Looking for comments on first serious PS attempt.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

12/09/2003 03:09:46 AM · #1

Still a work in progress, but I spent an hour on it and was wondering if anyone had any constructive criticism.

I used 4 different levels layers to bring out the (hopefully) best tones of each region, sharpened with usm, then used some gaussian blur to fuzz the trees back out a little.

I'm too tired to watch the thread, so I'll see what anyone says tomorrow!

Thanks in advance.

Natator

Canon EOS-5D

12/09/2003 04:52:22 AM · #2

Nice shot. The blurred trees work well to give it real depth, making the bridge leap out at you.

I'd like to see the original to see what your starting point was. You've certainly done a better job than I would have with the PS work.

brianlh

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/09/2003 05:44:16 AM · #3

You said you're trying to bring out the tones of each region - on my monitor the water and some trees appear to be purple. Not sure if this is what you were going for, but just throwing that observation out there.

Koriyama

Nikon D200

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

12/09/2003 07:58:10 AM · #4

I'm with Brianlh, the colours are a bit off on my monitor, too. You have brought out the bridge, but maybe at some expense to the other elements in the photo.

In terms of the composition (not what you're asking about, I know, but...) wouldn't it be better to crop so that the bridge really is the main piece? The water and the forest are very dominant at the moment, and that's where the colour problems are the most obvious.

Why don't you post a resized original and ask members (me?) to see what we might achieve. There was a very instructional thread 2 weeks ago along the same lines.

12/09/2003 08:21:59 AM · #5

Dang it, I don't see any purple. I had one other image I put up here with a little bit off colors and could see it when someone else pointed it out, but not this time. I'm gonna resize the original now, how big do you want it. The original is an 8 meg tiff... Oh yeah, it's from way back when I first got my camera so I'm not trying to make it perfect, just practicing what I know...

12/09/2003 08:35:47 AM · #6

Well I gotta go back to work and will be there most of day so here is my original resized to 640x480 highest quality jpeg.

Edit to say: OK when I look at them both back to back I can see the purple in the trees, but the water looks OK to me. Oh yeah, I'll be at work, but will pop in to look as often as I can! (even thoug I ain't supposed to :~P)

Message edited by author 2003-12-09 08:38:16.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

12/09/2003 09:26:44 AM · #7

I think it is a good attempt, but maybe you've gone a bit too far with the colour saturation.

It can become very difficult to evaluate colour changes, just by looking at the image you are working on, because your eye adapts quite rapidly to changes you make.

It can help a lot to have the original or an earlier version open as a control to give context to the changes you are making - it helps to ground the adjustments more.

Also, in photoshop, the image->Adjust->variations command can be really useful for placing the image in context with many other potential colour changes. I use it for reference, rather than for making actual changes but it can be significantly helpful in seeing things that have gone too far or have been overlooked.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/09/2003 10:41:09 AM · #8

Originally posted by Gordon:

Also, in photoshop, the image->Adjust->variations command can be really useful for placing the image in context with many other potential colour changes. I use it for reference, rather than for making actual changes but it can be significantly helpful in seeing things that have gone too far or have been overlooked.

OK...I'm not at home and can't play with that right now, but will definately check that out as soon as I get there.

Edited to ask: I have my version saved as a .psd with all the layers. To edit the color adjustments that I've done all I need to do is go back in and adjust the layers in question, right?

Message edited by author 2003-12-09 10:42:39.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

12/09/2003 10:44:57 AM · #9

Originally posted by TooCool:

Edited to ask: I have my version saved as a .psd with all the layers. To edit the color adjustments that I've done all I need to do is go back in and adjust the layers in question, right?

Yup

kiwiness

Canon Canon 1d x Mark II

12/09/2003 10:45:28 AM · #10

Originally posted by TooCool:

Edited to ask: I have my version saved as a .psd with all the layers. To edit the color adjustments that I've done all I need to do is go back in and adjust the layers in question, right?

Yep, that's one of the main advantages of using adjustment layers.

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

12/09/2003 10:47:31 AM · #11

Heehee, I'm slowly learning!

Koriyama

Nikon D200

12/09/2003 11:16:44 AM · #12

Originally posted by TooCool:

I'm gonna resize the original now, how big do you want it. The original is an 8 meg tiff......

Around the DPC 150kb would be fine for trials.

Originally posted by TooCool:

Oh yeah, it's from way back when I first got my camera so I'm not trying to make it perfect, just practicing what I know...

I wish that I had your upfrontedness. You can learn so much more. Good luck.

Jim