Editing before and afters...

[havoc315]

I think I shared this in the other thread, but I'll share it again here.

Some graduated filters, lifting of shadows, selectively playing with certain colors in lightroom:

jilchris-208.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Sunset Kiss by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[havoc315]

Kensico Reservoir by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Before:
DSC00774-2.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[sharona]

Here's another editing "save" of a tough pic. I was at a wedding/reception venue. The space where they had the ceremony was mostly candlelit and it was nighttime so no window light either. I didn't want to use flash and throw off the official photographer and had to take this one from my aisle seat. I used my 50mm wide open in shutter priority at 1/250 with ISO cranked up to 4000. Admittedly, the After looks a bit "stylized" for my taste. That wasn't my original goal but I think it works in this particular shot. Would love to know what I could have/should have done differently editing wise. Did I go too far? I was shooting jpeg and raw so I'll post the unedited jpeg and the finished, edited into submission shot.

jpeg:
CAT_0882_0289 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After: In ACR I bumped the exposure +1.75, clarity +2, vibrance -14, sharpness +38, luminance smoothing 13, color noise reduction 25. Then in Topaz Denoise I applied a strong noise reduction program. Then I desaturated the reds to try to get a usable skin tone then I desaturated the rest a bit too.

CAT_0882_0289b by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[sharona]

Kensico Reservoir by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Before:
DSC00774-2.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Love the edits on this one. Very pretty scene.

 

[havoc315]

Here's another editing "save" of a tough pic. I was at a wedding/reception venue. The space where they had the ceremony was mostly candlelit and it was nighttime so no window light either. I didn't want to use flash and throw off the official photographer and had to take this one from my aisle seat. I used my 50mm wide open in shutter priority at 1/250 with ISO cranked up to 4000. Admittedly, the After looks a bit "stylized" for my taste. That wasn't my original goal but I think it works in this particular shot. Would love to know what I could have/should have done differently editing wise. Did I go too far? I was shooting jpeg and raw so I'll post the unedited jpeg and the finished, edited into submission shot.

jpeg:
CAT_0882_0289 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After: In ACR I bumped the exposure +1.75, clarity +2, vibrance -14, sharpness +38, luminance smoothing 13, color noise reduction 25. Then in Topaz Denoise I applied a strong noise reduction program. Then I desaturated the reds to try to get a usable skin tone then I desaturated the rest a bit too.

CAT_0882_0289b by SharonCat..., on Flickr

You did an awful lot of work, but I don't see you tried what I would have done as a first step --- Just fixing the white balance. Maybe you did that as well. But if not, I think you could have skipped a lot of those steps just by changing the white balance. I do still like the shot, it's great.
Was the official photographer using flash?

 

[fractal]

Here's another editing "save" of a tough pic. I was at a wedding/reception venue. The space where they had the ceremony was mostly candlelit and it was nighttime so no window light either. I didn't want to use flash and throw off the official photographer and had to take this one from my aisle seat. I used my 50mm wide open in shutter priority at 1/250 with ISO cranked up to 4000. Admittedly, the After looks a bit "stylized" for my taste. That wasn't my original goal but I think it works in this particular shot. Would love to know what I could have/should have done differently editing wise. Did I go too far? I was shooting jpeg and raw so I'll post the unedited jpeg and the finished, edited into submission shot.

jpeg:
CAT_0882_0289 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After: In ACR I bumped the exposure +1.75, clarity +2, vibrance -14, sharpness +38, luminance smoothing 13, color noise reduction 25. Then in Topaz Denoise I applied a strong noise reduction program. Then I desaturated the reds to try to get a usable skin tone then I desaturated the rest a bit too.

CAT_0882_0289b by SharonCat..., on Flickr

I think it's a fine job with the editing. Skin tone is always tough in low/bad light. Maybe try converting to B&W?

 

[sharona]

You did an awful lot of work, but I don't see you tried what I would have done as a first step --- Just fixing the white balance. Maybe you did that as well. But if not, I think you could have skipped a lot of those steps just by changing the white balance. I do still like the shot, it's great.
Was the official photographer using flash?

Yes, he was using flash and I tried to time a shot to take advantage of that but with only my 50 and no ability to back up I had to take the shot then or it would have been too late. It was a small wedding with a very short aisle! Maybe 10-12 rows on either side so not much time to compose and of course was ducking and leaning to avoid all the cell phones being held up in my shot! It was months ago but I'm sure I would have started with adjusting the white balance however, when I look at the EXIF data is shows WB Auto which is usually how I shoot then change it in ACR if needed.

I think it's a fine job with the editing. Skin tone is always tough in low/bad light. Maybe try converting to B&W?

I think I tried that back then but I didn't save a copy so not sure why I didn't convert it. I'll have to see how that looks again, thanks!

 

[dmaxphil]

Here's another editing "save" of a tough pic. I was at a wedding/reception venue. The space where they had the ceremony was mostly candlelit and it was nighttime so no window light either. I didn't want to use flash and throw off the official photographer and had to take this one from my aisle seat. I used my 50mm wide open in shutter priority at 1/250 with ISO cranked up to 4000. Admittedly, the After looks a bit "stylized" for my taste. That wasn't my original goal but I think it works in this particular shot. Would love to know what I could have/should have done differently editing wise. Did I go too far? I was shooting jpeg and raw so I'll post the unedited jpeg and the finished, edited into submission shot.

jpeg:
CAT_0882_0289 by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After: In ACR I bumped the exposure +1.75, clarity +2, vibrance -14, sharpness +38, luminance smoothing 13, color noise reduction 25. Then in Topaz Denoise I applied a strong noise reduction program. Then I desaturated the reds to try to get a usable skin tone then I desaturated the rest a bit too.

CAT_0882_0289b by SharonCat..., on Flickr

I like the image. There may be a WB issue but I think you did a great job. I do think B&W might be a good option to look at. Do you use adjustment brushes on specific areas or are you making image-wide changes in post, or both?

 

[dmaxphil]

Kensico Reservoir by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Before:
DSC00774-2.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

Nice one

 

[sharona]

I like the image. There may be a WB issue but I think you did a great job. I do think B&W might be a good option to look at. Do you use adjustment brushes on specific areas or are you making image-wide changes in post, or both?

A bit of both. I'm not great at using the adjustment brushes or the selection tools on complicated images yet but I do give it a try when I think I can make it work. I've had PSE 11 for a while but only recently started using some tutorials to see what it can really do and how to do it. I'm still mostly ignoring layers but more out of laziness than anything else.

 

[millys]

Getting rid of those pesky tourists....LOL!



Before

After

Milly

 

[dmaxphil]

I've always processed photos to my tastes and have noticed that in many cases my wife will prefer a version of a photo that I find unappealing. I suppose each photographer goes through a phase where they are trying to find that "look". I just hope that I don't settle on a "look" that others think is crap. With that aside, here is one from last night where my wife actually liked my processed version. Just playing around more with multiple flashes in my daughters bedroom. This 85mm does well stopped down so I need to force myself to do that in these situations. So I only have the inner part of her left eye in focus. But the whole reason for owning a 1.4 lens is for shooting at 1.4!


Before

After

 

[sharona]

I've always processed photos to my tastes and have noticed that in many cases my wife will prefer a version of a photo that I find unappealing. I suppose each photographer goes through a phase where they are trying to find that "look". I just hope that I don't settle on a "look" that others think is crap. With that aside, here is one from last night where my wife actually liked my processed version. Just playing around more with multiple flashes in my daughters bedroom. This 85mm does well stopped down so I need to force myself to do that in these situations. So I only have the inner part of her left eye in focus. But the whole reason for owning a 1.4 lens is for shooting at 1.4!


Before

After

The edit is definitely a much more interesting photo- it really grabs your attention and holds it on her face much more so than the original.

 

[sharona]

Interested to hear what you all think of this edit. In case I've never said so before, I'm obsessed with photographing flowers. I really need a 105mm macro but for now making due with my Sigma 17-70 OS "Macro".

Before:
Flowers2016_3060 original by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After: Edited in ACR +9 clarity, added an unsharp mask in PSE11 then used a "low key" preset in Topaz Adjust. This edit was not well received on one of my usual photo forums but I really like it. I like the softness and the color.
Flowers2016_3060a by SharonCat..., on Flickr

And then I took it one step further and decided to see how low I could go. This one is a lot more abstract than my usual. I added a stronger low key preset to the already edited copy.
Flowers2016_3060b by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[fractal]

I like the first one the best. Emphasizes the softness and delicate nature. The "harsher" treatment in the middle and last one makes me more aware of the focus only being on the closest petals. I think that approach could have benefitted from a deeper depth of field. The last one I would like to see in black and white, as it has the most contrast.

 

[sharona]

I like the first one the best. Emphasizes the softness and delicate nature. The "harsher" treatment in the middle and last one makes me more aware of the focus only being on the closest petals. I think that approach could have benefitted from a deeper depth of field. The last one I would like to see in black and white, as it has the most contrast.

I agree about the dof. It's a distraction. I definitely could/should have used a smaller aperture, especially since I was using a tripod. I'll give that a try next time. Thanks!

 

[fractal]

I agree about the dof. It's a distraction. I definitely could/should have used a smaller aperture, especially since I was using a tripod. I'll give that a try next time. Thanks!

Are able to save these adjustments?

 

[sharona]

Are able to save these adjustments?

Not sure what you mean?

 

[fractal]

Not sure what you mean?

Could you save those adjustments that you made so with one click you can apply them to another image?

 

[sharona]

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.