this is how I interpret "Fine Art".
I have the Sony A7RV, which are best G Master lens suited to architecture photography? I only have the 16-35mm GM and 24-70mm GM and 24mm GM prime, anything else you recommend? What do you think of the 12-24 GM?
Hi Guru, you have an awesome set of lenses, I don’t think you need anything else to shoot architecture in this genre. Sony of course don’t make a tilt shift lens, which is ideal for commercial architectural photography, but you can adapt a Canon version onto a Sony like I do. It’s not necessary for exterior shots where you have space to step back from the buildings though.
@@benharveyphotography Hello, thanks for replying do you mean use canon glass on Sony body? How do you do that and do you use manual focus in this case? Which canon glass are referring to in particular? Thank you
Hi. There is a Sigma MC-11 adaptor that allows you to adapt Canon EF to Sony E-mount. The tilt shift lenses are all manual focus anyway, so it makes no difference. I am not saying go out and buy the lens, but the Canon 24mm TS lens is a work horse lens for architectural photographers, producing a sharp image and flexibility to keep everything vertical in camera.
Such insightful tips on architectural photography arent that easy to come by, thanks! Glad I discovered your channel and hopefully you'll be putting out more on the subject, I really do like your approach a lot!
Just found now channel and loved your portfolio - new subscriber :) Love to see your shooting process with discussion of your vision against what and why your shooting.
GREAT tutorial, demystifying a bit this kind of processing. If you listen to the Annas and Joels you'd think you need to take 2 PHDs to be able to do this. Also, there arent many tutorials in YT on this topic. Great work and great images.
Thanks Aramis7, I haven't actually watched their video tutorials. When I was evolving my own techniques, the videos were not available. Do they have a similar workflow to me? Julia & Joel's approaches were always different, but an interesting collaboration nonetheless.
Hi Ben - really enjoyed your videos and the channel that I had just discovered a couple of days ago. Your b&w fine art images are exactly what I love and your balance of strong highlights and deep shadows is very cool! I love that you are not afraid of pure or super deep blacks. The only suggestion on the videos I could make is to slow down when showing the final photograph image. Maybe pan slower and definitely have enough time showing the e tire image full screen. I do find that you might d of skip through the final results a bit - I am sure your viewers would love to look at your images in more details. Just my two cents. :). Looking forward to your next video!
Dmitry Kirshner - thank you for the comments and feedback. My best images are on my website www.benharveyphotography.co.uk you can stare at them for free, as long as you like :-) the images also feature in my Glasgow video, although briefly again.
Augusto Coelho it is difficult to find, no doubt because it takes everyone years to develop an editing workflow and they don’t want to give away all of their secrets...but the truth is, we won’t end up with the same image even if you do know my workflow, because when you start to edit the selections you will always get a unique result. I would if I were to edit the same image twice. Thanks for subscribing!
May also be because most out there have difficulty making such selections on their cell phones and the rest think post-processing is what one does leaving the military.
Very interesting! I enjoyed learning your concept of starting with a flat image and adding the highlights and shadows as needed. Excellent technique and I can't wait to try it :D Thanks!
Hofmann Images thanks. I hope that I can inspire people to have ago at it. It seems like a genre of photographer that is out of reach, but you have to practice and you will get there. My images started off bad. Bad enough not to show. Send me your progress!
Hi John - I have a reply from Greg Benz (the creator of Lumenzia) when I asked him whether Lumenzia is the right tool for creating selections. The answer is yes, but it is complicated. I need to get my head around it first before I can share my thoughts on it. I have a fine art selection video in the making.
@@benharveyphotography Thanks for your reply. Have you been able to use Joel Tjintjeaar Artisan Pro panels to work on your Black and White images? It looks like a good approach to making numerous small selections within the image.
John Doddato I am working on it, I have been having issues with my Adobe. Once I have got to grips with Joel’s plugin I will share my thoughts on it. I see that he has just released some new tutorial content for the Plugin also. I have one fine art tutorial in the making then The plugin will be next.
Ben, this has been the third time I'm watching this one. I'm wondering if you can create those dark, mid and high tones images as a base without the Silver Efex Pro, so just in Ps.
Hi Maurice, creating the multiple exposures could be as simple as using the curves or levels in photoshop. Silver Efex simply speeds up the workflow and you get consistent results by using their presets. Essentially you are just looking to ensure a good total range with the three images. I am however using a different workflow since making this video - using Joel’s artisan pro panel. Which I have made tutorials on also.
Lots of great points in this video! I especially liked your explanation of "sharpness" through contrast, for it cuts directly against the grain of of what you typically hear (must buy expensive cameras and lenses). For high contrast B/W architectural work like yours, and old digital camera and lens can obviously output great results. Also, luminosity masks can definitely speed up your selection creation process (I use TKActions and love it), but considering your architectural subject matter, I would guess you'd still have to incorporate some custom selections as you're currently doing to get the pixel-precision you're looking for. But incorporating luminosity masks into your workflow should definitely speed up your process. Subscribed for more!
