Original vs. Edit

[KAMurphy]

Hey!

I was wondering if I could get some constructive criticism on my edit to this photo. I'm new to photography/editing, so any advice is welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Kate

Original:
IMG_1546 by Kate Murphy, on Flickr

Edit:
Canyon with red plant by Kate Murphy, on Flickr

 

[jeffW]

Nice edit, I could see maybe a graduated pull with the layer set to multiple and then reduce it's opacity. You can bring out the shadows with a layer set to screen and then brush in some of the dark foliage. Also for me I see the composition working better as a tight panorama crop

Hope this helps

 

[KAMurphy]

Nice edit, I could see maybe a graduated pull with the layer set to multiple and then reduce it's opacity. You can bring out the shadows with a layer set to screen and then brush in some of the dark foliage. Also for me I see the composition working better as a tight panorama crop

Hope this helps

Thanks! I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind expanding a bit more? What’s a graduated pull?

 

[Designer]

Hey!
..any advice is welcome!

Hey, there, Kate! I'm glad you're here! Much to say; your edit is pretty good, and the distant figure is fairly close to the "thirds" which is where it should be, however, the figure is so small that it tends to get lost in the frame. In my version, I cropped the frame severely, and put the figure way over to one side, which moves him off the vertical third, but he is still on the horizontal third line. More importantly, he is now a prominent part of the composition, albeit still way tiny. This edit draws the eye to the figure, yet includes the canyon as a major part of the composition as well.

I also straightened it some, minor adjustment to WB and exposure, and a tiny bit of sharpening.

Your comments in return?

 

[Upadhyay]

I will not consider this as an edit as the difference is minimal and it’s not adding much value to the original picture.


Editing can make a good picture look better but mostly it cannot take of things that we could easily address at the shooting stage like.

Lighting

Composition

Angle etc.


I guess you need to focus more on getting your perfect shot in the field and then use editing to fine-tune.

 

[tirediron]

Moved to an appropriate gallery for C&C.

 

[weepete]

Hi Kate,

Good to see you're diving right in!

With regards to your image, I really like it. I was actually just thinking this morning I want to explore tthis type of shot more in my own photography (I'be done a few shots with similar concepts). I think that including a person, or a few people in a landscape shot really adds to the image when you are tying to show scale, and the sheer presence of the landscape.

I agree with Jeff and Designer, I would crop this to a panoramic format (2x1, 3x1 I also quite like 16×9 or 16x10) as I don't think the foreground adds much to the image. This will also get rid of the underexposure on the bushes on the left which could do with the shadows being lifted a bit.

Your edit has a couple of issues, it lookes like you've bumped up the saturation? but whatever you havve done has increased the greys on the left and introduced some purple at the middle in the top of the cayon and caused some of what looks to me like posterisation. In general I like whats been done to the sky, the canyon with the colour boost and temp change. What program are you using to edit?

 

[Jeff15]

I agree with everything already said................

 

[KAMurphy]

Hi Kate,

Good to see you're diving right in!

With regards to your image, I really like it. I was actually just thinking this morning I want to explore tthis type of shot more in my own photography (I'be done a few shots with similar concepts). I think that including a person, or a few people in a landscape shot really adds to the image when you are tying to show scale, and the sheer presence of the landscape.

I agree with Jeff and Designer, I would crop this to a panoramic format (2x1, 3x1 I also quite like 16×9 or 16x10) as I don't think the foreground adds much to the image. This will also get rid of the underexposure on the bushes on the left which could do with the shadows being lifted a bit.

Your edit has a couple of issues, it lookes like you've bumped up the saturation? but whatever you havve done has increased the greys on the left and introduced some purple at the middle in the top of the cayon and caused some of what looks to me like posterisation. In general I like whats been done to the sky, the canyon with the colour boost and temp change. What program are you using to edit?

Thanks for the advice! I'd never heard of cropping to a panoramic format, I was just playing around, so I'm going to look into that and figure it out. I'm currently using GIMP as it was recommended to me by my father-in-law, who is quite a good photographer himself. It seems like a great program for introducing the different things that can be done with editing.

I actually didn't do anything with the saturation as that adjustment seemed to make the image pixelated no matter what I did with it, s0 I left that alone. I did play with the contrast a lot, so maybe that's where the difference in the greys and purples came from?

I'm super happy that my edit with the sky worked out and that it doesn't seem over-done. I really played with that a lot because adjusting the contrast left the sky mostly white and I wanted the true blue color that was present on the day to show in the picture. I worked with it for a while and did a lot of experimenting, so I'm glad that it paid off!

