Photoshop Show blending question

In Russell Brown’s Photoshop Show book, there is a chapter on blending for better details. In summary: choose a channel with the most details, copy and paste this channel as a top new layer, blend with Pin Light to the bottom layers, and adjust opacity as needed.

When I tried this, I came across several problems:
– If there is only a single background layer to start with, I can’t copy and paste a channel to create a new layer. I have to duplicate the background layer to do so. How did Brown do it with a single background layer in his tutorial?
– After blending, some minor details do show up, but only as a result of increase contrast. The same could be achieved with levels or curves. Trying other blending selections other than Pin Light does not improve this. Brown’s example showed dramatic detail improvement. How did he do that?

What is a good method to use blending to add more details, and yet preserve the overall tones and colors?

I expected more from Brown, but found his book disappointing. In another chapter on stitching two images for pano, his tutorial started with the two images in separate layers perfectly lined up. He never bothered to explain how to get there. How do I get there?

In Russell Brown’s Photoshop Show book, there is a chapter on blending for better details. In summary: choose a channel with the most details, copy and paste this channel as a top new layer, blend with Pin Light to the bottom layers, and adjust opacity as needed.

When I tried this, I came across several problems:
– If there is only a single background layer to start with, I can’t copy and paste a channel to create a new layer. I have to duplicate the background layer to do so. How did Brown do it with a single background layer in his tutorial?

In Russell Brown’s Photoshop Show book, there is a chapter on blending for better details. In summary: choose a channel with the most details, copy and paste this channel as a top new layer, blend with Pin Light to the bottom layers, and adjust opacity as needed.
When I tried this, I came across several problems:
– If there is only a single background layer to start with, I can’t copy and paste a channel to create a new layer. I have to duplicate the background layer to do so. How did Brown do it with a single background layer in his tutorial?

– After blending, some minor details do show up, but only as a result of increase contrast. The same could be achieved with levels or curves. Trying other blending selections other than Pin Light does not improve this. Brown’s example showed dramatic detail improvement. How did he do that?

What is a good method to use blending to add more details, and yet preserve the overall tones and colors?

I expected more from Brown, but found his book disappointing. In another chapter on stitching two images for pano, his tutorial started with the two images in separate layers perfectly lined up. He never bothered to explain how to get there. How do I get there?

In Russell Brown’s Photoshop Show book, there is a chapter on blending for better details. In summary: choose a channel with the most details, copy and paste this channel as a top new layer, blend with Pin Light to the bottom layers, and adjust opacity as needed.

When I tried this, I came across several problems:
– If there is only a single background layer to start with, I can’t copy and paste a channel to create a new layer. I have to duplicate the background layer to do so. How did Brown do it with a single background layer in his tutorial?
– After blending, some minor details do show up, but only as a result of increase contrast. The same could be achieved with levels or curves. Trying other blending selections other than Pin Light does not improve this. Brown’s example showed dramatic detail improvement. How did he do that?

What is a good method to use blending to add more details, and yet preserve the overall tones and colors?

I expected more from Brown, but found his book disappointing. In another chapter on stitching two images for pano, his tutorial started with the two images in separate layers perfectly lined up. He never bothered to explain how to get there. How do I get there?

In Russell Brown’s Photoshop Show book, there is a chapter on blending for better details. In summary: choose a channel with the most details, copy and paste this channel as a top new layer, blend with Pin Light to the bottom layers, and adjust opacity as needed.

When I tried this, I came across several problems:
– If there is only a single background layer to start with, I can’t copy and paste a channel to create a new layer. I have to duplicate the background layer to do so. How did Brown do it with a single background layer in his tutorial?
– After blending, some minor details do show up, but only as a result of increase contrast. The same could be achieved with levels or curves. Trying other blending selections other than Pin Light does not improve this. Brown’s example showed dramatic detail improvement. How did he do that?

What is a good method to use blending to add more details, and yet preserve the overall tones and colors?

I expected more from Brown, but found his book disappointing. In another chapter on stitching two images for pano, his tutorial started with the two images in separate layers perfectly lined up. He never bothered to explain how to get there. How do I get there?