Hi Ben only recently started watching your channel and a big thank you some great and refreshingly different content 🙏 just watched this one 🙌🏼 but I wonder now three years on do you use any plug ins as they have evolved dramatically over recent times and it’s hard to keep up with what’s on offer. Keep the videos coming love them 😃
Hi Jan, yes indeed. I have made quite a few fine art follow up tutorials to this - and the answer regarding software is the Artisan Pro Panel by Joel Tjinjelaar. I have made a quick tutorial on how to use this, but it has been updated a few times since I made that video. All the videos are on my channel under tutorials. Enjoy!
Great video Ben. I am an experienced photographer and ‘medium level’ photoshop user and your video explained more than the series of videos I bought from the authors you mentioned. Their description of what would be provided in their videos did not match the content and I was so disappointed as it did not explain the post processing properly- just some basic camera info re ND filters, long exposure & such, which I already knew about- and which was quite poorly explained actually.. had I not already known the info they were teaching. I did email them and to be fair they did offer a refund but I’m not sure why I did t take it. I just thought I’d misunderstood what I was getting & by that stage I was worried that their poor explanation of the content in the video series I did buy would be carried over to any subsequent video of the content I actually had wanted... if that makes sense! . It was info on the post processing I had wanted and your 16 minutes has explained the basics far better anyway. Look forward to more detailed p’shop technique info.
Thanks Ron, I am glad it all made sense. It is probably good that I know just a few photoshop tools, that way my workflow stays relatively simple. Their e-book is very good, but I recon that I could make it shorter than the 400 pages that they managed to stretch it out to! Thanks for the comment.
Mate as I said before, GREAT vid. Been studying it and practicing over the last couple of weeks. Question for you. When creating you vision, do you think it works best to imagine the light from a single source (e.i. as it it would be sunlit) or does it work better to have a more surreal lighting scenario, such as two different light sources? Cheers
Aramis7 - I tend to create one light source and as you say in this particular edit I make elements pure white that I want to stand out (but that is a recent editing choice of mine). I would always have the light source coming from above, and it could work perhaps if you multiple directions of light, but that isn’t something I have experimented with yet. By surreal, do you mean a softer glow, with a foggy vibe to it? The idea that my skies are dark black even though that is where the light is coming from is already a bit surreal. I say experiment, find your own style and refine it.
Great work Ben. I also got Lumenzia but for the life of me, I cannot find any good tutorials , I have not been able to figure it out. Send me info on the ones that you find for it . Thanks!!!
Lumenzia is intense isn't it! Greg Benz includes the tutorials within the cost of the license but I think they total up to a few days' of tutorials - there is just so much to learn. If you have specific questions he does respond directly. But to answer your question, other than Greg's, no recommendations on tutorials for it.
Wow! This blows me away! I cannot thank you enough for the inspiration this video has given me to go out and shoot some architecture. I do recommend using the pen tool..you may find it to be a great time saver.
I "had" no interest in cityscapes but a fine photographer can make the ordinary into the extraordinary. What a fine demonstration video, simple and complex at the same time.
Near the very end I found my hands wanting to come up and applaud.
Thank you very much, my view points of the city have changed dramatically.
MrLemonbaby - thank you very much. I am working on some more fine art tutorials. Stay tuned.
As a teacher and also course attendant of the aforementioned author may i congratulate you on an excellent presentation. Well done.
John Glavey - Thank you. Joel has actually seen the video and said that he enjoyed it (his comment is above somewhere), which blows my mind that it has reached him. I appreciate your kind words about my teaching methods.
Tks so much Ben. You are really very kind to have shared with us your knowledge.
You are welcome! More videos coming soon!
You are so right about letting a photo simmer. When you look at it the next day, you wonder what you were thinking on the edit.
Exactly - especially if you had some rum to help you get through the selections :-)
Learnt so much thanks. The individual sections & working each separately will be very useful for me. Thanks.
It's not difficult but using the gradient instead of the brush inside the mask never crossed my mind. So thank you for this great addition.
Totally absorbing and just magical and I think it's simply fab.
Billy Doherty thank you - glad you enjoyed it.
You are truly a PS master! Unbelievable work Ben!
Thank you Scott. Much appreciated.
Thank you Scott. Much appreciated.
Your work is simply outstanding!
Is the vision what makes a photographer an artist, you are well proven artist. Well done!👍
Thanks Julio - I am going to create some fine art using my iPhone to see if I can deliver a good looking image using minimal equipment - just to see if that statement is true!
