Will you please fix my photo?? - DPChallenge Forums

05/31/2004 10:47:26 AM · #1

I shot this photo at my niece's wedding, and would like to give her a print....but I want to make it more dramatic. A severe thunderstorm rolled through an hour before her wedding, and then, thankfully, the weather was great...at the time this picture was taken everybody was very worried about the storm, and I think this pic captures that moment fairly well. It just lacks some punch, IMO.

I have seen many photos on this site with dark, brooding clouds and the like, I'm assuming some post-editing was done (burning/dodging, whatever). I have tried, but succeed only in ruining the pic when I try to achieve that effect....any post-editing guru's willing to give it a try and let me know generally how they did what they did? If you think it's a problem with the pic itself, don't hesitate to let me know that. I can e-mail or post the original later, if that is needed.

PhilipDyer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/31/2004 11:15:28 AM · #2

One really simple thing you can do is select highlights (option-command-~), paste them into a new layer, then choose Multiply mode. You'll need to erase everything on that layer below the mountains to keep the chairs from being too dark, but it does make the sky more ominous.

You can also brighten up the bottom half of the image for contrast by selecting highlights, then selecting inverse and pasting them into a new layer in screen mode. Adjust opacity as you see fit. You can top it off by burning shadows and midtones in your clouds until they look like the beginning of the Wizard of Oz, but that's probably overdoing it a bit. :-)

Good luck!

moodville

Nikon D100

05/31/2004 11:30:27 AM · #3

If you use photoshop then create a new layer and set the blending to soft light. Use the paint brush at around 30% opacity and paint in white to lighten areas and black to darken areas. It's a form of dodge and burn that isnt quite as unpredictable as the dodge/burn tools.

scottwilson

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 28mm f/2.8

05/31/2004 12:04:06 PM · #4

I like a dark purple sky for looking dramatic, so I think this photo might look more dramatic in color. In the modified photo below I selected the sky and then used levels to darken the green channel first and then a darkened the red a bit. For this to really have the full effect you need bright green grass showing so that it is clear this is not simply an evening shot.

Anyway just a thought.

Message edited by author 2004-05-31 12:05:14.

wkoffel

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/31/2004 12:16:29 PM · #5

How about this? :-)

I'm a photoshop rookie, but once I got going, I couldn't resist going over the top and adding the lightning. Anyway, it certainly looks quite ominous now. This is kind of a hack job in a number of areas, but I should really be working around the house instead of much more fun things like modifying other people's photos!

I know this feeling well myself. It was threating (and pouring) rain for almost every hour all weekend except for the one hour in which we got married outside. *phew*

photom

Nikon D200

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

05/31/2004 12:23:03 PM · #6

Originally posted by wkoffel:

How about this? :-)

I wouldn't say that's a hack at all. A very nice job IMHO.

oksamit

Canon EOS-30D

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

05/31/2004 12:46:56 PM · #7

How about this

Ye I no but >>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

wkoffel

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/31/2004 01:01:41 PM · #8

Thanks photom. I appreciate the compliment from someone with your eye! In real life, I'm hardly a modest person, but regarding my photography/photoshop skills, I've been humbled every day since I joined DPC recently. But I'm getting better quickly with inspiration from the site, and fun mini-challenges like Patents4U set out here. :)

oksamit, I love that one! Very trippy with the mountain embossed like that.

-Will

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

05/31/2004 01:04:22 PM · #9

yeah I think it could look better in color, have you got the color version?

caba

Nikon D800

05/31/2004 01:08:06 PM · #10

Same type of chairs in this photo, those chairs are cool in B/W.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/31/2004 01:36:58 PM · #11

Like others, I used masks and curves ... it's hard to avoid haloing at the junction in a low-res image ... it ought to look better with a higher-resolution image.

1.

crabappl3

05/31/2004 01:45:13 PM · #12

Nik Color Effect Pro! Midnight filter, then Sunshine filter with selective dodging to bring out some of the darker features.

-danny

05/31/2004 01:55:58 PM · #13

Originally posted by crabappl3:

Nik Color Effect Pro! Midnight filter, then Sunshine filter with selective dodging to bring out some of the darker features.

-danny

This is great man!

05/31/2004 02:07:00 PM · #14

I tried it also in sepia, It could look ok in sepia I think

Adjustment layers: levels, - birghtness-contrast, hue saturation-colorize to put to sepia, And the dodging and burning.

Message edited by author 2004-05-31 14:09:07.

Kylie

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35

05/31/2004 03:40:25 PM · #15

Originally posted by heida:

I tried it also in sepia, It could look ok in sepia I think

Adjustment layers: levels, - birghtness-contrast, hue saturation-colorize to put to sepia, And the dodging and burning.

Fantastic looking! Amazing all the wonderful takes on a great shot to begin with. I'm learning . . . . . .

steinar

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

05/31/2004 04:09:10 PM · #16

Originally posted by heida:

I tried it also in sepia, It could look ok in sepia I think

Adjustment layers: levels, - birghtness-contrast, hue saturation-colorize to put to sepia, And the dodging and burning.

The master of dodging and burning! Amazing

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

05/31/2004 10:08:38 PM · #17

crabappl3, GeneralE, Oksamit, wkoffel, scottwilson - thanks for the responses. Many different approaches, and really nice results.

PhilipDyer, Moodville - thanks for the ideas, I will certainly try them out (and I'll probably learn some along the way!). And I even got a response or two directly by e-mail - thanks.

Heida - I was excited to see a post from you since I have been very impressed with your work in this area (although probably starting from better base pics!). But the thumbnail link is not working...did you post a modified version of my pic? If so, can I see it? Maybe you are out of room in your portfolio...I could put it in mine and link to it there, if that's the case...

Finally, a couple of comments suggested posting the color version, so here it is...If anyone wants to improve on this, be my guest (and thanks in advance).

ChrisW123

Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS

06/01/2004 12:31:39 AM · #18

Here you go, nice and stormy:

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

06/01/2004 08:22:58 AM · #19

Originally posted by ChrisW123:

Here you go, nice and stormy:

Definitely stormy! Looks like you did a nice job on the clouds and Mt. Sopris prior to adding the rain...can you post that w/out the rain ? (I know, I know, a beggar being a chooser). :-)

Firsty

Fujifilm X-E1

06/01/2004 08:34:49 AM · #20

While I love the dark look to these photos I'm Not sure I would want this as reminder of my wedding (a stormy start dosen't bode well)
maybe if the photoshop gurus could some how add a gap in the stormy clouds and let a bright light stream down on the lecture at the end of the carpet to show a bright start to the union and I think this would be best on the color version

just my 2c worth

Ivar

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/01/2004 09:00:51 AM · #21

HereÂ´s my try...

Here is your original version:

Here is mine after some fiddling in PS:

Version 2 here....

Message edited by author 2004-06-01 09:16:00.

06/01/2004 10:30:38 AM · #22

yeah my portfolio is very full now,
I thought you had seen it,
here I post it again
Sepia

And Color

I did the same to them both
Adjustment layers: levels, - birghtness-contrast, hue saturation-colorize to put to sepia, And the dodging and burning.
And I forgot Neat Image too.