Text by ©Susan Seiling, www.westcoastimaging.com
When Jerry Jividen spotted a small black bear cub climbing down
a tree in the Smoky Mountains, he photographed it, hoping to capture
the moment forever on film. As a full-time nature photographer,
he believed that he had an image he could sell.
The moment was perfect-but after his film was processed, the image
didn't meet his expectations. Although he correctly exposed the
main subject in the scene, the early afternoon sun beaming through
the forest canopy created highly contrasting light that overexposed
portions of the picture. Detail in the bark became white streaks
of film, and the bear's mussel, tan and prominent in the forest,
became nearly non-existent. Jerry filed the slide away, hoping to
some day find a purpose for the disappointing chrome.
In May 2001, Jerry decided to investigate digital imaging. Could
modern PhotoShop techniques fix his previously unsaleable image?
He sent the original transparency to us (West Coast Imaging), where
our master printers went to work resurrecting the chrome.
"When I opened the file, the first thing I noticed was that
there was a lot of bark on the tree that still had good tone, texture
and detail," said master printer, Terrance Reimer.
Reimer proceeded to use intricate cloning techniques to recreate
the tree trunk's detail. He first copied the bark from several parts
of the well-exposed trunk area, and pasted several different layers
on top of the original image. He played with the layers, looking
for a texture that looked realistic.
"Recreating an image like this is a lot like playing with
a puzzle-when you get the pieces just right, the image snaps into
place," Reimer said. "The key to making the construction
believable is to find the right texture, tone and color for that
portion of the image."
After selecting and copying certain pieces of good detail from
the image, he linked the sampled trunk layers together. Using the
eraser tool and the opacity control, he blended this sampled trunk
detail with the rest of the image. Within minutes, the new tree
trunk looked as flawless as those found in the wilderness.
Next, Reimer proceeded to fix the blown-out muzzel of the bear.
Since the mussel had significantly lighter fur than the rest of
the black bear, he scanned the image to find an area with the appropriate
texture, color and density.
"It's hard to make something from nothing. You need something
in the image to draw from, or the reconstruction will not look realistic,"
Reimer said.
He found the perfect spot in the tree limbs, just below the bear.
Using the same techniques he used for the tree trunk, he brought
new definition to the cub's small mussel, the nose, and the fine
outline of its mouth.
Reimer then applied a contrast curve, to selectively tone down
some of the overexposed highlights of the forest.
"That curve really brings your eye to the bear, which is the
entire purpose of the photograph," Reimer said.
After making a minor adjustment to the color balance, and applying
a slight amount of saturation, the reconstructed image was ready
for printing. And Jividen had a photograph he could take to the
bank.
In the era of digital imaging, recreating photos is becoming more
and more common. Requests range from piecing together several different
images into one composite, to cloning out barbed wire fences in
landscape scenes.
"Most people have us make changes that have been done in the
darkroom for years-things like adjusting color balance, and dodging
and burning. Others want more extensive changes." Reimer said.
"In the end, how much you change a photograph is up to each
individual photographer, and each individual image."
For the photographers ready to stretch their creative abilities,
the technology is here to correct pre-existing flawed images. Today,
photographers and photographic art find an extension of this exacting
medium.
West Coast Imaging is located in Oakhurst, California, just
south of Yosemite National Park. They offer Tango drum scans, lightjet
prints, piezography prints and a full palette of digital imaging
services. For more information, visit them online at www.westcoastimaging.com,
or call 800-799-4576.
