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03/28/2007 03:02:16 AM · #1 |
I would like to edit your images! I'm not saying I'm the best one to do edits, or anything like that - just want to put the offer out there.
The criteria (in no particular order) are:
1. Give me a tiny bit of background of the shot.
2. Please post a link to a full-size original.
3. Must be in the position of not feeling too strong with post-processing yourself. This is important because I want to be able to write up the steps that I took in Photoshop (v. 7) and have that be helpful to you.
4. I intend to compile a list of write-ups of editing that I do, and you must be okay with me including small and/or watermarked versions of your images with the write-up.
Only taking the first person to post right now - hope to do more soon.
Message edited by author 2007-03-28 17:06:41. |
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03/28/2007 03:18:36 AM · #2 |
Hmmm... want to edit one of mine?
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03/28/2007 04:17:59 AM · #3 |
You're really good at post processing though!
I'll edit something and tell you what I did but no hugely detailed write-up. Sound good?
Message edited by author 2007-03-28 04:19:41. |
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03/28/2007 01:09:39 PM · #4 |
I am pathetic at post processing! I have been wanting to work up my Arch Fireworks picture. Would you mind giving it a shot? I can upload the full sized tonight after work.
Thanks, Drew |
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03/28/2007 01:20:43 PM · #5 |
I'll bite.
This isn't quite "full size" as photobucket will only allow up to a 1MB file, so I cropped a bit, and saved for web optimized for 1MB, then uploaded it to photobucket.
Baby Picture
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03/28/2007 03:11:25 PM · #6 |
Three here and one in my email to do. I'll start working on edits for the first two posters when I get a link, and right now I'm doing kashi's.
No more requests for right now sorry! |
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03/28/2007 03:19:40 PM · #7 |
:) Thanks. I can't wait to see what you do with it.
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03/28/2007 04:53:16 PM · #8 |
Using Photoshop 7
Background: Color
First I make a duplicate copy of the background layer. I usually use adjustment layers, which wouldn't change the image layer, but just in case I want to go back and do some sharpening, etc, that'll make sure I don't do the changes to the original image.
The first thing I notice with your image is the background. You've got a nice background but we could obviously change some things. First, I want to make it whiter. I use an adjustment layer for selective color. I choose whites from the drop down menu, and then adjust the black slider so that there is no black in the whites (making the whites lighter). This does great for the background but also changes highlights in the subject's skin, which we don't want, so we're going to mask the selective color layer.
The selective color layer already has a mask so I don't need to click the little square with a circle in it at the bottom of the layers window. With the white box to the immediate left of "selective color" clicked, I will paint black over the areas of the subject. This masks off the effect, leaving the subject unchanged by the selective color edit.
I use around a 169 pixel brush with soft edges, and the pen selected. This is because I don't need to have any really sharp edges when I mask. It's kind of hard to tell where I paint the black, however, so what I do is this. Between the background and the duplicate background layers, I will use a new fill layer, and choose a light grey color. The duplicate background layer's opacity I adjust to about 20% or so. The selective color edit will effect the color fill, and we can see that since we lowered the opacity of the image. That way I can paint and see where I have painted and where I have not.
After I'm finished filling in the subject, I then adjust the opacity of the background copy layer back to 100% and remove the color fill layer.
Background: Cloning
The next thing I want to do is get rid of the non-white portions of the background in the upper and middle left. I'll use the cloning tool, around 350 pixels, on the *duplicate* background layer. Next, I want to clone out the drool so I will work on the same layer to do this. I use a combination of the clone tool at a much smaller brush size, as well as the healing brush, to get a natural looking result. I zoom in a great deal so that I can work on the smaller details. What I do is clone the area to the bottom left of the whiter drool area, and then paint over the whiter area. I then use the healing brush to blend things together a bit more.
Levels
Before I go any further I definitely want to adjust the levels of the shot. (Curves also works, but I'm not as comfortable with it because I do not know it as well.) I do an adjustment layer for levels. I try auto levels but I'm not satisfied with how that turned out, so I decide instead to adjust it manually. A trick I use is to pull the arrows on the left and right in towards the middle, stopping where the black in the graph starts, see how that looks, and adjust if needed. So what I end up with is 8, 1.00, 226.
Over top of that, I do another adjustment layer for levels, this time seeing what happens when I adjust the channels separately. I end up with red: 17, 1.00, 245 / green: 22, 1.00, 247 / blue: 22, 1.00, 243. My intention was to hide the first levels layer that I did and see how it looked with the second one on its own, to compare the effects and choose between them. But I like how it ended up looking when both of the layers are visible, so that is how I leave it.
Misc
There are several more things I could do with this image. First, I could clone out various marks on the subject's face and clothing. I have done a couple of spots on the clothes but the face I left alone as I prefer it looking more natural.
Secondly, I could change the clothing color. I point this out not because I think the image needs it, but because this is a great example of an easy application of selective color layers. What I mean is that the clothing is all one color, and it's a color that doesn't appear in most other parts of the image. So it would be very easy to just do a quick mask of the eyes (also blue) on a selective color layer. If you wanted to, you would choose blues from the drop-down menu and adjust the color sliders. An option that I am a fan of is cyan +100, magenta -100, yellow -20, black -41.
