Benjikan is my hero! 2 pic comparisons using his workflow

"I used Benjikan's workflow method provided on this forum"

Can you post a link to the thread that had the workflow? I tried 'search', but could find no reference to it. Thanks!

(PS Love the first pic!)

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UPDATE: Silly me, it was right there!

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74450
 
Hm, I was just coming on the forums to try to find out more information about Benjikan's technique and I found this. Ashfordphoto, I didn't notice the haloes until Kyle pointed them out, either. I really like this technique, but I'm having a hard time trusting my eyes with it. It seems like if I make any other adjustments, particularly curves adjustments, adding Benjikan's workflow gives it too much punch. Is there a guide that should be used when making adjustments to photos? I like the post-processed look on these and on my own photos after applying this technique, but I wonder if I only like them because I like the look of alternative processes, and this technique adds a touch of strangeness to certain images? (Not in a bad way-- like I said, I like it.)
 
Aquarium, Interesting observations regarding this. I think it's something that I'm dealing with too - I'm trying to find the balance between a great post-processing vs. natural (looking). I hope people don't bring the natural stick down on me - but I enjoy post-processing and am visually a graphic person which is why I enjoy the pop and awe of workflows like this. Finding that balance is key, and I don't think I've been able to do it yet.
 
Hm, I was just coming on the forums to try to find out more information about Benjikan's technique and I found this. Ashfordphoto, I didn't notice the haloes until Kyle pointed them out, either. I really like this technique, but I'm having a hard time trusting my eyes with it. It seems like if I make any other adjustments, particularly curves adjustments, adding Benjikan's workflow gives it too much punch. Is there a guide that should be used when making adjustments to photos? I like the post-processed look on these and on my own photos after applying this technique, but I wonder if I only like them because I like the look of alternative processes, and this technique adds a touch of strangeness to certain images? (Not in a bad way-- like I said, I like it.)

But seriously folks. Another approach I use and am doing on the "Diva" story is this..

When the Raw image has been imported in to Camera Raw, I Sharpen at between 25-30 on the slider and 50 on Color Noise Reduction, Luminance Smoothing at Zero. Click OK.

When in Photoshop, go to Layers and make a Duplicate Layer. Now Desaturate the image. Go to the Layers Menu and click on Soft Light. Now, because you didn't use the Contrast Unsharp move, i.e. 10-15 percent at 40-60 pixels you can push the Opacity and Fill sliders much harder. 60 to 90 percent. When back in PS you can now push up your overall Saturation if so desired by +5 to +10 to compensate in the loss of Saturation produced by adding the B&W layer. I don't, I like that Desaturated look. It's a matter of taste..

Ben
 
This technique works very well on high res images but should be applied sparingly if you plan on resizing much smaller for the web. It produces over-contrasty, over-sharpened images quite easily on these smaller iamges.
 
AD, yes, I too have tried the effect on photos that ended up looking strange, while others looked much better with the technique. As with any tool, there are some things that the technique is good for, and some things that it is not (especially pictures with little detail and smooth gradients that should stay smooth).

Ashford, remind people that even using a flash/strobe is an "unnatural", yet useful effect. Dodging and burning in film photography is an "unnatural" but sometimes useful effect. There are a lot of things we do in photography that should be considered "unnatural", yet they result in better photos; either better representations of what we saw when we took the photo (photographer as documentor), or the artistic impressions of what we saw through the viewfinder (photographer as artist).

Oh well.

I'd like to ask Ben how he came up with these "dual layer plus soft light" sharpening techniques...was it a seed of an idea of what should work plus trial and error for what numbers to try?
 
"EDIT: also make sure you are applying his process to full sized images if you can. sharpening the smaller resolution pictures will lead to more artifacts sooner."

ashford, can you tell us if you shrank the photos and then applied the effect, or did you start with hi-res photos with the effect applied, which were then shrunk down?

The more I look at the halos, the more it looks like you are sharpening JPEG artifacts from the photo.
 

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