Pre/Post Processing Thread

[stevo911_]

With all those unreal photo's in the daily showcase, I thought it would be kind of interesting if you guys would share some of them pre & post processing, to give us NOOBs some idea of what the image started out at and how you got it to where it is?

[hud 91gt]

Good idea... I asked for an original shot in the daily thread yesterday and was amazed at the difference the post processing made. Time to up my editing skills, sigh.

[stevo911_]

I guess I'll contribute first to get the thread going :P

I finally got some external flashes and wireless triggers (vivitar 2800's & yuonguno [or something like that] ebay triggers) and decided to quickly test them out.
I deffinately didnt get the shot I was going for (ended up with a lovely creepy stalker ), but it was a learning experience (and my first time playing with flashes)
First thing I've learned: it sucks learning to use external flashes on manual settings, propped up on miscellaneous objects (no stands or anything for them) with a manual focus lens in a dark room, when you're using yourself as the subject

Not an amazing picture or anything by any means. And not entirely what I intended this thread for, but since I dont have any cool shots (or know the appropriate techniques) this is my contribution for now:

Before


After
No crazy photoshopping. Just desaturated/coloured eyes/cropped. I'm sure it could easily be improved upon

[1exotic]

there's been a few of these threads already, some weren't that successful... but good idea.

i'll contribute a before and after... my old car:

Took a good 30 minutes or so to edit in lightroom and photoshop. This is probably one of my most heavily edited photos, I usually just do the basic color processing and contrast adjustment.

[RCubed]

An example of my edit:
Original:



Rig removal:



Processed.

[m3thods]

that's a great progression set RCubed!

Just wondering- was all of your sharpening applied in one go? And did you do that in Photoshop as well?

The difference between the non-sharpened and final product is pretty noticable. Care to share the general use of sharpening in a photo like this? (i.e. not a portrait)

[RCubed]

Originally Posted by m3thods

that's a great progression set RCubed!

Just wondering- was all of your sharpening applied in one go? And did you do that in Photoshop as well?

The difference between the non-sharpened and final product is pretty noticable. Care to share the general use of sharpening in a photo like this? (i.e. not a portrait)

I pretty much do it in one go.
Curves increases the contrast, then I use smart sharpen and play around with the sliders till i think its right.

[LiquidTurbo]

Interesting thread! I love how the car looks 'dirtier', gives the car a much grittier look.


Pretty amazing what you can do with Photoshop Adjustments.. Pretty incredible.

[N.V.M.]

been studying all the different methods of sharpening: USM, high passing, smart sharpening, edge masking etc. getting the hang of most of them and am concentrating now on burning and dodging, and i occasionally blue up a crappy grey sky.

for pure fun HDR is awesome for rescuing shots that would otherwise be poo especially.

even pretty good shots can be changed to get a whole new look. i'm always struggling with what's too much, you know, going over the top with the effects but that's where good constructive criticism comes in.


original

some HDR

too much i think

[moky]

as is from camera RAW


my workflow normally is:
- open pshop raw converter
- work curves and levels to adjust histogram and contrast
- work on individual areas like sky or areas that need brightening/darkening (dodge and burn)
- clean up unwanted objects like sensor dust (if any), stray leaves, bugs, planes, people etc
-readjust curves and channel mixer
- unsharp mask
- individual colour saturation if needed
- cropping if needed

once you nail down your pp workflow, most pics will take no more than 5mins to adjust/correct

[skyxx]

Originally Posted by stevo911_

I guess I'll contribute first to get the thread going :P

I finally got some external flashes and wireless triggers (vivitar 2800's & yuonguno [or something like that] ebay triggers) and decided to quickly test them out.
I deffinately didnt get the shot I was going for (ended up with a lovely creepy stalker ), but it was a learning experience (and my first time playing with flashes)
First thing I've learned: it sucks learning to use external flashes on manual settings, propped up on miscellaneous objects (no stands or anything for them) with a manual focus lens in a dark room, when you're using yourself as the subject

Not an amazing picture or anything by any means. And not entirely what I intended this thread for, but since I dont have any cool shots (or know the appropriate techniques) this is my contribution for now:

No crazy photoshopping. Just desaturated/coloured eyes/cropped. I'm sure it could easily be improved upon
/bwblue.jpg[/IMG]

I mean no harm, I was just bored. So I decided to tinker around as I liked the shot as well.



1.Cropped
2.channel mixer/monochrome(decided on which channel I wanted to use)(lazy-man B/W)
3. Levels
4. Highpass filter, then overlay (lazy-man sharpening)

[Volvoman]

Plain jpeg



After some HDR and CS5 to remove unsightly items like light poles, pebbles on the ground and some unwanted lense flare, this is what I ended up with

[stevo911_]

Originally Posted by skyxx

I mean no harm, I was just bored. So I decided to tinker around as I liked the shot as well.

Tinker all you want! I like seeing what could potentially be done (its a good learning tool )

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by stevo911_

I guess I'll contribute first to get the thread going :P

I finally got some external flashes and wireless triggers (vivitar 2800's & yuonguno [or something like that] ebay triggers) and decided to quickly test them out.
I deffinately didnt get the shot I was going for (ended up with a lovely creepy stalker ), but it was a learning experience (and my first time playing with flashes)
First thing I've learned: it sucks learning to use external flashes on manual settings, propped up on miscellaneous objects (no stands or anything for them) with a manual focus lens in a dark room, when you're using yourself as the subject

Not an amazing picture or anything by any means. And not entirely what I intended this thread for, but since I dont have any cool shots (or know the appropriate techniques) this is my contribution for now:

Before


After
No crazy photoshopping. Just desaturated/coloured eyes/cropped. I'm sure it could easily be improved upon

Hmmm...the B&W tones are too flat. Just doing a straight desaturation will result in flat images - you should play with channels to get "better" tones.

[stevo911_]

Thanks for the tip! I shall experiment with that

[Senna4ever]

I wish I remembered how I did this, but it involved layer masks and adjustments.

[RCubed]

Might as well show before and after for this pic:
Before:

Then after processing.

[davidhtam]

Here's one from me:

Original:


After:


What I did:
Clean up the background
Remove harsh shadow on face cast by nose
Curves and tone adjustment
Highlight adjustments with layers to bring out the shininess of the hair and accentuate muscle tone
Mmm... i think that was it
Oh, and sharpen

[Matsuda]

I'll contribute

original RAW image



processed



used a color cross process preset crop rotation as a base
bumped up, clarity, vibrance, contrast, added some fill light
graduated filter to bring out the clouds a bit more

[JLC]

Love this post.
Keep sharing guys! And most of you have already done so, keep sharing what you did as well!

[N.V.M.]

some liquefying, bending and stretching,rotating on axis, chuck in some HDR and a dash of salt. same image, before/after(EXIF file available)

[LiquidTurbo]

Played with the color balance, crop, and voila.