What do you use editing software for?

cfaulds · Dec 28, 2009

I know the obvious answer is to correct exposure/WB but it would be good to see some examples of how you have improved an image or how you have changed it any why.

I would really, really like to see some examples of portraits/landscapes/nature/wildlife that you have editing - show the ORIGINAL too!

Or, just tell me... haha, but i emphasize that I would like to see some examples!

Thanks in advance!
Callum

Mulewings~ · Dec 28, 2009

Original:

I took the original and used Photoshop to change this to black and white and edited it to make the clouds literally pop from the sky.

Sometimes you have to experiment with editing software to find something that excites you...

Edited:

TommyF · Dec 28, 2009

Dude your editing skills are awesome. That is probably the nicest B&W landscape I have ever seen. Great job.

Mulewings~ · Dec 28, 2009

TommyF said:
Dude your editing skills are awesome. That is probably the nicest B&W landscape I have ever seen. Great job.

Well thanks, but it wasn't hard! I've done some really awful things also. :lol:

DogGoneGood · Dec 28, 2009

Mulewings~ said:
Original:
I took the original and used Photoshop to change this to black and white and edited it to make the clouds literally pop from the sky.

Great pic! :thumbup: Can I ask what you used in Photoshop to make the clouds pop? I like that a lot.

As to the OP, here's a couple of my original photo's, and then the finished product when I was done in Photoshop.

Original:

Finished Photo:

For that photo, I straightened it out, as it was lop-side. I also centered her up some and cropped closer to her. Then I adjusted the brightness and contrast, especially on the bricks, to make them "pop" with color. I also brightened and contrasted her eyes, and sharpened them up. Lastly, I blurred the top and bottom of the steps some, to make her the center of the image.

Original:

Finished Photo:

For this one, I cropped it some to make it more of an up-close portrait. I also used the cloning tool to fix the hair on her ears and to smoothe it out some (she has some scarring on her ears where there's no hair, from past abuse before I got her). I also cropped out the mat, adjusted the brightness and contrast, and greyscaled the photo. I adjusted the contrast after I greyscale it, in order to darken her up some (as she's a dark red dachshund). Lastly I blurred the edges, and sharpened up her eyes to make them more noticeable.

Last one...

Original:

Finished Photo:

For this one, I straightened it up, as it was unbalanced, and cropped it some to make it a closer portrait. I cropped out all the background and left just the wood paneling in the background. I adjusted the color on the bricks to give them some warmth, and adjusted the brightness and contrast. I also sharpened her eyes up to make them more visual.

Josh66 · Dec 28, 2009

Here's one from today:

The "before" one is the RAW straight out of the camera - everything 'as shot' or at the default.

rvaphotographer · Dec 28, 2009

I use aperture it's like photoshop for mac computers. Sometimes I use picnik.com for they're little filter effects like the cinema box on the third picture.

Original

After Aperture

After Picnik.com

Live_free · Dec 28, 2009

I might post photos later, but I use aperture 2 and photoshop CS3 extended.

HikinMike · Dec 28, 2009

I do things a bit differently. Most of my landscape photographs are at least two separate exposures, hand-blended using Layer Masks in CS2.

I used 3 separate exposures on this image...

5D, 70-200mm, ISO 100, 1/4, f/11

5D, 70-200mm, ISO 100, 1/8, f/11

5D, 70-200mm, ISO 100, 1/30, f/11

Final Product....

AfroKen · Dec 28, 2009

The end result is very natural looking, and very beautiful. I totally do not know how to do that, although I get what you are doing conceptually. Wow. Fantastic job!!!!

Josh66 · Dec 28, 2009

HikinMike said:
I do things a bit differently. Most of my landscape photographs are at least two separate exposures, hand-blended using Layer Masks in CS2.
...

Very nice.

That's what HDR should look like, not something out of Alice in Wonderland.

HikinMike · Dec 29, 2009

Thanks Ken and Josh...I try!

Gaerek · Dec 29, 2009

HikinMike said:
I do things a bit differently. Most of my landscape photographs are at least two separate exposures, hand-blended using Layer Masks in CS2.

So there really are still people who know that HDR means High Dynamic Range and not "A lazy way to use a $100 program to ruin photos by making them super contrasty, super saturated, and totally unnatural!"

Good job man! :thumbup:

cfaulds · Dec 29, 2009

Mulewings: That is incredible! Im amazed at the sky! How do you do that!?!

DogGoneGood: I really like how you have brought the background to life, and especially how you edited the dog on the greyscale image

O||||||O : I have no idea what that is, but the second image looks so much better with the more vibrants colours

rvaphotographer: I really like how you hvae showed me/us 2 different edited images of the same image - gives me/us more ideas

- i especially like the last one

Hikin Mike: My FAVOURITE! WOW. That is seriously incredible. I am now reading on how to use layer masks on photoshop CS3 extended .... I want to do that!!!!! Im amazed! That has blown me away - the final image looks incredible! Great job!

Thanks for everyone who posted their images and gave me/everyone examples. This has really helped me to see what i can use editing programs for, and how i can make my images look better

bigtwinky · Dec 29, 2009

original

post processed

Not a huge amount of post processing...levels / curves adjustment, contrast adjustment, green tone conversion. Ive received some negative comments on the green colour and some would prefer b&w.