Scan of the original elevation of the Cathedral of the Madeleine
Before and After Photoshopping
My family heritage is Catholic, and my great-grandmother used to use the phrase "it's a mystery of the Church" to explain things to my mom when she was growing up. When I saw the best available scan of this image, I knew it would be a mystery of how I would get it publication-ready. Besides being overly dark and poor contrast, when it was photographed or copied from the original, the text on the back side of the paper bled through, leaving a very undesirable background effect. Tidying it up took some experimentation in Photoshop. My initial thought was to use the Threshold tool, which was an abject failure. I tried some variations on blending modes, and finally hit on a combination that worked.
First, I made a base layer of pure white. Then I made a reasonable selection around the outline of the building, using the Refine Edge" settings to get a visual guide for feathering. I hadn't used that particular tool in the Selection menu before, can't believe I've lived this long without it. Then I erased the background to reveal the white base layer.
I added a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. I have never used settings like these on my photos(!): brightness at +121 and contrast at +63. Next, I duplicated the layer with the cathedral, moved it to the top of the stack, and set the blend to Multiply at 80%. The duplicate layer has two Curves adjustment layers, set with a clipping mask to affect only the duplicate layer, that sets the black and white points. One curve is masked to the lower portion; a stronger curve was needed for the towers.
And Voila! All of this effort is on behalf of what is likely to be the reinvigorated Sagebrush Press's first book in the hands of the public. The Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City is celebrating its 100 year anniversary in August and we are working feverishly to finish a history of the building and community by the celebration. Barring too many more unforeseen delays, I think we will make it. My friend and archivist of the diocese, Gary Topping, has written a marvelous and entertaining text and found some great historical photos. My contribution is a short photo essay of the community of faith that uses the building.
If you are in Salt Lake City and you happen to be near the cathedral, take a look upward. You'll notice that the uppermost towers were not completed according to the original plan. It's an interesting bit of history, and one I'm glad we'll be able to illustrate with this image.
P.S. The Highway 89 book is still on schedule, but as a full-color project, it's going to take longer to print. The Cathedral's anniversary is setting the schedule for that project, and Gary's book gets to be first.
