Photoshop Frequency Separation in Landscape Photography

[@pbziegler]

Best explanation of how and why we might use frequency separation on landscape images.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you. That's great feedback to hear.

[@ianwm54]

Thanks Robin. Just wondering if you could show how to record a Photoshop action for the Frequency Separation layers.

[@RobinWhalley]

I've added it to the list of possible future videos. Thanks.

[@Ronin760]

Very interesting application for a technique that is often used to smooth skin in portraits particularly to sharpen. Very creative. I will certainly keep this in mind and give it a try. Thanks!

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. I'm pleased you liked it. It does give a very nice effect but you may need to experiment with the best settings.

[@stuartbraithwaite1297]

Superb tutorial on Frequency Separation so easy to follow, thanks Robin

[@RobinWhalley]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rgarlinyc]

Thanks once again Robin - once again you give me great insight - plus - I get to feast my eyes on your gorgeous landscapes!

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you very much. Great to hear that you like my photography as well.

[@SteveONions]

That’s a very useful technique Robin especially as it preserves the sky from oversharpening. Luckily I also have a very similar shot to practice on 😀

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks Steve. It's a great technique and there's a few more things you can do with it. Now I wonder when you took that shot. Hmmmm!

[@MrDs131]

I notice with the first one a halo around the rocks on the left as a result of the sharpening. The Orton effect was better. Always good to see more of the tools that are available.

[@RobinWhalley]

As I mentioned in the video, I rushed this for the video and also made the adjustments quite strong. In reality, I would probably spend an hour or more processing an image that I thought was worth the effort in order to avoid effects. I don't want people getting the ideas that these are just "run an action and get a great result" tools.

[@MrDs131]

@@RobinWhalley Appreciate that Robin, halos are always a thing I have to combat. Not sure I have mastered their elimination either! Maybe it is an idea for a video? Keep up the excellent and informative output.

[@RobinWhalley]

It's a great idea for a video. A lot of people have problems with this. I have just added it to my list and will see what I can come up with in the near future. Thanks

[@PaulTimlett]

Thanks for a very clear explanation Robin. I saw another video that explained the use of frequency separation for sharpening and the guy concluded that when he compared this method with High Pass sharpening in PS and sharpening in ACR/Lightroom the latter was actually most effective. What are your thoughts?

[@RobinWhalley]

There are lots of methods of sharpening images and they all revolve around enhancing the contrast in the image. The original method of sharpening pre-digital was to use a blurred negative of the image which is where the term unsharp mask comes from. Not every image will respond equally to the different sharpening techniques and there is even the complication of the RAW files. Lightroom tools are poor with the Fuji RAF files but they respond very well to Smart Sharpening. What I like about using Frequency Separation is that separate the detail and sharpen that. It doesn't affect noise very much. At the end of the day, you need to select the method that suits the image characteristics and that you feel happy you can work with. Most will do a good or even excellent job.

[@pgtips4240]

Thanks for this fantastic video, you have done a brilliant job of explaining this technique. Much appreciated.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. I'm pleased you like it.

[@justinrichardson3864]

Very interesting technique. Thanks for sharing.

[@RobinWhalley]

You're welcome. I'm pleased you found it interesting. There's a lot you can achieve with it.

[@029JUNE]

Thanks for the great video. Another question, I am just curious what are the colorful icons "im pm qb...ff" that under the brush settings for? Thank you very much!

[@RobinWhalley]

Those are extension panels from third-party software developers. The ones you mention are from Raya Pro and are used for Luminosity Masking. I have quite a few others installed but they weren't visible when I recorded the video.

[@marianodemiguel3442]

Brilliant video Robin!! Very applicable to my work! thank you.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks, I'm pleased it's helped you.

[@toncarnas2780]

Outstanding video Robin. Really interesting insights and tips here. Thanks very much for sharing this.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. Much appreciated.

[@peterstockton2350]

glyn dewis is a lovely bloke, spoke to him a few times on facebook :)

[@RobinWhalley]

I've met him a couple of times at the Photography Show. Once he was demonstrating lighting on one of the stands and he couldn't have been more helpful. Studio lighting and portraits aren't my thing but he really made it interesting. As you say, a really nice guy.

[@davidthomas670]

Superb video Robin, thank you.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. I'm pleased you liked it.

[@boonsantan9388]

Thks for great video. Should have highlighted the high frequency settings with “add”is for 16bite images. As the setting is different from 8 bite images ( JPEG) file .

[@qu14torze82]

Thank you very much from France! I love this cool way of explaining things! Subscribed.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks and welcome

[@shacklynized]

This is pretty killer. I recently took a photo of a swamp and didn't really like the image. By using this I was able to apply the sharpening and really add some depth of field since the sharpness allowed me to separate the far trees from the close ones. Before, visually it was hard to separate the trees. It's a far better image now.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. I'm pleased you like it. You can use this technique in lots of ways. Personally I like it for adding a soft lens effect to the image.

[@EDDIEGARAGE]

Greate tutorial, fantastic I just finished a tutorial in luminosity mask in Udemy thanks very much.

[@RobinWhalley]

Great to hear you liked the tutorial.

[@aspia11]

well done, very helpfull, just next perfect one from you. keep well.

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you.

[@felixurbat]

Great tutorial, thank you so much!

[@RobinWhalley]

You’re welcome

[@kiesemedia433]

i enjoyed watching this movie. keep going 😃

[@RobinWhalley]

Thanks. There's lots more to come.

[@nord_seher]

Wow! Is it possible to transform this thing to affinity photo?

[@RobinWhalley]

Absolutely. In fact, it's even easier in Affinity. I was considering doing a video about it but it seemed too simple. To do it, open your image and create a single new layer. Go to the Filter menu and select Frequency Separation. You then get a split screen view which shows the detail on the left (high frequency) and colour (low frequency) on the right. Just set the Radius (which is used for the level of blur) and hit Apply. It then creates the two layers for you just as I did in the video. Have fun.

[@alienatics1743]

Usefull’video! :)

[@RobinWhalley]

Thank you

[@gardier9746]

Interesante...

[@JulesMoyaert_photo]

Thanks!

[@RobinWhalley]

You're welcome.

[@adissabovic]

Robin, you sound like Rob. Ager. :)

[@RobinWhalley]

Ha ha! He's younger than me so therefore he sounds like me ;-)

[@adissabovic]

@@RobinWhalley Ok, then, he sounds like you...😂👍

[@BrianRussell]

Hi Robin - fantastic, thanks very much. This is very useful for Fuji users. I put a short post up linking to this video on Reddit (www.reddit.com/r/fujifilm/comments/acuod2/frequency_separation_sharpening/) with a link to some image comparisons with this technique using a raw file demosaiced with the Fuji raw converter and ACR. Hope this is useful.

[@zfranklin4231]

Color vs Colour ;p

[@jeffboring103]

Way way way too complex Photoshop crap.

[@RobinWhalley]

Affinity Photo is much easier. there’s also a good extension for Photoshop called Wow! Frequency Equaliser Pro that makes it so easy. I did another video on it.