Help with post processing! - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/13/2005 08:56:37 PM · #1

Please help me with this! I have tried a few different things, and it's just not coming out right. Here is the original. Give me some ideas please! :)

Thanks!
Tara

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

07/13/2005 08:58:02 PM · #2

What are you going for? Is it too yellow? Are some areas too dark? bright?

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

07/13/2005 09:00:44 PM · #3

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

What are you going for? Is it too yellow? Are some areas too dark? bright?

Ha! I guess that would help, huh? Well, I'd like to get rid of the overexposed light and the people in the background, and make Brenna and star stand out better. I kind of like the reflection on the ground, but it might be too distracting.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

07/13/2005 09:04:48 PM · #4

Crop closer to the subject and it looks good.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/13/2005 09:06:52 PM · #5

The bright light and the area under it where the people are the brightest area of the image so the only way to make that part less distracting is to crop it out, blur it or go for something funky colourwise and darken that area.

SJCarter

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/13/2005 09:54:12 PM · #6

Here's what I did (very quick down & dirty), but because of the size/dimensions of the file already, it is a bit pixelated.

(And I use MS Digital Image Pro 10, but there are similar commands in PS.)
1. Used freehand cut/copy & paste on background to essentially dodge & burn out the unwanted bystanders.
2. Cropped
3. Used EdgeFinder to isolate Brenna and star
4. Copied them to new page and adjusted color saturation and light exposure (to more blue and reduce some glare)
5. Copied the Inverted image (background) to new page and applied gaussian blur at 8.9% then made image transparent 40%.
6. Pasted new blurred partially transparent background over original image.
7. Made new Brenna and star image 20% transparent and copied it to original image.
8. Resaved file.

Not sure if this is what you were going for or not...

Jimmy

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/13/2005 10:02:27 PM · #7

I like it Jimmy! What is EdgeFinder? That is my hardest thing, is extracting elements perfectly. I always muss it up. I have PS CS, and I've tried different ways to extract, select, and cut, but it tends to look wrong sometimes.

SJCarter

Canon EOS-7D

07/13/2005 10:09:35 PM · #8

EdgeFinder is just one of the tools in MS Digital Image Pro. I'm sure there is a comparable tool in PS. It allows you to click a point in the image (then an area - that you can control the size of - enclosed in dotted lines around the curser appears flowing from the original point). You then click further down the edge you want to outline (example click edge of knee then edge of ankle, then bottom of foot, then back up leg, etc.) until you have completed the outline. You're then able to modify only the selected image. (You can also add to or subtract from your selected piece using the same tool until you get exactly what you want outlined.)

An alternative method is using the freehand outline tool (or its PS equivalent) - and sometimes this is necessary.

Make sense? Check out the manual for PS and I'll be you find it. :-)

Glad you liked it - like I said, it was pretty quick and loosely done to give you the idea.

Jimmy

Edit: Oh yeah, and don't feel bad - I'm still learning new stuff with my software every day too! =D

Message edited by author 2005-07-13 22:10:41.

dacrazyrn

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

07/13/2005 10:19:48 PM · #9

If you have Photoshop, the equivalent, would probably be the Path Tool.

joezl

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

07/13/2005 10:28:21 PM · #10

... or the pen tool

aboutimage

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/13/2005 10:35:09 PM · #11

Originally posted by LadeeM:

Please help me with this! I have tried a few different things, and it's just not coming out right. Here is the original. Give me some ideas please! :)

Thanks!
Tara

Well, here is my take on the photo:

-Color was a distraction from the main element
-Many distracting background elements like people, window, telephone wires, etc.
-Cropping was allowing too many distractors into the image

Based on that, I cropped vertically, darkened the shadows, cleaned out the distractors, and killed the color. Mind you, these are quick edits, and I've not done a great job on the telephone wires (I also overdid it on the NeatImage). 10 minute processing job. 30 minutes would fix it right. This is just one of about a zillion different ways someone could "improve" your photo. Mine is just one of many opinions, I'm sure:

Message edited by author 2005-07-13 22:39:02.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/16/2005 02:15:14 PM · #12

Well, here's what I came up with. I liked the thought of the black and white, with duotone. I used gaussian blur on the background, and cloned out the dudes standing on the street.

Kind of a hard pic to work with, and I appreciate everyone's help! :)

Tara

bfox2

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

07/16/2005 02:25:13 PM · #13

You could also try cloning out the reflection of the street light if you do decide that is too distracting. I played a little and cloned it out and I think it helps the picture out.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/16/2005 05:42:50 PM · #14

How's this? Cloned people, reflection. Selective color to add yellow to hot light. Levels tolighten it up slightly, before using Fievel's COI glow around an oval selection of the subject. Copied glow layer, pasted over original as a luminance layer, faded to 80%, saved for web. Quick and dirty so cloning marks where peopel were are fairly obvious, but...

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-07-16 17:43:46.