The two other things to do are sharpening of the image, and enhancement of the eyes.
Sharpening
Sharpening is not one of my strong points. I really liked "smart sharpen" in Photoshop CS2 but I do not have that version right now. I could use USM but that's most always a bit iffy for me because I don't know exactly how to combine the options to get the best result. So I am going to use Neat Image. You can get it for free at neatimage.com - it is a standalone program but also functions as a Photoshop plug-in, and works for noise reduction as well as sharpening. Unfortunately the free version will not do images larger than 1024 pixels so I will resize the image.
(Note: If I were going to do a ton more edits, I would definitely do that before resizing, as it is always better to have full-size versions of things.)
I want to create a duplicate layer of the duplicate background. That will leave the original background image, the image where we cloned the background, and a copy of the image where we cloned the background. (I do this in case I decide, for example, that I have sharpened too much - I can simply reduce the opacity of the layer I used Neat Image. If I blend it with something identical except for the sharpening, it will simply lower the amount of sharpening, but if I don't have that other layer, I am blending it with something that has a brown part on the background, which is definitely not what we want.
(Another advantage to this method is that I can name the layers with the types of edits I have done, if I want, which could help if a shot needs to be validated and I need to see what steps I have taken. I would have "Background" (which is unedited), "Background Copy - clone and healing brush", and "Background copy 2 - Neat Image".)
I make sure that the layer I want to use Neat Image on is selected, and I access NI under the filter menu at the bottom. You will see it will take just that one layer, without any of the other layers added to it. I click "auto profile" and drag the box around if I need to until I find something that doesn't give me "clipping" or "not uniform". "Auto profile" again will sample the image and use that for the next step - the tab "noise filter settings" at the top. At that tab, on the top right of the window I will see presets. I choose "filter and sharpen image" and then "preview" at the top left. I like how that looks so I click "apply".
I could do more sharpening around some areas, especially the eyes and the hair, but I decide not to. The last thing I want to work on is the coloring of the eyes. You will notice that the whites of the eyes look rather grey, and the subject's left iris seems to blend in with the edge of the eye.
Eyes
I make another duplicate layer (I think probably a lot of people would say I am going overboard with the layers; it's just how I like to do things) and mask off everything but the eyes and a very tiny edge around them. To make sure I have masked properly, I hide the other image layers, making them visible again when I am done. For this it is best to use a brush with a hard edge. I then click the square next to the mask (the one with the picture on it) and, using a 2 pixel brush, I dodge the area between the subject's left iris and the edge of the eye, with the range selected as "shadows" and exposure as 100%. I then bring the exposure down to 50% and use a combination of brush sizes to dodge the whites of the eyes, including the newly created part. I am not incredibly pleased with the result, and if you aren't either I would recommend the wonderful DPC tutorial on pimping eyes.
That's it! If you want to have some fun, you can create an additional duplicate of the background, drag it up to the top of the layers list, and have fun hiding and un-hiding so you can see the impact of the neat edits you have made!
Message edited by author 2007-03-28 17:35:09. |
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03/28/2007 04:55:29 PM · #9 |
Going to include in this thread one I did for the post processing mentorship thread.
Using Photoshop 7
Levels
First thing I always do is make a copy of the background layer. I usually use adjustment layers, which wouldn't change the image layer, but just in case I want to go back and do some sharpening, etc, that'll make sure I don't do the changes to the original image.
The first step in my workflow is almost always levels. I have seen so many wonderful shots that I think fall just a little short because of needing a levels adjustment. (Curves also works, but I'm not as comfortable with it because I do not know it as well.)
Hm, okay. Auto levels gives a weird purple orange color. Cool but not what I want to go for.
To adjust manually. A trick I use is to pull the arrows on the left and right in towards the middle, stopping where the black in the graph starts. But for your image that's a little too extreme, so I'm going with 44, 1.00, 240.
Then I hide that layer and do another adjustment layer for levels, this time seeing what happens when I adjust the channels separately. What I do is red: 49, 1.00, 204 / green: 39, 1.00, 255 / blue 50, 1.00, 223. I compare the two levels layers and like the second one way more. However I'm going to do another levels layer to bump up the contrast. 17, 1.00, 239 (to all channels at once).
I then delete the original, unused levels layer.
Selective color to lighten the whites
I want the whites on the waves to be whiter. I use a selective color layer, choosing whites from the drop-down menu and sliding the black value all the way down to the left. That's nice for the waves, but it whitens the sky a lot. I want to remove the effect from the sky altogether, so I use a mask. The selective color layer already has a mask so I don't need to click the little square with a circle in it at the bottom of the layers window. With the white box to the immediate left of "selective color" clicked, I then use the selection tool to select the sky, and use the paint fill tool to fill in the color black. This masks off the effect, leaving the sky unchanged by the selective color edit.
I duplicate the selective color layer because I want the whites to be even brighter. But I go back to the first selective color layer and play around with the blending modes - I really like "hard light" because it seems to give the ocean so much depth. But it's too extreme, so I take the opacity down to 45%.
