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 11/13/2006 11:13:29 PM · #1
The local pub holds a woodchopping carnival in Jan of each year. Last year I was asked to shoot a photo for the poster and did this:

I was new to PP then and didn't know how to remove the fence wires etc. The people are local villagers so it's kind of special to the community. I get paid with a few beers and a lunch :)

The poster is sponsored by a local brewery (Tui) and they wrap their logo and blurbs around the image. Tui's posters have a slogan on the bottom that says "...since 1889" when the brewery was foudned. Last years poster had the slogan "getting cut since 1889".

I was asked to shoot again for this years poster and in addition to the brewery a chainsaw company is going to co-sponser the event. The company is Called Stihl. The slogan on the bottom of the poster will be "stihl getting cutting since 1889" (it works on a couple of levels!). I've come up with this:


The brief for the processing was:
* sepia but normal colours for the Tui beer logos and the Stihl chainswaw
* Stihl logo "burnt" into the end of the log

This is a crop (11x13 ratio to fit the poster) of the following image:


Which came from this original:


I would welcome any comments that may help me improve this. Also, ideas on how to make the words at the end of the log look more natural.

Thanks

Message edited by author 2006-11-13 23:14:06.
 11/13/2006 11:33:14 PM · #2
Hmmm... well, maybe this isn't what you're really after, but take a look at this:



A couple of techniques used here:

1) Used shadow/highlights adjustment to darken the highlights in the background.
2) Use a layer for dodging the people
3) Converted to b&w using the two hue/sat layer method and adjusted the color layer so that the people were brighter.
4) Added a sepia tone by using a Color Balance layer.

I was fairly satisfied with what I had up to this point. But then thought I'd try one more thing and decided I liked it better:

5) Pasted a copy of the original in a layer above the b&w layers and set the mode to Color and then reduced the opacity.

So the first four steps gave the picture the overall contrast that I was after, and then step 5 brought the color back into the picture but at a reduced level so as not to distract the viewer with color.

ETA: Step #6: Sharpened in two steps: Ones was a selective sharpening around the people, and a second was a local contrast enhancement using USM at 8% / 60 pixels / 0.

Message edited by author 2006-11-13 23:34:42.
 11/13/2006 11:34:53 PM · #3
The selective desaturation (or selective color) in the images doesn't seem to make sense to me. What is its purpose?
 11/13/2006 11:37:17 PM · #4
I imagine its to get the products to pop out and attract the eye.

I like the shot, it's much better cropped down like you did. I do think the non-color areas need more contrast or something as it is very hard to lock your eye onto things in the image.

edit: the one you did the year prior is a much better approach in my opinion

Message edited by author 2006-11-13 23:37:48.
 11/14/2006 12:02:10 AM · #5
Thanks for the feedback.

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
The selective desaturation (or selective color) in the images doesn't seem to make sense to me. What is its purpose?


The purpose is indeed to hilight the sponsors products. The pub also want an "old" feel to the image hence the sepia.

Originally posted by routerguy666:
I like the shot, it's much better cropped down like you did. I do think the non-color areas need more contrast or something as it is very hard to lock your eye onto things in the image.

edit: the one you did the year prior is a much better approach in my opinion


A better approach in that the subject is simpler or the processing?

Originally posted by dwterry:
Hmmm... well, maybe this isn't what you're really after, but take a look at this:


I'll try those steps on my image and see how it goes. I may skip step 5 as they only want colour in the selected areas.
 11/14/2006 12:03:10 AM · #6
Sorry, better approach in the processing.
 11/14/2006 11:52:04 AM · #7
Nuzzer,

Woul you mind if I posted a copy of this picture with a few edits to illustrate my advice?
 11/14/2006 02:20:19 PM · #8
Originally posted by qbicle:
Nuzzer,

Woul you mind if I posted a copy of this picture with a few edits to illustrate my advice?


Please do!
 11/14/2006 05:13:38 PM · #9
Left a comment on the pic itself!
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