Ben Harvey Photography
I’m sure you will!😉
Most helpful--and unexpected--was the drawing as preparation, showing the simplest depiction of light and shadow. Reminds me of the drawing lessons on RUclips called, "The Barnstone Method." Yes, the great cinematographers, too, were artists in their earlier years. Love it. If I understood you properly, one must create one's vision or see it in your mind's eye first. Then execute. Love the focus not on specific application techniques but on vision and concepts. Loved this tutorial.
By Jove I think he's got it. Brilliant artist Brilliant teacher. New fan. Thank you sir.
Dude, I spent 40 years in black and white film , and I liked you Black & White
Thank you Shawn. I only have about 15 years of shooting - but I think I have most of my bad shots out of the way!
Wow. Never would have suspected there was so much involved (I'm a fine artist and very un-pro photographer). Very impressive. As someone who puts a lot of work into his art I'm heartened to know that true fine-art photography isn't just point and click and apply some filters. There's obviously a hell of a lot of work in it when it's elevated to a level.
It doesn't have to be the amount of work has goes into it. It's about knowing and visualizing what end product is.
Crap. I thought I was free for the rest of the day, but now I've got to go pawing through dozens of photos and applying all the fascinating ideas you've so graciously shared. Well done, mate.Cheers!
Dave Boyers - you will lose more than a day if you get sucked into this genre of photography :-)
I love the point about leaving it be for while, and then coming back to it with fresh eyes. I used to do that with video. I'd be up all hours editing something fancy, then watch it in the morning like "It was better before and I wasted hours".
Very helpful tutorial, substantive crisp and easy to understand --
thank you
Very simply D&B but great effect. Incredible workflow. Good job
Thank you. It is evolving - new tutorials coming soon. Make sure you subscribe because I am always making content around this subject. Have a great weekend!
Indeed a very different perspective of using lights and shadows! This is Manual mode in photography! :)
Cheers, absolutely. I don't think I will ever be 100% with software making my selections and dictating where the highlights and shadows go. Manual all the way! It takes a long time, but worth it!
Awesome job. Just had a look at your folio and am very impressed. As an architect I am sure you have forgotten more about photography than a lot of so called pro's ever knew. Awesome work, logical workflow and a great vision. WOW.
Thanks Pete. I am in a lucky position to be able to design buildings and photograph them. Other Architects have to brief the photographer about the journey, the concept and how they envisage light passing over the facade. I get to capture it all myself.
Welp, you did it. You finally pushed me to get out mid-day and try out long exposure black and white architecture. Thank you so much for your videos and the inspiration!
Glad to hear it. I have a new video on this topic coming out in the next week. It might interest you!
@@benharveyphotography I will certainly be on the lookout!
I came to watch this video thanks to an email you answered me earlier today. I really enjoyed it because you made of this a fun matter and it looks simple and plain now. Now it is time to put it to work and see what happens.
I also bought Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodorou and I found it fastactic too. Its a great starting point and I will watch the tutorial.
Regards
José Monroy
Mexico
José Monroy - I am glad that you enjoyed the video. And thank you for getting in touch!
José Monroy how are you getting on with the editing. Send me some images via email. I am happy to take a look when I get a moment.
Magnificent photo. Two Thumbs up.
Thank you :-)
Hello Ben, you are a very talented guy! I just love this style of photography. Thank you, for sharing...
Thank you Allan.
Just picked up Lumenzia. It is a game changer! Good tutorial!
It’s complex though don’t you think. Greg does a great job of teaching it - but it does so much that it’s overwhelming!
Fantastic video and some great advice and info. Thanks so much.
Thanks for leaving a comment David. Glad you liked it.
Shew looks difficult. But beautiful. Definitely need to learn more about photoshop. Thanks great video
Thank you Howie. There are many many tutorials on photoshop online. For general PS skills I tend to watch Phlearn. He has a lot of content and really high quality.
@@benharveyphotography thanks Ben enjoying your channel truly talented and a great teacher
Hi Ben.... im a fan of your work. Any idea of creating precise selection.?
Hi Dheli - I do indeed. I made a video about it. Check out the video that I published late December 2020 about resources and also the below video on selections. Enjoy!
ruclips.net/video/asFQkih4OTQ/видео.html
@@benharveyphotography hi Ben... much appreciated 👍🏿 cheers from Indonesia
Hi Ben,
Thanks very much for your tutorial that I have just found.
I am drawn to contrasty B&W architectural images and have been trying to do this with Lumenzia but up until now I have not had the necessary filters to allow the long exposures which I think is essential. You can see on of my early attempts in the Spring 2019 edition of Practical Photography.
I also need to go through the thought processes which your tutorial has highlighted rather than just adjusting sliders.
So thanks very much, I think your tutorial will inspire the next generation of my work.
Hi Jim, it is interesting to try to define how these images look. I call them fine art, because that is what they are known as amongst photographers. Contrasty images typically miss the graduated blend between the highlights and the shadows that you get in this manually manipulated process. Once you get to grips with the editing process you realise that you are creating light and direction, interest, focal points etc. You can photograph in all manners of lighting and weather conditions.
