Photoshop Tutorial #3: A simple way to use the "Curves" tool to turn daylight scenes into moonlit scenes.
Hammonassett Beach, Sunset on rocks and water, as captured
Hammonassett Beach, Using curves to turn sunset to moonlight
A Little Moonlight Becomes You: Photoshop Tutorial
Turning Sunlit Scenes into Moonlit Scenes using the Curves Tool
One of the most useful and complex tools in Photoshop is the “Curves” tool. And although a lot of beginners (and even many experienced users) find the curves tool to be somewhat intimidating, there are some fun things you can do with it that take little more than a sense of adventure (particularly if you like to play with tones and colors, as I do) and a few minutes of your time.
Essentially the curves tool is designed to give you almost infinite control over the tone, contrast and color range of your images. Photographers who have a background in the darkroom are usually more familiar and more comfortable using curves because they understand the concepts of viewing an image’s tonal range as a graph (the “curve” of an image). The graph of any image is actually quite simple and goes from the “d-max” (maximum density) or shadows on the bottom left to the “d-min” or minimum density (highlights) in the upper right. Between those two points is a curved line that represents the tonal range of the image. Adjust the slope of the curve in any way and you’ll see the tonal range and (in a color image) the colors shift instantly.
Without learning a thing about curves though there are some really fun things that you can do to modify images and one that I use all the time is turning sunsets and sunrises into moonlit scenes. The technique is totally experimental, very easy and it will teach you a few things about how changes in an image’s tonal curve can radically alter the picture. Plus, you’ll turn some ordinary images into very pretty scenes.
If you look at the curves dialog box (scroll down to see it), you will see three eyedropper tools at the bottom of the right hand side. The one on the left represents shadows, the one in the middle represents midtones and the one at right highlights. If you were trying to make critical curves adjustments you could use these three eyedroppers to set the shadow/midtone/highlight points of your image.
We’re not making critical adjustments—we’re having fun! If you just click on the midtone eyedropper (the one in the middle) and click anywhere in a highlight region of your image you’ll see the colors suddenly shift to an entirely different palette. Usually reddish/orange midtones will shift over to blue. To get this moonlight effect, for example, I simply clicked the midtone eyedropper then clicked into the image at different places (in highlight areas mainly, but I try different areas) until I saw the color balance I wanted. Each time you click the colors/tones will change. It’s not a cumulative thing, but as you click around the image the colors will just continue to shift based on where you click. And there's not much you can do to predict what shifts will take place, so it's more of an experimental thing. I find the technique works good with some images better than others.
Once I got an overall blue tone I wanted I simply clicked “OK and then I opened the “Hue/Saturation” tool (always open these tools from the bottom of the layers palette, that way you can turn them on and off at will and combine various effects). With the hue/saturation tool open I adjusted the “Master” saturation of the image until the blues got a little richer. If necessary I also use the "Levels" tool to adjust the brightness of the image.
Once the hue/saturation was set, I took the “dodge” tool (from the toolbar on the left) and opened up some of the rocks in the immediate foreground. You could take it one more step and start playing with the “Color Balance” tool, but I didn’t have to in this case.
This photo was shot at Hammonasset State Park in Madison, Connecticut (a great place to photograph along the shore of Long Island Sound) and while I like the look of the original image, I also like the moonlight effect. It would make a nice background graphic for type or even a nice cd cover.
Any questions (or topics you'd like to see added) feel free to email me.
Photoshop CS Curves Dialog Box
Family on Beach
Entire Site Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Wignall
An Ambitious Dogs Production In Association with Boo Boo & Mama Cat Films Please also visit my Photo Tip of the Day blog.
