Photography Post Processing--Before and Afters

[Babs]

Another look at processing. Even an overcast, low visibility image can be made into something interesting. Click on an image to go to the original website and view at different resolutions.

Before (Original)


After

What is the subject of the photo?

[swampfrog]

What is the subject of the photo?

If the question is where is this location? Then the answer is the Columbia Gorge from the Vista House lookout.

If the question is what is the artistic subject/anchor/focal point for the composition, there isn't one. Many landscape images do not have a single dramatic feature. It can be about color, shape, contrast, lines, etc. If you want to know the intent, the lines take the eyes up river to the single monolith located on the intersection upper and right side 1/3 lines. Almost all of the lines converge there.

[Bo Diddley]

What kind of witchery is this?!

[Katy Lied]

You may remember that I am taking an iphone photography class. I've discovered that you can really punch up a mediocre photo in post production, and the class is using snapseed, the free google version of a photo manipulation software. At first, I was really cautious about over manipulating the picture, but I am fooling more and more people in my facebook photos. Then I see where Swampfrog really punches his up so I am trying it as well.

Before:


After


I am struggling with artifacts caused by post processing. In this case, in the lower photo, there is some blue line shift between the black rocks and the blue ocean. I will pay closer attention to when artifacts pop up, and then go less extreme with my last revision.

[swampfrog]

You may remember that I am taking an iphone photography class. I've discovered that you can really punch up a mediocre photo in post production, and the class is using snapseed, the free google version of a photo manipulation software. At first, I was really cautious about over manipulating the picture, but I am fooling more and more people in my facebook photos. Then I see where Swampfrog really punches his up so I am trying it as well.

Before:


After


I am struggling with artifacts caused by post processing. In this case, in the lower photo, there is some blue line shift between the black rocks and the blue ocean. I will pay closer attention to when artifacts pop up, and then go less extreme with my last revision.

I can't see either image?

[Donuthole]

I can't see either image?

Ditto.

[clackamascoug]

I can't see either image?

I can see it just fine.

The lower dot with the dash looks much clearer, and more even, than the before photo. I'd say her classes are really paying off.

[swampfrog]

HDR at the tulip fields, combine these 3:







Become this:

[mtnbiker]

Wow, that's a great example, thanks.

[Commando]

wow!

[wuapinmon]

Those clouds look like they're about to fall out of the sky.

[swampfrog]

Those clouds look like they're about to fall out of the sky.

About 30 minutes prior to this shot, they were in fact falling out of the sky.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

I may need your advice on this. I posted some photos awhile back from my weekend in Death Valley. At our stop at Bad Water, I bracketed the shit out of all my photos there and have probably over 1,000 photos. Traditionally, I’m lazy and just use the HDR function on the menu, but decided that since I was at a Photoshop Workshop, I was going to do it the right way. Well, I got back and tried to use HDR Pro for amazing results and just came away feeling like I fell short of the goal. Any tips?! Also, I have another question in the other photo thread that I’m about to post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swampfrog]

I may need your advice on this. I posted some photos awhile back from my weekend in Death Valley. At our stop at Bad Water, I bracketed the shit out of all my photos there and have probably over 1,000 photos. Traditionally, I’m lazy and just use the HDR function on the menu, but decided that since I was at a Photoshop Workshop, I was going to do it the right way. Well, I got back and tried to use HDR Pro for amazing results and just came away feeling like I fell short of the goal. Any tips?! Also, I have another question in the other photo thread that I’m about to post.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I only every use the HDR merge from LightRoom. The initial results are usually quite bland. What it provides is a starting point with a lower noise floor, so it can take more processing before falling apart (visible noise). LR recently added tonal and color masking for their selections (brush, radial, graduated) those have been immensely useful in getting a specific look. I often take a graduated filter over the entire image, then use the luminance selection to only affect either dark shadows or highlights. Works like magic on clouds.

[tooblue]

This is a linked post with the Art Lovers thread. Here is a shot I took while on a winter hike. Could've been this year but likely was last year, and it was taken with the aim to use it as reference for a painting you can see here:

http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthr...43#post1412243