Great job. Thanks. Would love to learn more about how you use lighting to drive composition.
Thank you so much for sharing.. so nice to see that is not that much a technical process but more about the vision of the photographer !! greetings from San Francisco.
Thank you Jose, it is very much that - which is why I don't mind sharing my techniques, as two images would never be the same; even if I supplied the raw file.
Brilliant Ben. Thank you for sharing. Not too complex at all.
Great technique for a superb result. Thanks for sharing Ik e learned some new tricks and most of all the idea to start from a sketch book.
Thank you Luca, the sketches are just to illustrate the idea and thought process. I just use lightroom/photoshop and a few plugins for my workflow.
Very much appreciated....hope you continue with more on this topic.
Good video. And I really liked the pics and the concept that you use, but really wish you had more details around how exactly you edited it to add the contrast. Needed more details for that please
Sandeep - thanks for your comment. The contrast comes from ‘painting in’ some of the highlights and shadows from the various layers. I have a good video coming up that will show another before and after fine art image. Make sure you sub to see the videos.
Fantastic video. Absolutly fantastic.
Thank you.
Thank you Ben, I like your approach on this.
Enjoyed it. I bought the book from Joel a while back. One thing I noticed in the video is you didn’t mention SIlver Efex Pro plug-in when you switched. I happen to have it so I recognized layout, but if someone is not familiar with it they might have missed that important step. Thanks for a great video! You’re correct, it is much easier to follow in a 20 min video than to read through several hundred pages!
Hi Michael, yes I have responded to a few comments in the thread about how I got to the three images. I should have explained how I did this, although silver efex isn't key to producing these images, it certainly speeds things up! Amazing software considering that they made it free!
THANKS ! Exactly what i need venturing into Black and White Photography ! 👍 👌
Hi Jon, I have made multiple follow up videos to this to talk about the editing process, selections etc, Checkout the tutorial playlist.
Great video, but my favorite part, besides the ‘62 Cadillac Sedan De Villa, was that music, that phenomenal music! Thank you!
Thank you very much! That Cadillac is still there everytime I pass through London Bridge.
I'm going to try and do this on some shots I took of the Titanic Museum in Belfast this Spring... I haven't done anything with them because I just thought they were boring. But if I can "control" where the rye goes that might really make em pop. Ty!
That is exactly what I did. Raid your hard drives for photos of architecture that you have taken on your travels and you should have plenty of images to work on.
Stumbled across your channel after searching for Fine Art portraits. Found it very fascinating, be an admirer of Joel's and Julia's work for quite a while. I like the idea of the new software you mentioned later on in your channel. looks complicated so holding back for now. Going to watch more of your later tutorials.
Hello. Yes, I followed up this video with quite a few fine art tutorials and resources, and Joel appears in one of them! I think I have provided a well-rounded set of tutorials that cover the ideas, selections, software and the hardware I use to create the images. Let me know if you have any questions.
@@benharveyphotography Ok thank you, I will. I just noticed the software is on a Black Friday deal so going to buy it later, Such good value.
I got the software so any more tutorials for beginners for the Artisan Pro X and Masking programs I would be very appreciative.
Hi. There is a Facebook group created by Joel for users of the panel by the way. If you haven’t already seen it I made an intro video to using the panel.
ruclips.net/video/M4q0dmykZoE/видео.html
@@benharveyphotography Seen the video, getting there slowly lol. The FB group would be good to join, thanks for the info.
Most interesting I found the "vision" that leads to the result. I think this is the essential part, because finding a way to get there can be figured out when the basic Photoshop tools are known. Same with landscape (luminosity masks are easier to create on the one hand, but having a "vision" looks a bit harder … or not …). Thanks for sharing!
It's called envisionography created by Julia Anna Gospodarou
What a superb video! I love that you gave the drawing lesson in the beginning to explain light/shading/contouring. I'm still working through Joel and Julia's book.
Alicia TangoTweety - their book is a really good starting place, and I believe that they now how video tutorials that you can purchase. I don’t know what their editing flow is, which would be interesting to see how it compares...
Thank you so much Ben, an eye opener !
You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed!
Hi very beautiful explaination and very beautiful tutorial,loved it you showing dimension and composition of an image.If you can tell which editing software you use it would be very useful as Im an novice in the field of photography.Cheers Buddha bless you and your sweet family always🙂❤❤❤
Hi. As per the video screen capture, I use lightroom to catalogue my images and make minor adjustments, then I use photoshop and silver efex for fine art editing.
@@benharveyphotography Hi thank you so very much it helps me a lot as a starter and a novice like myself your tutorial really helps me and guides me towards my passion for fine art photography.Cheers plz keep up the good work going and keep making such beautiful videos coz it helps a lot of people who are just starters like me.Buddha bless you and your sweet family🙂❤❤❤
I'm totally inspired to do my own now. Thanks for the effort.
