I'm a PhotoShop WIZARD! Okay NOT,but check it out.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

09/17/2009 07:08:55 AM · #1

Well, not really, but I just wanted to share that because of this place, I can do most of what I feel I need to take care of minor problems to make an ordinary shot just that little bit cleaner and better.

Here's the shot as it came from the camera......it's a guy I work with on a 1952 John Deere Model B. This is a very cool tractor (Assuming of course, that you're a tractor person....LOL!!!) but it's not something we work on every day, so it's kind of noteworthy. Kevin is an avid enthusiast of these old jewels, and the only thing more cool than getting to fiddle with one of these is getting paid to fiddle with one, as far as he's concerned. So when I saw him just sort fo hanging out on it, I thought it'd make a good newsletter shot.

If I haven't learned anything else about photography in my last three years here at DPC, it's that composition is important. With that knowledge comes the horrible realization that in order to get the shot at all, sometimes you cannot do a d@mn thing about the extra garbage in the background. In days past, for someone like me, Joe Average, that was that, end of story. Now, with PhotoShop or any number of programs, you can fix minor issues with images.

So.....like I said, NOT a PhotoShop Wizard, but to friends and "regular" people who don't know any better, this rework of the image above is "Magic".....hence "Wizard".

So.....what did I do? Not much, really.......I took out the sign, the electrical boxes, the light behind his hat,and the drainspout coming off the gutter on the building. That was a little bit of the paint brush tool to get the color right and actually paint out the offending things, then the patch tool to move some grain of the block wall back onto the painted areas, a little vignetting and some curves for effect, and I now have a shot that I will be happy to have in the work newsletter. If you look really hard, you can see where I worked on it, but I didn't spend but about fifteen minutes on it, and if you didn't know to look.....

This is little stuff......I really do not have much more than some basic skills, but I'm pleased that I can now do that 10-15% of polishing with an image that I'm pretty happy with, and that I'd love if it was "clean".

My hat is definitely tipped to a number of good people here who have helped me in numerous ways in teaching me the tricks of the trade, and in general being most encouraging when I needed.

Thanks!

I hope that some of you who are reading this are those that are new to this, or like me for the longest time, think that they'll never be able to "fix" images in the manner that they'd like. You CAN do it, and you CAN learn. But be patient! It does take time.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

09/17/2009 07:13:33 AM · #2

Good job with the cloning and the adjustments really add to it. Your coworkers will be telling you that you must have a really good camera!

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

09/17/2009 07:20:03 AM · #3

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Good job with the cloning and the adjustments really add to it. Your coworkers will be telling you that you must have a really good camera!

ROFLMAO!!!!

You're BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!! LOL!!!

spiritualspatula

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

09/17/2009 07:52:38 AM · #4

I had a similar experience recently. Some friends of my coworker recently gained citizenship, and she wanted to give them a photo to commemorate the occasion. So she asked me what sorts of things would be possible, provided me with a really low quality (of course) source image for the couple and some basic ideas. I ended up mocking them into a scene with rows of flags that was under creative commons license. I just thought this was a little thing to be sent to the couple in an e-mail or something but they ended up being so impressed they printed out a copy and framed it for themselves!
Not long ago I wouldn't have ever thought this feasible. Admittedly, I know I could have done much better with better sources, but it just goes to show how much my editing skills have grown when something I think is meh really makes somebody's day, and was formerly in the realm of "I have no idea how to do that."

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

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

09/17/2009 10:59:09 AM · #5

Good work, indeed. It's amazing, isn't it, how once you get the hang of this stuff it's not all that hard or intimidating to do... I can remember a time when I'd have been thinking "Oh gawd...!" when contemplated with that problem, now for me it would be just "Gimme a few minutes, willya?", just like where you're at now.

R.

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

09/17/2009 12:09:59 PM · #6

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Is there anyone out there other than me who doesn't believe that Bear didn't know PS coming from the womb?

Even though way back then computers still had hand cranks on 'em?.......8>)

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

09/17/2009 12:34:31 PM · #7

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Good work, indeed. It's amazing, isn't it, how once you get the hang of this stuff it's not all that hard or intimidating to do... I can remember a time when I'd have been thinking "Oh gawd...!" when contemplated with that problem, now for me it would be just "Gimme a few minutes, willya?", just like where you're at now.

R.

Is there anyone out there other than me who doesn't believe that Bear didn't know PS coming from the womb?

Even though way back then computers still had hand cranks on 'em?.......8>)

Sheesh, I can't believe I said "contemplated with that problem"...

As to my age, my first computer had a power takeoff from a hamster wheel...

R.

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

09/17/2009 12:53:01 PM · #8

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

And Wacom tablets were made out of stone.

Lydia

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

09/17/2009 01:05:35 PM · #9

Great job, Jeb!

If you keep this up, pretty soon you'll be good enough to buy and use a Canon instead of a Nikon! *grin*

Seriously, isn't it a great feeling to get good at something and be able to do things for others with the new knowledge?