Fine Art Architectural Photography - EDITING TUTORIAL
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- Due to popular demand, following on from my fine art photography in Glasgow video, I have produced a tutorial for post-processing long exposure black + white images. This genre is particularly popular with fine art architectural photographers, and it is the secret to creating unique, eye-catching images of architecture.
There are lots of resources on the internet and social media, showcasing people's best work; but it is difficult to find advice on post-processing techniques. As covered in my video, I started by purchasing the below ebook by Joel Tjintjelaar and Julia Anna Gospodarou, and they are now offering video courses; although I have not seen them. I am sure that they will be spot on!
bwvision.com/e-book/
This video shows you my thought process, the principle and the vision, the software, selection technique, layers and finishing touches. Oh, and the important factor...taking your time.
I hope that you find this tutorial helpful, let me know in the comments if it gets you started in the right direction.
Check out my work at:
www.benharveyphotography.co.uk...
My Glasgow blog can be found here:
www.benharveyphotography.co.uk...
Music by:
Mr Scruff - get a move on
Bonobo - Sapphire
Quantic - transatlantic
Music by: @dcuttermusic / www.davidcuttermusic.com
Wicked I enjoyed the drawing and shading as much as the tutorial as well!!
Amazing, thank you Ben for sharing your work with us. I really appreciate it.
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.
Very much appreciated....hope you continue with more on this topic.
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.
Wonderful video. Thank you for walking through your process.
Excellent work Ben, looking forward to more.
By Jove I think he's got it. Brilliant artist Brilliant teacher. New fan. Thank you sir.
I’m totally blown away. Top notch!
Fab, Ben, thanks. A real eye-opener.
Most helpful--and unexpected--was the drawing as preparation, showing the simplest depiction of light and shadow. Reminds me of the drawing lessons on UA-cam 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.
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".
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.
Brilliant Ben. Thank you for sharing. Not too complex at all.
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!
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.
Wow, that really shed a new light on things for me. Thanks for sharing :)
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.
Tks so much Ben. You are really very kind to have shared with us your knowledge.
You are welcome! More videos coming soon!
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!
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...
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 :-)
Great job. Thanks. Would love to learn more about how you use lighting to drive composition.
You are brilliant and changed my way of thinking.
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.
Excellent stuff,very new to photography and post production,some great tips,and love your work 😎
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.
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!!!
Totally absorbing and just magical and I think it's simply fab.
Billy Doherty thank you - glad you enjoyed it.
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.
Great stuff Ben, going to give this a bash
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
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 :-)
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!
Superb, Ben!
That was awesome! Thank you!!!
Loved this Ben. I've been photographing this area of Glasgow for years and just been inspired to get back there asap 👍 thanks a lot for sharing your tips.
Lucky you, lots of inspirational buildings to point your camera at!
Love it so much. You have revealed a secret but I need to visit the UK for such architectural scenes 😉
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.
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'm totally inspired to do my own now. Thanks for the effort.
Thanks John. I look forward to seeing the work you produce.
Should work just well. I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Stunning!
VERY SIMPLE AND CREATIVE IT LOOKS STUNNING, WELL DONE!!!
Thank you Julio :-)
Brilliant tutorial, thank you I really enjoyed it ... love your work!!
Xenia Ivanoff-Erb thank you. You are welcome.
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!
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!😉
really great technique in post production! thank you Ben
Cheers Carlo!
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.
Excellent, very well done 👍
HI. Thanks for this, perfect tutorial and suddenly makes a lot of sense how images are achieved like in this style of fine art. Off I go to take some shots, wish me luck lol
Good Luck Shane, and check out my video in Glasgow showing when I took the photos - as that shows you my gear and how I actually take the images in the first place.
Great video, very helpful....many thanks.
Learnt so much thanks. The individual sections & working each separately will be very useful for me. Thanks.
Very helpful tutorial, substantive crisp and easy to understand --
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
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!
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.
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.
Brilliant. Love it and thanks !!
Thank you for that well explained lesson!
Miro Hristov you are welcome. More tutorials on this topic on my channel and new ones coming soon.
Thanks, awesome direction....
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!
I like your simmering tip, I always post online to quickly then regret after. I’ve even deleted and reposted the same image a few days later 🤣
The trick is to have too many images to post. I am literally months behind all the time, so they never go out straight away. Obviously if you go out and capture some lightning or snow, get that image online ASAP - otherwise you will miss the moment!
Thanks for sharing this Ben... very informative looking fwd to trying out this technique..
Thanks John, do. Get a coffee on the go and give it a try!
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 UA-cam 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 :-)
Love the background music!
They are credited in the description if you wanted to know the artist.
Very informative, excellent work thank you.
Fantastic video, Ben. Good job, sir.
Matt Freestone - thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Ben, you are a very talented guy! I just love this style of photography. Thank you, for sharing...
Thank you Allan.
Thanks Ben for a great video
Magnificent photo. Two Thumbs up.
Thank you :-)
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.
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".
lots of editing, you are a sick editor...nice job
You are truly a PS master! Unbelievable work Ben!
Thank you Scott. Much appreciated.
Thank you Scott. Much appreciated.
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!
great video! perfect realization. ps. tom cruise photograper :)))))
That was great thanks Ben.
Thank you Ben, I like your approach on this.
Fantastic video. Absolutly fantastic.
Thank you.
Excellent tut. Thanks
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.
Fantastic video and some great advice and info. Thanks so much.
Thanks for leaving a comment David. Glad you liked it.
Thank you so much Ben, an eye opener !
You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed!
A very clear and straightforward explanation of your process for creating your very striking images. Thanks.
Initially, I was disappointed that your "secret" was in-depth knowledge of artistic technique coupled with a clear sense of what you are trying to accomplish with your images followed up with long hours of tedious, but well understood, application of specific operations to produce your image. And don't forget the multiple passes through the developing images to refine them. But then I realized that I had known this all along, so I couldn't be surprised or disappointed. ;-)
richard hargrove
--
To say to the painter that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano.
-- James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Very interesting, now I now what the phrase fine art means! Tgank you !
Excellent tutorial Ben, I learned a lot from it!
Gordon Laing cheers! I feel another tutorial collaboration coming on!
Nice work Ben. Well done.
Fergus Cooper thank you.
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!
Great information and technique! Thanks for sharing
You are welcome Donte!
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!
Duuuude you killed it. thank you so much for such an interesting and inspiring video. Greeting from a new subscriber.
Thanks for subscribing & glad you liked the video.
magnifico tutorial muchas gracias
Thanks, such a useful video. Realize I still have to much to learn!
Roderick Besseling Just enjoy the process and the progression of your work. As I mentioned in my videos, initially I was scared of using black in my photos to start with, but being bold comes with confidence, and share your work in various forums online to get feedback from those who’s opinions you respect.
Great video. Thank you for sharing!
I love your idea. I really do. OK. I am on my laptop for a try. Thanks a lot.
Great tut m8, thanks a lot
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.
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.....
Simple and clever.