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06/28/2006 02:16:15 AM · #1 |
Have been battling with Photoshop for a number of months now (and little the wiser). What do people do to give their photos that added bit of lift? The photo below is one I considered for the current challenge, but I had already put an entry in the Urban Myths - therefore couldn't put it in. I'm happy with the content (others mighten be) but it just seems too flat. Any suggestions on how it can be brought to life a little more ? If you do have a suggestion can you be veryspecific so I can try it, or if you try something yourself (and it works) can you explain clearly what you did?
Thanks for any responses. |
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06/28/2006 05:43:50 AM · #2 |
Well. noting that I seem to fail to deliver any kind of buzz o my pictures, this is something of a challenge. However, I really like the photo and the message behind it, so here goes!
What I did in PS:
* levels
* colour-based hue and saturation, especially in the blues and yellows
* selected the background and filled it with a uniform black colour
* blended the background back into the picture (not easy with the jpeg)
* flattened the image, noise ninja, a little more brush work, another noise ninja pass
* sent it here
There is some haloing on the larger glass balls but I kind of like the effect.
edit: hmmm - not sure that this is much of an improvement...
Message edited by author 2006-06-28 05:45:15.
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06/28/2006 05:58:13 AM · #3 |
Thanks for the attempt Carl. You certainly brought the colours up more.
When you say you filled the background with black - was this a seperate layer? And the blending - was this merging that layer ? |
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06/28/2006 06:24:23 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by Tajhad:
Thanks for the attempt Carl. You certainly brought the colours up more.
When you say you filled the background with black - was this a separate layer? And the blending - was this merging that layer ? |
Essentially, I used the magic wand to select the background, did a new layer via copy, used the bucket tool to then fill the layer with black, thereby making the layer all black, and then manually blended the background into the image.
Alternatively - and probably better thinking about this - I think I would create a new layer with a mask, fill or with a block colour, and then use the layer mask to blend the background into the image.
It would also be interesting to look at a gradient fill as well.
Carl
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06/28/2006 07:07:10 AM · #5 |
I quickly did two things I always do:
Curves. Open curves, pick the black dropper near the bottom right, click on the background at its average spot. Much easier than painting it black.
Hue/Sat: I desatted yellow a bit. I would have done it in RAW by changing the white balance (indoor lighting is usually way too yellow) to tungsten. But this was a jpeg.
Just those two changes make a difference.
I understand where you were going with the image but the POV is a little less than interesting and the glasses fall out of the frame. When you shoot a studio shot, you have so much control that you need to pay attention to every single detail. I can't find a reason for just that little bit of glasses to be out of the frame so it seems a mistake to me.
Good luck and good shooting! |
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06/28/2006 08:45:10 AM · #6 |
Thanks dahkota. It certainly has brought a bit more life to the shot.
To be honest with you - I cant remember if I did the shot with the glasses slightly out of the frame - or I gropped it like that. I'll have to check on my home computer.
Your right thou - regards attention to every little detail. You really have to look twice and then look again.
Thanks for your time. |
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