Thanks John. I look forward to seeing the work you produce.
Hi Ben, we have seen fine art editing in monochrome but am interested to see a video from your side where you give the fine art treatment in a color image! looking forward to that episode of yours...
Hi Rajiv, thank you for leaving a comment. I don’t believe I have made any fine art colour images. Joel Tjintilaar has a video tutorial series (to purchase) on how to edit colour fine art images, which I made a video on what resources are available. Link here. ruclips.net/video/a2ZAc5jfTiU/видео.html
Very nice video and examples, I love the work of Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou too, so inspiring. What building is the one you show the print @5:29 ?
Giovanni Farina Hello. That building is next to Norman Fosters office in Battersea (London), facing the river. You can walk all the way around the outside of the building, there is a promenade there.
Great video Ben. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. Absolutely brilliant photos.
Thank you Geoff. You are welcome. A new video on fine art will be published in the next week. Make sure you are subscribed so you dint miss it!
Just happened to stumble upon your channel Ben and a very pleasant surprise👍 Looking forward to your previous videos and future ones as well. Now, it's on to the website. Cheers!!!
Amazing, thank you Ben for sharing your work with us. I really appreciate it.
You got some great looking work.
Well done
Thank you!
Brilliant. Love it and thanks !!
For starters: thanks for taking your time to elaborate the procedures involved, it‘s very much appreciated! Well, as winter with dark and short days is coming and so more time to work out things at home, I think I‘ll plow into this and give it a try. I believe, as you said, that thorough planing is in order as to avoid strange looking lights and shadows for instance.
Coming very late to the party on this. Fabulous, confident tutorial Ben. What I just don't get is why you created 3 B&W images, but then only chose the low key to work on. There's nothing out there explaining how one would make use of all three types. Can someone enlighten me please? Thanks!
Hi Mark, the three different exposures just gives you options. Sometimes I only use two, sometimes all three depending upon the image, how I want to shape the light on the building and what the tones were like in the original. You could therefore only use two, say shadows and highlights, but then you would be missing out on subtle mid tones of the original was quite contrast or generally and high key or a low key image. I hope this is clear?
But note that this is my old workflow, I use the Artisan pro panel now (which I have tutorials on) and this uses only one layer with adjustments within the plugin.
@@benharveyphotography Thanks so much Ben for your quick reply. I did see your blog on Artisan Pro. Thought I'd try understanding the basic workflow before dipping my toe in further.
Keep up the great work. Very inspirational.
Steven Wilson doing photography tutorials now!? This is great!
really great technique in post production! thank you Ben
Cheers Carlo!
Excellent stuff,very new to photography and post production,some great tips,and love your work 😎
I am new to this field of long exposure fine art photography. So I will ask here although there were many videos where I could have asked this question. What is the criteria for the length of time on the long exposure? I have used long exposure on water but here I assume its for the clouds. They move more slowly than water obviously so the exposure time must be fairly long. Is there a way to judge how long the exposure needs to be and therefore what ND filter to use?
Hi Phillip, its a good question and the answer is it depends. As you say the speed that motion is happening dictates how long you might want an exposure to be, and of course what you are trying to achieve. For example if you were outside a very touristy building and you want to remove people from the composition then you would want a long and exposure as possible, to remove people that stand still for a long time taking selfies etc! Then you have the speed at which the clouds are moving. I have shot a 5 min exposure before but the clouds were moving so slowly that it was not really registering.
Then you have other factors such as changing light conditions, which might dictate whether you can in fact shoot at F11 at ISO 100, but if it is too bright then I would personally avoid stopping down to f22 and shooting a shorter exposure. And you also have noise to consider, and whether there is a lot of wind that might force you to shoot a shorter exposure. Since I generally shoot at sunrise and sunset, I can usually get a long exposure at F8, ISO 100 at around 2 minutes, using a ten stop filter. But ideally I aim for about 3-4 minutes. Not too long if the exposure is off, but long enough to wait! I hope this helps!
Ben
Hi Ben, congratulations for your b and w work which I think is unique. Would you say that b and w conversion from Efex pro is the best way to get a subtle b and w ?
Hi Jerome, it depends on what you are editing. I wouldn't use it for subtle portraits of my children, but there are presets within silver efex that are subtle; and if you are using photoshop (or any software that has your silver efex pro on a layer) you can change the opacity or blending mode. I hope that answers your question...
@@benharveyphotography Nice. That tutorial was so helpful and inspiring. Just subscribed
I didn't know Tom cruise had some of the greatest Photographic tutorials i have seen! :D - please make more like this this is amazing, and makes it understandable to someone who wants to learn but havent picked up the keen eye for what looks great and what works just yet.
