PP with Lightroom

[johnb304]

I have just started trying my hand at post processing in Lightroom 3. Below is a before and after photo. I think the after pic certainly looks better but I don't know what to do at this point to improve. CC welcomed. Thanks


IMG_0344 by John Blalock, on Flickr


IMG_0344-1 by John Blalock, on Flickr

 

[Natalie]

Second version looks way over-sharpened and has too much contrast. The goal of editing photos is generally not to make them look edited, but to make them look like the actual subject. Since the camera sensor isn't nearly as sensitive as and has a much lower dynamic range than the human eye, that is what we are trying to correct. If the photo was shot correctly, it might only require slight tweaks to the WB, contrast, highlights, shadows, etc. Here is my version of your photo, but there is only so much that can be done with a 640x480 pixel JPEG:

 

[Dominantly]

I think you went a bit overboard with the processing.

 

[johnb304]

Thanks for the CC....back to the drawing board.

 

[Dominantly]

Try to work from the top to the bottom in LR, and be careful when adjusting the saturation and vibrance. When I do so, I avoid the Presence section and skip down to HSL.

 

[MLeeK]

In order to sharpen properly you need to zoom to 100%. There are a couple of tricks too. Try holding the alt key while you move any of the sharpening sliders to help you out a bit!

 

[JClishe]

Working from top to bottom in the Develop module panels is great advice. Also, did you Auto Tone this first? I find that usually does a great job of getting the photo pretty close to where you want it to be.

Looking at your original, I'd probably drop the Darks in the tone curve a little, drop the luminance in the sky, maybe boost the saturation in the sky just a little, and maybe use the adjustment brush to sharpen the rock face a bit. Really not much different than what you did, I just think your edits were too agressive. Obviously we can't see your histogram but it appears to be exposed pretty well; generally speaking you want to be "exposed to the right" and it looks like you've done that without clipping anything.

 

[o hey tyler]

You can also PP in a catheter if you prefer.

 

[Mitica100]

You can also PP in a catheter if you prefer.

^
Not CC! Please don't reply in the future if you have nothing constructive to add. Thank you.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Try to work from the top to the bottom in LR, and be careful when adjusting the saturation and vibrance. When I do so, I avoid the Presence section and skip down to HSL.

+1 and don't get greedy with the sliders =)

 

[johnb304]

Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations...