Adobe Success Story

Natural wonders
Looking at the wealth of nature photographs on R. Scott Ireland’s web site, you would never guess he spends his days in real estate sales. The work of this talented nature photographer extends from volcanic eruptions that originate below the earth’s surface to far away constellations and galaxies. In between, he has photographed stunning landscapes, underwater worlds, and a range of wildlife.

Photography began as a personal hobby for Ireland over 25 years ago and evolved into an avocation that enables him to benefit personally and financially from his avid interests in astronomy and nature. Central to Ireland’s success as a freelance photographer is Adobe Photoshop CS3 software. “Using Adobe Photoshop CS3 for processing images is like putting on my clothes in the morning; it is just automatic,” says Ireland.

Benefits

• Better managed workspace and faster, nondestructive workflow
• Improved image detail, color, and clarity
• Enhanced educational value of astrophotography and volcanic images
• More effective image organization, searching, and archival

Project Details

Star light, star bright
One way Ireland fuels his love of astronomy is with a membership in the Southern Cross Astronomical Society, one of the nation’s largest astronomical organizations. As past president, he is one of only seven individuals honored with a lifetime membership in the society since its inception in 1921. In addition to having his research results on asteroid occultations published in Icarus, The International Journal of Solar System Studies, Ireland has also seen his photographs on the pages of magazines, such as Odyssey, Sky & Telescope, and Mercury, and in the books The Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, Introduction to Observing and Photographing the Solar System, and The Guide to Amateur Astronomy.

Ireland began working with Photoshop very early in the digital age. His expertise using Photoshop to process astrophotography images made him a natural for leading lectures and workshops on the basics of Photoshop and astrophotography. What he didn’t expect was the request from a book publisher to write an instructional manual on how to use Photoshop to process astrophotographs. Ireland’s book, Photoshop Astronomy, was published in 2006 and outlines, step by step, exactly how to optimize astrophotography images using Photoshop.

“It is my firm belief that to speak the language of Adobe Photoshop image processing you must understand the meaning of its ‘words’ and their syntax,” says Ireland. “I have seen this method work during the many Photoshop seminars I have conducted for amateur astronomers across the United States.”

Playing with fire
Over the past few years, Scott has also undertaken the study and photography of volcanoes. He is a member of IAVCEI (International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior) and Volcano Watch International.

Ireland’s work photographing volcanic activity has not gone unrecognized. University College, London selected his images of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat for use in their volcano hazard mitigation literature distributed to governments and volcanologists throughout the Caribbean. Additionally, the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program published and archived his images of the Mount St. Helens eruptions of October 2004 for scientific use.

A highlight of Ireland’s experience with volcanoes was traveling to Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica as a member of the National Geographic team sent to film the documentary entitled Volcano Hunters. Two of Scott’s images were among the winners of the prestigious annual Nature’s Best Magazine international photo competition, and were exhibited at the Smithsonian in late 2005.

“Photographing volcanoes is actually quite similar to astrophotography,” says Ireland. “Often, you are shooting at night so you can record the lava, which requires longer exposures and creates more noise.”

Tools of the trade
Ireland’s personal use of Photoshop is extensive. He also uses a considerable number of Photoshop plug-ins and other programs, depending on the task at hand. “Adobe Photoshop CS3 is the central program for my entire image processing workflow, whether I’m using digital or analog capture,” explains Ireland.

Because the first space photographs were taken with a Hasselblad camera, it is fitting that for film capture Ireland uses Hasselblad medium format or 35mm. He also shoots digitally with his Nikon D2X and D200. All film images are scanned directly into Photoshop using a Nikon LS 9000 film scanner.

“Astrophotography is the most difficult type of photography because you are trying to get very faint details to show up,” says Ireland. “Basically, you are collecting a small number of photons over a long period of time to create an image.” The lengthy exposure time and multiple images required for astrophotography creates signal-to-noise ratio issues. Ireland uses specialized software to handle subtracting dark frames and combining multiple images. After generating an initial, noise-reduced image, he then brings it into Photoshop CS3 for full processing.

A nondestructive workflow
After Ireland brings the processed images into Photoshop CS3, the focus turns to creating a great image. New features in Photoshop CS3 help Ireland work more efficiently. “I like the new interface of Adobe Photoshop CS3 because I can set up palettes and click in and out of them, which helps me better manage my workspace and speeds up my workflow,” he says.

Ireland tries to build his Photoshop files as nondestructively as possible to enable easier future editing and to vary the processing for different output needs. He generates a multi-layered Photoshop file for each image that includes all of the various steps, adjustment layers, masks, and alpha channels that he uses to optimize the image. From this file, Ireland varies any final processing steps depending on if the images will be output to a stock photography file, inkjet printer, web image, or other format.

“When making fine art prints, I rely on the extensive soft-proofing and color management capabilities in Adobe Photoshop CS3,” says Ireland. He employs a fully color-managed workflow using the Gretag Macbeth Eye-One to calibrate and profile his Eizo monitor and Epson large format photo printer.

In addition to maintaining a physical archive of his work in two geographically separated locations, Ireland also uses Adobe Bridge CS3 to view and organize files or call out initial raw files. The new Filters panel helps him easily locate images while the Loupe tool enables him to zoom in and inspect images.

Photoshop CS3 features enhance efficiency
Ireland has also experimented with the nondestructive smart filters in Photoshop CS3, and likes how they enable him to filter images efficiently while keeping the file size in check. Curves layers help correct image color and luminosity, including issues such as strange sky gradients in astrophotography images caused by city lights.

When Ireland makes color adjustments, he constantly checks and rechecks the histogram and color sampler points. “The improved curves adjustment in Adobe Photoshop CS3 with the integrated histogram and display of multiple color channels makes it much easier for me to enhance color in all of my images,” says Ireland.

“In a nutshell, Adobe Photoshop CS3 is my digital darkroom; everything else revolves around it,” continues Ireland. “Adobe Photoshop changed my life as a photographer, more so than the advent of digital cameras, by giving me the power to mold and present my images in a way that I never dreamed possible before.”

---

Do you have a story you would like to share? Join the Adobe Customer Reference Program.