Please Keep it up Mr. Harvey - I subscribe !
Thanks for the comment Oussama, and I am glad that the tutorials make sense. I try to approach it from a beginners perspective - as if I were learning a new skill/technique.
@@benharveyphotography And you are nailing that perspective thank you!
Amazing work, thank you so much for your time and sharing your absolute awesome work ! Congrats
Cheers Paulo. Glad you enjoyed the video. I have made a few more fine art tutorials following this. Check out my tutorials playlist if you want to learn more about this genre. Thanks again. Ben
Hi Ben. Excellent video and has helped to clarify how it is done. Bit of a lightbulb moment. Perhaps you could clarify one thing though please. When you have added a layer mask you open up a selection and use the gradient tool which I understand for each selection. if I have a second selection for example that I want to use for the same version ie lights over shadows how do I save the first so I can go back to it later and how do I set up the second? At the moment I just end up with multiple selections on the same layer mask. Probably just my inexperience with photoshop but hoping you can help. Many Thanks and keep up the good work
Hi Matthew, a very good question. I am sure that there is a way, but it isn't the way that I edit my images. I have my layers and I pick and choose what I want from those layers using one layer mask. I suspect you would have to create groups where there is a heirarchy in PS or a similar tool. I do sometimes have selections (where I want pure white for example) just sitting on top of the layer mask, but that is the only reason why I need additional creative control. I hope this helps...
Thanks for the reply Ben appreciate it. So effectively you keep adding layers and a mask for each individual layer?@@benharveyphotography
@@matthewmallett4718 it varies from image to image, but I like to keep my editing workflow as simple as possible - I prefer being out with my camera. I therefore like to keep the layers down to a minimum and if I need to influence the shadows or highlights that are on multiple layers and using the one layer mask is not working, I might save as and flatten the image - if I am confident that the edit is 'nearly ready'.
Thank You for sharing this great and professional looking technique. Really amazing way to make these kind of images.
Cheers Justas, it is quite addictive, so be careful!
@@benharveyphotography I'm sure it's addictive and I believe I will fail at beginning. Did you try this technique on different subjects than architecture?
Justas49 not yet - but I have a few ideas up my sleeve!
facebook.com/jstfoto49/photos/a.1232882846724350/2448578215154801/?type=3&theater .This is my attempt.
i found it complicated but that is mostly my lack of photoshop knowledge. But it is pretty awesome that you share your skills that you gained over years.
Do a little research on layer masks, once you know that you should be able to follow my process - I like to keep it as simple as possible.
Tripple thumbs up!
Thank you!
Very cool. I'm not much for architecture photography myself, but I love the way you presented the concepts and your initial sketch on paper is sheer brilliance. Very fitting that you use art based concepts to demonstrate fine art photography. I don't believe I've seen that on RUclips before. Well done. Oh, and... gotta say you remind my of a younger English version of Tom Cruise, LOL! Cheers.
Thanks Kevin T, I am an Architect, so it would be rude not to throw a sketch in there! But it should have been a better sketch! PS the aviators in most of my videos are not accidental :-)
Thank you !
Do you mind telling us how you got a neutral, over-under-exposed picture in Efex pro? Opening 3 times or is there a trick yo open 3 presets at once?
Could you please explain slowly the magic of your masking tool? Thank you!
Hello. At the time of making this video I was creating these images using a very ‘manual’ process, utilising Silver efex pro. You can batch process images in Silver efex Pro, but you would have to create three versions of the original in order to create three in one hit. Although you can still follow this workflow in my video, I prefer to use Joel’s Artisan Pro panel to create my edits now, which I have made a tutorial on (but it has massively evolved still) but the principles remain the same. The masking is also a manual process for me, now using the pen tool to make selections. Check out this video and others in my tutorials playlist. ruclips.net/video/asFQkih4OTQ/видео.htmlsi=lJ7mTuD-G9Lcuve7
merci beaucoup from Belgium !@@benharveyphotography
Love it so much. You have revealed a secret but I need to visit the UK for such architectural scenes 😉
You are brilliant and changed my way of thinking.
Hello. Thanks for making this video. Very good work. It's not apparently clear how you got the different exposures into photoshop. At first you have one image that you've created selections off of and then there are suddenly 4 more images with different exposures. Could you explain this please?
Hi, I open the raw file in photoshop and then I use silver efex to create three varients of the same image. One 'normal' exposure, one 'under' and one 'over' and then I take the best bits from each layer to create the final image. If you dont have silver efex you could just edit them accordingly in photoshop.
Brilliant tutorial, thank you I really enjoyed it ... love your work!!
Xenia Ivanoff-Erb thank you. You are welcome.
Should work just well. I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this, it’s really inspiring. I feel like going back through my old architecture photos and seeing if they can be brought to life through this.
