Non-Destructive Editing

The following images were edited in a non-destructive fashion. That means, any and all of the original pixels created from the camera were not lost when the post-processing is completed. The most popular and commonly used non-destructive edits within Photoshop are adjustments layers and smart filters...

:: Adjustment Layers ::

"Silver Lined" | 30 Sep 2011 7:56am | north Rexburg
f/4.0 | 1/800s | ISO 100 | 200mm | Canon 5D mk1

In this image I first added a texture image and blended. After reducing the opacity on that layer and masking out the horse by about 50%, I added a Color Balance adjustment layer. The horse was looking a bit too warm, mostly in the reds. After adjusting the color balance, I noticed that the scenery color prior to the that change was preferred so I masked our the color balance adjustment on the scenery. Lastly, I added a Levels adjustment layer, popping in some contrast and darkness. I masked out the majority of the Level adjustment to exaggerate the darker edges.

:: Smart Filters ::

"It's Real" | 30 Sep 2011 8:43am | north Rexburg
f/2.8 | 1/3200s | ISO 400 | 126mm | Canon 5D mk1

This image of a road-kill raccoon says quite the story. After making typical edits I added a layer of the image (so I wouldn't be altering the original layer). I wanted to make the image have a cartoonish look. I did so with the a Cutout filter effect, only after making that layer a smart object, so that any effect on it would be a smart filter. I then masked out the cartoon effect on the raccoon, illustrating to the viewer this is not fiction.