Have you ever had a shot that came out of the camera that seemed to be another wasted frame but once you started editing you discover there may be something there after all? I had one that I took almost seven years ago that I revisited and made that discovery. However, no matter how many times I went back to it I just couldn't get it to work. I must of literally tried to edit it a dozen times over the last four years but it was never quite right. Today I tried again and I think I finally got it. Still needs some tweaks but it's almost there.
Before
After
Please share if you've ever had a similar experience.
Have you ever had a shot that came out of the camera that seemed to be another wasted frame but once you started editing you discover there may be something there after all?
Originally posted by tanguera:
Yes. Constantly! This is my favorite "rescued" from the delete pile:
Happens to me all the time, except I never delete the originals, because "you never know" ...
I wrote up one the editing steps (Advanced-legal) of my better examples here -- a one-time photo-op taken from a moving train ...
Original: Final:
Of course, much of what's otherwise considered garbage can be turned into fascinating abstracts using Flip/Blend techniques (my abstracts gallery) ...
Have you ever had a shot that came out of the camera that seemed to be another wasted frame but once you started editing you discover there may be something there after all?
Originally posted by tanguera:
Yes. Constantly! This is my favorite "rescued" from the delete pile:
Happens to me all the time, except I never delete the originals, because "you never know" ...
I wrote up one the editing steps (Advanced-legal) of my better examples here -- a one-time photo-op taken from a moving train ...
Original: Final:
Of course, much of what's otherwise considered garbage can be turned into fascinating abstracts using Flip/Blend techniques (my abstracts gallery) ...
Good example. Its amazing how much detail is actually in one of these flat images that can be pulled out with a little editing
Beautiful end result! Going to grayscale with that one was a wise choice, me thinketh. One minor niggle at the posted size: there is a fine bright sharpening halo visible, probably a result of down-sampling for DPC.
What intrigues me about these "photographic dumpster dives" is that the often-beautiful end results usually bear little resemblance to the as-perceived scene. They are artistic expressions. I find it interesting that non-photographers will often have an appreciation for such an image, but they will not be so kind if they know what the original image looked like or if they are aware of how the as-shot scene looked. I once shot a local landmark in the winter, with a light snow falling. The result was a very flat image, and I mean *very* flat. I worked the image into something that I was very happy with, and showed the end result to my wife, who had been there when I shot it. Her response was along the lines of "but that's not at all what it actually looked like!"
ETA:
I've found that I've been quite pleasantly surprised with the quality of the data on some of my older shots, and at other times quite unpleasantly surprised, particularly with respect to ability to bring up dark details. The old 5D "Classic" made a lot of great images, but the pattern noise could be a killer.
Here is my favorite "rescue" shot. Not that it's all that much of a good photo, but it's a reminder of a great time with family while cruising the Bahamas on my son's sail boat SV Wahine.