I'm an architect and a photographer and never thought of it this way. This is eye-opening and the end result is marvelous!
I'm also into streetscapes, nature and still life. Would you say this technique could work on these genres?
I'm guessing the lighting would be more difficult than having one light source on one building...
Ninad Sethi I am sure it could work on many genres - especially if you have a soft light in the first place. It opens up going out shooting on overcast days a lot more! It depends how much you like being sat in front of your computer making selections!
Excellent video. Fine Art demystified, thanks for an extremely interesting explanation.
Thank you uwattie. Fine art will have many descriptions and explanations across various genres of photography and other medium - but when it comes to architectural photography, this is how I interpret "Fine Art".
Very informative, excellent work thank you.
Great information and technique! Thanks for sharing
You are welcome Donte!
I’m glad there is someone else out there who uses the polygon select and not the pen tool. (Maybe you do though elsewhere)
Polygon tool is ok but if you make a mistake.....
Wow, that really shed a new light on things for me. Thanks for sharing :)
I have the Sony A7RV, which are best G Master lens suited to architecture photography? I only have the 16-35mm GM and 24-70mm GM and 24mm GM prime, anything else you recommend? What do you think of the 12-24 GM?
Hi Guru, you have an awesome set of lenses, I don’t think you need anything else to shoot architecture in this genre. Sony of course don’t make a tilt shift lens, which is ideal for commercial architectural photography, but you can adapt a Canon version onto a Sony like I do. It’s not necessary for exterior shots where you have space to step back from the buildings though.
@@benharveyphotography Hello, thanks for replying do you mean use canon glass on Sony body? How do you do that and do you use manual focus in this case? Which canon glass are referring to in particular? Thank you
Hi. There is a Sigma MC-11 adaptor that allows you to adapt Canon EF to Sony E-mount. The tilt shift lenses are all manual focus anyway, so it makes no difference. I am not saying go out and buy the lens, but the Canon 24mm TS lens is a work horse lens for architectural photographers, producing a sharp image and flexibility to keep everything vertical in camera.
Such insightful tips on architectural photography arent that easy to come by, thanks! Glad I discovered your channel and hopefully you'll be putting out more on the subject, I really do like your approach a lot!
Plasma D'Lite - cheers. And based upon the popularity of the video I may have to do so!
Just found now channel and loved your portfolio - new subscriber :)
Love to see your shooting process with discussion of your vision against what and why your shooting.
GREAT tutorial, demystifying a bit this kind of processing. If you listen to the Annas and Joels you'd think you need to take 2 PHDs to be able to do this. Also, there arent many tutorials in YT on this topic. Great work and great images.
Thanks Aramis7, I haven't actually watched their video tutorials. When I was evolving my own techniques, the videos were not available. Do they have a similar workflow to me? Julia & Joel's approaches were always different, but an interesting collaboration nonetheless.
@@benharveyphotography They dont have video tutorials that I'm aware of (at least publicly available). I was referring to their books. cheers
Hi Ben - really enjoyed your videos and the channel that I had just discovered a couple of days ago. Your b&w fine art images are exactly what I love and your balance of strong highlights and deep shadows is very cool! I love that you are not afraid of pure or super deep blacks. The only suggestion on the videos I could make is to slow down when showing the final photograph image. Maybe pan slower and definitely have enough time showing the e tire image full screen. I do find that you might d of skip through the final results a bit - I am sure your viewers would love to look at your images in more details. Just my two cents. :). Looking forward to your next video!
Dmitry Kirshner - thank you for the comments and feedback. My best images are on my website www.benharveyphotography.co.uk you can stare at them for free, as long as you like :-) the images also feature in my Glasgow video, although briefly again.
Excelent, I've been looking for something like that on the net, but it's hard to find. Thanks.
Augusto Coelho it is difficult to find, no doubt because it takes everyone years to develop an editing workflow and they don’t want to give away all of their secrets...but the truth is, we won’t end up with the same image even if you do know my workflow, because when you start to edit the selections you will always get a unique result. I would if I were to edit the same image twice. Thanks for subscribing!
@augusto You are right,
May also be because most out there have difficulty making such selections on their cell phones and the rest think post-processing is what one does leaving the military.
Very interesting! I enjoyed learning your concept of starting with a flat image and adding the highlights and shadows as needed. Excellent technique and I can't wait to try it :D Thanks!
Hofmann Images thanks. I hope that I can inspire people to have ago at it. It seems like a genre of photographer that is out of reach, but you have to practice and you will get there. My images started off bad. Bad enough not to show.
Send me your progress!
Ben, another great video post. I would like to see an update on how you found the Lumenzia masking approach to your work.
Hi John - I have a reply from Greg Benz (the creator of Lumenzia) when I asked him whether Lumenzia is the right tool for creating selections. The answer is yes, but it is complicated. I need to get my head around it first before I can share my thoughts on it. I have a fine art selection video in the making.
