Dean,
I forgot to make a suggestion/recommendation. Here's a technique for reducing contrast using contrast or shadow masks. They're a pain in the a$$ to make in a traditional darkroom, but really easy in Photoshop. One of the few things I like better about a digital darkroom. First a little about contrast masks:
A contrast mask has the effect of compressing your tonal values, bringing up the shadows and bringing down the highlights. I use them when printing Cibachromes/Ilfochromes from slides to bring out the shadow detail without blowing out the highlights. Digital cameras and slide film have similar exposure latitudes, so the same masks work well with digital when you have extreme contrast. Shadow masks really work well with digital cameras because the cameras do a much better job of recording shadow detail than slide film does. You just can't often see it without a little help.
Start with your full-size image and then do the following:
1) Make a duplicate layer and title it "contrast mask" so you remember what it's for.
2) Desaturate the layer, making it B&W.
3) Invert the layer, turning the B&W positive image into a negative.
4) In the layer mode, switch the mode from Normal to Overlay. You will see the shadow detail appear. Your highlights will also come down a little bit, so if your hightlights are borderline blown out, this will help those too.
This is most of the effect you're going for, but we're not done yet. To put the finishing touches on it you need to:
5) Perform a Gaussian Blur on the contrast mask of about 1% radius of the image dimensions. I split the difference between the horizontal and vertical values, so 3000 pixels x 2200 pixels would be in the area of a 26 pixel radius. The Gaussian Blur smooths the gradation around sharp edges in the image where the contrast mask interacts with the main layer. The radius value is subjective and you'll get a feel for it the more masks you make.
6) Finally, you may want to adjust the opacity of the contrast mask to suit your taste. I usually end up needing the opacity set to about 80%, but it all depends on the image. Some look best with opacity left at 100%
There is a refinement to the above technique called a shadow mask that I also use when I only want to bring up the shadows. If I've nailed the highlights I don't want the mask to bring their values down. The refinement keeps just the part of the mask that brings up the shadows and erases the part of the mask that holds back the highlights:
Starting at step 3 above, after you invert the mask do the following:
3a) Hide the main layer so you can see what you're doing to the mask. We're going to remove the portions of the mask that affect the highlights. Looking at the mask, the shadow portions are white, and the highlight portions are dark (it's a negative).
3b) Select the Photoshop tool that allows you to select regions by color. We're going to select the bright portions and then invert the selection. Click on a bright portion. Add to the selection as necessary to select most of the all-white areas. Be careful not to select medium to light-gray portions.
3c) Invert the selection. Now we've selected the mask regions that affect the highlights. Erase or cut away (CTRL-X) the selection. Now you're left with a mask that brings up the shadows, but does nothing to the highlights. If you so desire, rename the layer "shadow mask" instead of "contrast mask".
3d) Display the main layer again and switch the mask layer to Overlay mode (step 4 above). You will see distinct lines where the shadow mask affects the image. You absolutely need to perform a Gaussian Blur (step 5) when creating shadow masks to smooth the effect. Again, set the opacity (step 6) according to taste.
You will probably need to play around a bit with step (3b) to get just the parts of the mask you need, but a little practice get you there. Hope this has been helpful.
-Chip
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