Photoshop help? - DPChallenge Forums

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/11/2005 05:28:37 PM · #1

I took this photo last year-ish, and really wanted to make it pop a bit more. Played around with contrast, levels, color balance in photoshop, but I'm not sure it's really making the impact that I want it to. Is it the lighting? Any suggestions from people who ACTUALLY know what they're doing with PS?

Help me!

Thanks!

Plexxoid

Canon EOS-30D

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

05/11/2005 05:30:26 PM · #2

Try using unsharp mask with a 200 px radius. Raises contrast but differently than levels.

Patrol

Nikon D40

05/11/2005 05:34:12 PM · #3

personally i'd slightl desaturate the green, apply a little unsharp mask, adjust the levels to give more shadow detail and maybe crop out some of the right side of the shot. Other than that i think you've took a damn good photo, nice DOF in my opinion.

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

05/11/2005 05:34:59 PM · #4

I was able to do this...

just boosted the wite levels and adjusted the shadows/ hilights, and increased overall saturation in the colors.... hope that helps.

lemondster

Canon EOS-20D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

05/11/2005 05:35:27 PM · #5

curves and USM

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL

05/11/2005 05:36:34 PM · #6

lemondster's is better....

lemondster

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/11/2005 05:39:11 PM · #7

but i lost some of the detail in the tree trunks

given more time and more effort, one could select the trunks and exclude them from the curve changes and add a background sky blue color to add some good contrast in around the trees

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/11/2005 06:46:02 PM · #8

check these out it may help.

web sites;

worth1000.com
dvgarage.com

books;
digital compositing for film and video by steve wright; focal press
how to cheat in photoshop by steve caplin; focal press

magazine;

photoshop user:the how to magazine

good luck

Artan

Canon Digital IXUS v3

05/11/2005 06:52:35 PM · #9

I used Feivels Gothic Glow Action

05/11/2005 06:53:47 PM · #10

just playing around with it and this is what I came up with....I think the picture isn't too bad to begin with!

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/11/2005 07:20:24 PM · #11

Originally posted by swinging_johnson_v1:

Thank you so much for the references! I'm gonna have to dig up some of my book store gift cards and go check those out :-)

05/11/2005 07:24:48 PM · #12

As a relative newcomer, I really got a lot out of this chain - thank you ladyhawk for allowing your work to be critiqued and thank you all for being so forthright with your suggestions. I'm gonna have to bone up on those references too (only for MS Digital Image Pro)!

:-)

05/11/2005 07:26:18 PM · #13

One question, what is Feivel's Gothic Glow? Is it something specific to PS or is it a technique that Feivel used and that I can research?

Thanks.

05/11/2005 07:28:41 PM · #14

a thing I learned on here that I used all the time now is hitting ctrl+alt+~ selects the brightest areas of the pic. hitting ctrl+j creates a layer with the selection, then under the layers tab you can set it to multiply to darken the areas up. it is something that I find very useful!

SJ pm me, if you want a cool technique that Discraft taught me.

Message edited by author 2005-05-11 19:30:22.

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/11/2005 07:33:04 PM · #15

Originally posted by SJCarter:

Oh gosh, sure!! I'm quite the newcomer myself. In fact, other than just filters, I've never really messed with PS before a couple of weeks ago. The amount of learning that goes on in the forums here is ASTOUNDING! My husband laughs at me cause I'll spend about 2 hours every day just reading the forums and I feel like I've learned a semester's worth already :-) Stick a shot of yours up sometime!

I've really enjoyed and appreciated how willing everyone is to help everyone else become better photographers.....this is the best thing I've ever belonged to.

05/11/2005 08:00:07 PM · #16

nidan: Thanks I will!

ladyhawk22 & any others:

here's one that I'd like to see what people can do with/to it, make suggestions, critique, etc. (or is it just beyond hope...) lol :-) thanks!

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/11/2005 08:17:15 PM · #17

Originally posted by SJCarter:

nidan: Thanks I will!

ladyhawk22 & any others:

here's one that I'd like to see what people can do with/to it, make suggestions, critique, etc. (or is it just beyond hope...) lol :-) thanks!

I fiddled with your photo a bit and think I got some decent results, but can't for the life of me figure out how to post it on here. So if you want me to send you the jpg via email, you can reach me at:
elizabeth@marketus.net

cause i'm slow and can't figure this silly stuff out! Most of what I did was with the levels...that really helped a lot. Then I would say probably saturation was the next big thing, though I did do some color balance as well. anyhow, if you're interested, shoot me an email!

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

05/11/2005 08:39:48 PM · #18

Ok, I think this will work....let's hope :-)

05/11/2005 08:43:23 PM · #19

SJ I sent you two things to try, I like them both. give 'em a try and let me know what you think.

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

05/11/2005 08:48:06 PM · #20

ladyhawk this just showed up in the comments for your picture that i played with.....

"Another lover of trees at last! This is beautiful."

It should be added to your comments since the pic was great to begin with. I barely did anything to it. good job!

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

05/11/2005 08:53:40 PM · #21

Originally posted by SJCarter:

One question, what is Feivel's Gothic Glow? Is it something specific to PS or is it a technique that Feivel used and that I can research?

Thanks.

Feivels' Gothic Glow is a photoshop "action" (a script) that you can download for free and run to get that glow, exaggerated effect. It uses many phases of layering and flattenign with gaussian blur, levels, hue saturation and gawd knows what-all-else being applied sequentially. I've achieved similar effects myself, but the action makes it simple. Google it to find it.

Robt.

05/11/2005 09:00:13 PM · #22

Thanks all for the advice, commentary, & tips! I've gotta close for the evening, but will check back tomorrow!

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

05/11/2005 09:02:12 PM · #23

bear music, once I d/l the action how do I apply it to the image I have opened? thanks for the help

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

05/11/2005 09:16:35 PM · #24

Originally posted by SJCarter:

nidan: Thanks I will!

ladyhawk22 & any others:

here's one that I'd like to see what people can do with/to it, make suggestions, critique, etc. (or is it just beyond hope...) lol :-) thanks!

Here's another take on it:

Did the cntrl+alt+~ thing, then did it again and inverted, for the shadows. Multiplied the shadows, color-burned the highlights (these are the layer modes for the respective layers), then flattened resultant image. Selected sky and all similar, left selection up, used history brush to restore sky to original status. Made a new adjustment layer for selective color on the sky selection, and used color adjustments and the black slider o make the sky and clouds both work.

Inverted the selection, and did the same sort of thing on the foreground to get more pop and depth, subtle nudges of color balance and black slider in neutrals and darks, plus color and black work in yellow, green, and cyan.

And voila... Vibrant, certainly, Maybe a little too vibrant? As always, I push to extremes to show the range of what might be done.

R.