Sky
Now the sky looks a bit too subtle in comparison to the ocean. So I'm going to put an adjustment layer on, changing no values, but just changing the blending mode afterwards. I pick selective color just because, and mask off the water using the same technique as before. What I choose is linear burn at 38%.
Levels again
I then need to adjust the levels again so I do another layer at 6, 1.00, 235. I also feel that the blue in the clouds is a bit clashing with the other colors. I do another selective color layer, this time picking the blues, and changing cyan to -20, yellow to -10, and black to +18. I like how it seems to blend better with the pinkish colors. I don't need to do a mask since the water is green, not blue.
Correcting overprocessing
Okay, I think I'm done, but something just seems a tad bit off and I think I'm feeling like it's a bit overprocessed. So I take the copy of the background layer and drag it to the top. I then adjust the opacity to zero. This is what it is like with my edits. I then start moving the opacity back up. What this does is effectively minimizes the impact of all my edits. I stop at 17%, and then check how it looks by hiding and un-hiding the layer to compare. I like how it looks so I keep it.
Message edited by author 2007-03-28 17:37:18. |
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03/28/2007 04:57:19 PM · #10 |
| The baby edit looks really nice, well done.. |
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03/28/2007 04:59:58 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by buzzrock:
The baby edit looks really nice, well done.. |
I agree - very nice. Thank you.
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03/28/2007 05:13:31 PM · #12 |
Yes great work Kelly. Might I suggest labeling your editing steps so that it's easier to read? For example something along the lines of this:
Tonal/Color Adjustments:
....
Fixing the background:
....
Getting more contrast
...
And so on and so forth. That would also help people go directly to areas that they may be interested in. Just a thought. |
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03/28/2007 05:16:11 PM · #13 |
Nice work on this !
Originally posted by klstover:
Using Photoshop 7
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03/28/2007 05:32:07 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by yanko:
Might I suggest labeling your editing steps so that it's easier to read? |
YAY! That is a super idea, thank you! |
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03/28/2007 05:46:56 PM · #15 |
Excellent work. I am going to hurry home now to upload my Arch Fireworks picture for you. I can't wait to see how you improve it.
-Drew |
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03/28/2007 09:13:22 PM · #16 |
I think these links should work...they are from the "view full-sized image" button I see when looking at pictures in my own portfolio. If the links don't work for you, I'll find another way.
And here is my original after I attempted to clone out the light post and crop a little.
I would like to be able to "see" the Arch instead of having it blend into the background. I have a black and white of this in a 8x10 frame, but if you just glance at it it looks like fireworks...no arch.
Thank you for taking the time to look into this. I am excited to see and learn how to process a shot like this.
-Drew
Edit to remove links, if anyone needs them I can put them back up.
Message edited by author 2007-11-28 16:50:23. |
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03/28/2007 09:20:06 PM · #17 |
Kelly, you should be very proud at how far you've come in post processing. Bravo!
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03/28/2007 09:39:47 PM · #18 |
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03/28/2007 10:03:46 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by xXxscarletxXx:
Linky
Good Luck ^_^ |
I did a little edit myself. let me know if you want me to remove it as i didn't ask permission. if you'd like to know the processing steps i'd be more than happy to provide them.
Scarlet
Lee |
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03/28/2007 10:07:59 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by Tranquil:
Originally posted by xXxscarletxXx:
Linky
Good Luck ^_^ |
I did a little edit myself. let me know if you want me to remove it as i didn't ask permission. if you'd like to know the processing steps i'd be more than happy to provide them.
Scarlet
Lee |
It's cool ^_^
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03/29/2007 12:09:22 PM · #21 |
Hi Kelly.. I would appreciate your help in doing what can be done with this picture..
I was messing around and didn't pull out any lights and was just using my son as a "test" subject for a shoot I was doing later on that day. Well, I only wanted to use natural light and it worked out good since my model was standing, but he was on the ground and everything came out super under exposed and really noisy. He of course, poses in the most perfect cute position of his life and I screw it up !!! If you can help me fix this, I'll just cry with happiness for the rest of the day.
edit to fix picture
Message edited by author 2007-03-29 12:11:18. |
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03/29/2007 03:17:27 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by kandykarml:
Hi Kelly.. I would appreciate your help in doing what can be done with this picture.. |
Sorry, want to hold off on the requests for now - I'm already behind. |
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03/29/2007 03:17:51 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Kelly, you should be very proud at how far you've come in post processing. Bravo! |
:-) Thanks bunches. |
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03/29/2007 03:36:59 PM · #24 |
| Very nice work, Kelly! I do agree that the eyes are bit overdone but that certainly seems to be a trend lately and a lot of people really like it. Awesome explanations, too! What I think is really important, though, (besides how nice it is for you to share all this) is that you have a great eye for seeing what a picture can be, then getting it there. Quite an admirable skill! |
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03/29/2007 03:47:13 PM · #25 |
i hope nobody minds, but i had a very quick play.
Really nice photograph to work with.
Kev |
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