Ok, so here's the basic steps I made from the RAW file to the first version you saw posted
here.
1) RAW selection
When I shot this picture, I tried to capture something that fascinated me instantly, when I saw this artifical, small waterfall: the way the light played different melodies in the various stages of the falls. So, back in my Aperture darkroom, the first thing was to pick the one of the three RAW files I shot. I picked the one that showed the best smoothing of the water stream while preserving texture that suggests dynamics.
2) Picture analysis.
Keeping in mind what Versace suggests, I opened the RAW in Photoshop and created a blank layer. On that layer I used a green colored brush to mark the various areas of interest. I love his approach of using percentage notes on various aspects like lighting, weight, interest etc. So, I analyzed the shot and marked the areas of 100% interest, 75, 50 and 25%. On a second layer, I used blue to mark the areas where I saw I had to add light and where I planned to darken, so the eye is drawn to the areas of interest. This step really is new to me. Previously I started to burn or dodge here and there, without laying out my plans first. I think this steps really adds much to the final quality.
3) Curve adjustment
Added an curve adjustment layer and brightened up the bright water areas in the 100% and 75% area
4) Curve adjustment II
Added a curve adjustment layer and darkened the 25 and 50% areas
5) Black and White-point
Set the black and white point according to Versace's approach: tried to find a black spot that is fine for zone 2 in the Adams zone system idea. Find a white point that isn't purely white , like zone 8.
6) Desaturation and colorization
For this shot, I went the easy route and used simply the Hue&Saturation dialog in PS to desaturate and colorize the scene. I wanted it to look pretty much like a B/W shot but keep a warm tone. So, I experimented with the color and saturation and picked one that simly resonated with my gut feeling.
7) Final dodging and burning
Within the 100% areas, I applied very subtle dodging to bring out some more of that sparkling and in the 25% areas I burnt the middle tones and highlights so nothing provides the eyes an anchor to stay there.
8 ) Selective sharpening
Merged all layers into a new layer, keeping the original layers intact... he tells that "to do the move"... it's a trick I didn't use before. Duplicated that layer switched to LAB mode and used unsharp masking on the luminance channel (1.2 pixel radius, 45% strength). Then used a mask to apply this sharpening only to the topmost two vertical water masses.
9) Extending the canvas
Create the passepartout / matte
That's it.
cheers
®
