Editing before and afters...

[fractal]

After our conversation about presets I did check in PSE11 and there is a pre-set function on one of the drop downs. Have to google how to use it. The "low key" edit was a preset from Topaz Adjust plug ins.

Sorry, getting my conversations confused.

The obvious advantage, after spending time making those adjustments, is now having a "look" that you can use with other photos even if it's just a starting point.
You can come back with a different photo, say one using a smaller aperture, then apply those setting on. I do it all the time with presets.

 

[sharona]

Here's a new one. Before:

DSC_5899_3368 original by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Edits: Temp 6750, Exposure +2.10, Contrast +7, Shadows +13, Vibrance +6, Saturation +9 all in ACR then added an unsharp mask in PSE11. I didn't care for this one with the original white balance so decided to go for a pale morning light type of vibe. I like the way this one turned out. Can you save presets in ACR?

DSC_5899_3368a by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[fractal]

Nice job on the last one @sharona .


and in case anybody missed it, Google is giving away for free their NIK editing software...

https://plus.google.com/+NikCollection/about

 

[sharona]

Nice job on the last one @sharona .


and in case anybody missed it, Google is giving away for free their NIK editing software...

https://plus.google.com/+NikCollection/about

I saw that. I trialed the Nik Collection when I first got my PSE11 but didn't end up buying it. In the end, I got a sweet Black Friday deal on the Topaz Labs full suite of plug ins and it really is all I need. I hate to pass up a freebie though.

 

[dmaxphil]

I saw that. I trialed the Nik Collection when I first got my PSE11 but didn't end up buying it. In the end, I got a sweet Black Friday deal on the Topaz Labs full suite of plug ins and it really is all I need. I hate to pass up a freebie though.

Hurry up and download before they change their mind. Silver Efx is better than the Topaz alternative, IMO. Dfine is a great one also, but I haven't done direct comparisons to DeNoise

 

[sharona]

So, just to ask.....Do you find it acceptable that a professor is essentially stealing our money by not performing what we've hired him to do? How will anyone at the school know this is happening if someone doesn't speak up? The kids sure aren't going to say anything!

FWIW-My daughter has no idea I called the Dean's office and left a complaint. I won't tell her either.

Hurry up and download before they change their mind. Silver Efx is better than the Topaz alternative, IMO. Dfine is a great one also, but I haven't done direct comparisons to DeNoise

Denoise is my absolute favorite and has saved my bacon when I had to shoot high ISO with my 5100 before I got the 7100 which is much better.

 

[fractal]

Spent some time yesterday playing around with my new Nik software.

I decided to edit a photo I previously edited just in LR.

Here is the original RAW image...

Here is how I edited this image only using LR.

looking up by Chris Dikos, on Flickr



and here is taking the RAW image, applying a few filters in NIK Color Effects PRO then making a few small adjustments in LR...

A few observations;

Using the NIK Color Effects at first was a bit exciting. The various filters are an amazingly easy way to good a quick dynamic look for you files. I had fun playing around and really just scratched the surface.
The downside I observed was noticeable IQ degrading in the file as you applied filters; especially in the shadows. In the SSE image I could not "settle" for the final result from Color Effects because of color bleeding in the shadows. However, to get rid of the color bleeding I had to settle from some CA in the bottom left trees. I think detail in the shadows also suffered - doesn't look nearly as "clean". I'm anxious to see how the other programs work for me.

 

[dmaxphil]

A little goes a long way with Color Efex

 

[fractal]

A little goes a long way with Color Efex

Lol!

You know what happens when you get a new toy; You want to test the limits right away.

 

[dmaxphil]

I'm Guilty

 

[TheBigE]

So I decided to give NIK a trial download (this was before the announcement that it will be free....and ultimately unsupported, the later is an opinion only).

Here is the same image

Star
First is the photo with basic adjustments in LR

Lightroom

Photoshop -

NIK Adjustments - Basically a Detail Extractor and Contrast Filter

Each has there merits, for me the PS one seems to be "what" I remember...

For me NIK is good, but it can quickly get out of control and really needs to be dialed back some in ColorEFEX.

Thoughts?

 

[sharona]

Did you try Viveza? I think that is what it was called. Trying to remember from when I trialed NIK a few years ago... Going to download it because it's free but will stick to the Topaz plug ins 99% of the time.