@@benharveyphotography Thanks for your reply. Have you been able to use Joel Tjintjeaar Artisan Pro panels to work on your Black and White images? It looks like a good approach to making numerous small selections within the image.
John Doddato I am working on it, I have been having issues with my Adobe. Once I have got to grips with Joel’s plugin I will share my thoughts on it. I see that he has just released some new tutorial content for the Plugin also. I have one fine art tutorial in the making then The plugin will be next.
Ben, this has been the third time I'm watching this one. I'm wondering if you can create those dark, mid and high tones images as a base without the Silver Efex Pro, so just in Ps.
Hi Maurice, creating the multiple exposures could be as simple as using the curves or levels in photoshop. Silver Efex simply speeds up the workflow and you get consistent results by using their presets. Essentially you are just looking to ensure a good total range with the three images. I am however using a different workflow since making this video - using Joel’s artisan pro panel. Which I have made tutorials on also.
Wicked I enjoyed the drawing and shading as much as the tutorial as well!!
Lots of great points in this video! I especially liked your explanation of "sharpness" through contrast, for it cuts directly against the grain of of what you typically hear (must buy expensive cameras and lenses). For high contrast B/W architectural work like yours, and old digital camera and lens can obviously output great results. Also, luminosity masks can definitely speed up your selection creation process (I use TKActions and love it), but considering your architectural subject matter, I would guess you'd still have to incorporate some custom selections as you're currently doing to get the pixel-precision you're looking for. But incorporating luminosity masks into your workflow should definitely speed up your process. Subscribed for more!
Thank you Todd. I have another video on selections for fine art published since this video and I have another coming out very soon.
Very good explanation and demonstration Ben - I couldn't have done it any better myself! Thank you for the shout-out and the mentioning of our book.
Thank you Joel!
Hi Ben only recently started watching your channel and a big thank you some great and refreshingly different content 🙏 just watched this one 🙌🏼 but I wonder now three years on do you use any plug ins as they have evolved dramatically over recent times and it’s hard to keep up with what’s on offer. Keep the videos coming love them 😃
Hi Jan, yes indeed. I have made quite a few fine art follow up tutorials to this - and the answer regarding software is the Artisan Pro Panel by Joel Tjinjelaar. I have made a quick tutorial on how to use this, but it has been updated a few times since I made that video. All the videos are on my channel under tutorials. Enjoy!
Great video Ben. I am an experienced photographer and ‘medium level’ photoshop user and your video explained more than the series of videos I bought from the authors you mentioned. Their description of what would be provided in their videos did not match the content and I was so disappointed as it did not explain the post processing properly- just some basic camera info re ND filters, long exposure & such, which I already knew about- and which was quite poorly explained actually.. had I not already known the info they were teaching. I did email them and to be fair they did offer a refund but I’m not sure why I did t take it. I just thought I’d misunderstood what I was getting & by that stage I was worried that their poor explanation of the content in the video series I did buy would be carried over to any subsequent video of the content I actually had wanted... if that makes sense! . It was info on the post processing I had wanted and your 16 minutes has explained the basics far better anyway. Look forward to more detailed p’shop technique info.
Thanks Ron, I am glad it all made sense. It is probably good that I know just a few photoshop tools, that way my workflow stays relatively simple. Their e-book is very good, but I recon that I could make it shorter than the 400 pages that they managed to stretch it out to! Thanks for the comment.
Mate as I said before, GREAT vid. Been studying it and practicing over the last couple of weeks. Question for you. When creating you vision, do you think it works best to imagine the light from a single source (e.i. as it it would be sunlit) or does it work better to have a more surreal lighting scenario, such as two different light sources? Cheers
Aramis7 - I tend to create one light source and as you say in this particular edit I make elements pure white that I want to stand out (but that is a recent editing choice of mine). I would always have the light source coming from above, and it could work perhaps if you multiple directions of light, but that isn’t something I have experimented with yet. By surreal, do you mean a softer glow, with a foggy vibe to it? The idea that my skies are dark black even though that is where the light is coming from is already a bit surreal. I say experiment, find your own style and refine it.
That was great thanks Ben.
Your work is beautifully striking
Thank you!
Great work Ben. I also got Lumenzia but for the life of me, I cannot find any good tutorials , I have not been able to figure it out. Send me info on the ones that you find for it . Thanks!!!
Lumenzia is intense isn't it! Greg Benz includes the tutorials within the cost of the license but I think they total up to a few days' of tutorials - there is just so much to learn. If you have specific questions he does respond directly. But to answer your question, other than Greg's, no recommendations on tutorials for it.
Wow! This blows me away! I cannot thank you enough for the inspiration this video has given me to go out and shoot some architecture. I do recommend using the pen tool..you may find it to be a great time saver.
Thanks Ben for a great video