I'm glad that having a person in the shot ended up working out! I wasn't sure, but I really loved how it showed the true scale and enormity of the canyon.

 

[KAMurphy]

Hey!
..any advice is welcome!

Hey, there, Kate! I'm glad you're here! Much to say; your edit is pretty good, and the distant figure is fairly close to the "thirds" which is where it should be, however, the figure is so small that it tends to get lost in the frame. In my version, I cropped the frame severely, and put the figure way over to one side, which moves him off the vertical third, but he is still on the horizontal third line. More importantly, he is now a prominent part of the composition, albeit still way tiny. This edit draws the eye to the figure, yet includes the canyon as a major part of the composition as well.

I also straightened it some, minor adjustment to WB and exposure, and a tiny bit of sharpening.

View attachment 156872

Your comments in return?

I love that you took the original and played with it! I hadn't even thought of cropping it like that, I was just trying to make the image look 'better'. I really like what you did here. I love that you found a way to make the figure stand out more and I agree that the cropping was necessary.

The only thing I think is missing from the image is the sky color. It was such an absolutely beautiful blue that really contrasted with the red rock in the canyon. I don't think I did it justice in my edit, and I'm not sure how one would. But otherwise, wow. Just wow!

Thank you so much for your comments and for showing me your edit. I'm a visual learner, so having that in addition to your comments has helped me to learn a lot and has taught me to have a more open mind when editing.

 

[Designer]

The only thing I think is missing from the image is the sky color. It was such an absolutely beautiful blue that really contrasted with the red rock in the canyon. I don't think I did it justice in my edit, and I'm not sure how one would. But otherwise, wow. Just wow!

The thing about the sky is that the saturation varies from low to high. Straight up, the sky will be deep blue, and near the horizon it will be "washed out" looking, for of more whitish. If your original frame is up enough to get the darker blue, then good, otherwise, you're kind of stuck with the pale blue.

In editing, you can enhance colors, but if you over-do it, then people will be turned off by the unnatural colors. The trick is to enhance without making anything garish.

Unless garish is what you want. Some photographs/subjects/style/intent call for outlandish colors, as well as over-the-top editing in other areas as well.

 

[KAMurphy]

The only thing I think is missing from the image is the sky color. It was such an absolutely beautiful blue that really contrasted with the red rock in the canyon. I don't think I did it justice in my edit, and I'm not sure how one would. But otherwise, wow. Just wow!

The think about the sky is that the saturation varies from low to high. Straight up, the sky will be deep blue, and near the horizon it will be "washed out" looking, for of more whitish. If your original frame is up enough to get the darker blue, then good, otherwise, you're kind of stuck with the pale blue.

In editing, you can enhance colors, but if you over-do it, then people will be turned off by the unnatural colors. The trick is to enhance without making anything garish.

Unless garish is what you want. Some photographs/subjects/style/intent call for outlandish colors, as well as over-the-top editing in other areas as well.

Did mine look garish or over-the-top?

 

[Designer]

Did mine look garish or over-the-top?

No, not at all. I just mentioned that by way of furthering your outlook. Actually, we see it only rarely, if ever, so not to worry.

 

[KAMurphy]

Did mine look garish or over-the-top?

No, not at all. I just mentioned that by way of furthering your outlook. Actually, we see it only rarely, if ever, so not to worry.

Oh, good. I was worried! Thank you once again for all of your help.

 

[birdbonkers84]

Hey!

I was wondering if I could get some constructive criticism on my edit to this photo. I'm new to photography/editing, so any advice is welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Kate

Original:
IMG_1546 by Kate Murphy, on Flickr

Edit:
Canyon with red plant by Kate Murphy, on Flickr

Can I ask what you edited it in?

If I was in lightroom, I would try the dehaze slider to remove some of the haze and then take it from there. In your edit I do like the colour you have brought out in the background landscape. Unfortunately you've brought out some mad looking purples and I quite like the subtle colour gradient you had in the sky from the original, which has been lost in the edit, but these are my tastes and at the end of the day you edit the photo to your tastes and vision.

I think designers crop is spot on as before I was admiring that amazing background and didn't even notice the person to the left of the frame, but with the crop and now see the figure and get a really good sense of scale.

It's a good start and with processing its about trial and error, also there are plenty of tutorials on youtube and different ways to process your images, just about finding the one that fits you.

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