Challenge: Can you rescue this kiss?

This is My 2 penneth worth

Well, this is a difficult image. But, here is my try. Please comment if the color balance is off.



-Chris

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

--
Chris

Try this one.

http://www.pbase.com/image/4283567/small

I'm not pro. I'm just learning some of this editing stuff. Here's my version. It's not as good as the above example though.



Happy Shootin',
Dan

pray





because it will take a miracle to save something like this

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--

Click to expand...

I would like to know what the wall color was and the skin tone.

I got a a really good adjustment to your picture first using the curves tool. Then went into lab to do an unsharp mask. Then back to RGB to do layer adjustments saturation/contrast/color and had to stop because unless you

know the colors it might not look right. But the results were really good. Go in and try it yourself.

I really like the romantic feel of your version. I think it really captures the atmosphere of the moment. Could you list the detail steps that you went through? I would like to do the same on the the full size image. Or maybe you can try to redo what you've done on the full size image and post it back here?

I've seen quite a few great efforts so far, each with a different approach and a different feel to the final image. I am once again reminded of the skill and helpfulness of people on the forum. Thank you ALL!

I love the dpreview forums!

Danny Bezak said:

I'm not pro. I'm just learning some of this editing stuff. Here's
my version. It's not as good as the above example though.



Happy Shootin',
Dan

Click to expand...

--
span

Philip J. Lombardi said:

I would like to know what the wall color was and the skin tone.

Click to expand...

Part of the challenge is that the wall is actually not a flat color. It's some sort of wallpaper with tiny color dots that gives the wall a overall light gray appearance. The skin tone is typical lighter asian. The overhead halogens are probably what's giving them a really warm cast.

philip J. Lombardi said:

I got a a really good adjustment to your picture first using the
curves tool. Then went into lab to do an unsharp mask. Then back to
RGB to do layer adjustments saturation/contrast/color and had to
stop because unless you
know the colors it might not look right. But the results were
really good. Go in and try it yourself.

Click to expand...

I would like to know what curve adjustments did you make. If you can provide the specific values, that will be great. When I worked on it, I get either too washed out, or too much contrast, etc. Just can't get it right.

Could you also post your final results?

Thanks.

--
span

Your images have what I believe the best balance of low noise and sharpness. It's probably the best one with the "photographic" feel to it. The b/w is great as it is. I would like brighten the scene some more on the color one. Can you post the details of your technique? It looks like I will have a busy photoshop labor day holiday.

Thanks,

AL said:

because it will take a miracle to save something like this

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
span

The first thing I did was use Neat Image software, i't's a noise reduction program similar if not better than Fred Mirandas actions. you can find the link here - http://www.neatimage.com/download.html
I believe they have a free download. More info on the site.

after that it was just a matter of reducing the - saturation, adjusting the levels, and adjusting the selective color to you liking. Last step would be resize the image to your needs and sharpen, the noise left in the image for the wall can be easily diminished by using the blur tool, and the noise on the people can be reduced by using the blur tool at 5% opacity. On images like the this it is best not to adjust the curves as it tends to add more grain and make the colors seem less natural. It took me about ten minutes hope it works for you.

Suixiong Pan said:

Thanks,

AL said:

because it will take a miracle to save something like this

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
span

Click to expand...

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

What happened to all the posts to this thread. When I made my last post which was over 24 hours ago, my post did NOT appear in 10 to 15 minutes so I checked the next morning and still NO post. Now, it still has the same Thread title and all of the 20+ posts are gone. Is there some problem with this forum or does anyone know why ??
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Vernon D Rainwater said:

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

What happened to all the posts to this thread. When I made my last
post which was over 24 hours ago, my post did NOT appear in 10 to
15 minutes so I checked the next morning and still NO post. Now,
it still has the same Thread title and all of the 20+ posts are
gone. Is there some problem with this forum or does anyone know
why ??
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Click to expand...

After I posted the previous post, then -- all of the original posts appear. I tried 3 different times (before making my inquiry) and only 3 were listed. and now all are listed. Seems like there are some type of serious problems with the system -- or this would not occur. Also, I am not a drinking person.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

You are just experiencing the same glitches that I've (and many others) have seen lately. I guess dpreview is getting too popular...

Vernon D Rainwater said:

Vernon D Rainwater said:

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

What happened to all the posts to this thread. When I made my last
post which was over 24 hours ago, my post did NOT appear in 10 to
15 minutes so I checked the next morning and still NO post. Now,
it still has the same Thread title and all of the 20+ posts are
gone. Is there some problem with this forum or does anyone know
why ??
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Click to expand...

After I posted the previous post, then -- all of the original
posts appear. I tried 3 different times (before making my inquiry)
and only 3 were listed. and now all are listed. Seems like there
are some type of serious problems with the system -- or this would
not occur. Also, I am not a drinking person.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Click to expand...

--
span

Thanks to all who offered help and suggestions! Y'all are the best! I am especially thankful for the ones who brought up neat image. I used it before with default settings and gaved up on it. I didn't realize the amazing result that can be had with a little tweaking. Well, here's the version I've settled on.



Processed with NeatImage, then saturation, level, curve, selective smart blur, and dreamfx filter.

Suixiong Pan said:

Thanks to all who offered help and suggestions! Y'all are the
best! I am especially thankful for the ones who brought up neat
image. I used it before with default settings and gaved up on it.
I didn't realize the amazing result that can be had with a little
tweaking. Well, here's the version I've settled on.



Processed with NeatImage, then saturation, level, curve, selective
smart blur, and dreamfx filter.

Click to expand...

Hello Suixiong Pan,

The "somewhat long" post I made (a couple days ago) regarding your photo and the image retouching details was (naturally) the one that Dpreview did NOT get posted in this thread.

May I make a suggestion regarding your final version -- I like ALL except part of the facial tone (especially around the Bride's cheek and mouth area) and slightly for the Groom --- hopefully you can correct these.

Suggest you (using a copy of your final) use the eyedropper to sample the pleasant and correct skin tone area then activate the Brush Tool and set the Mode to Normal, Opacity and Flow to settings for light corrections (around 30), use Brush 17, and select the proper size brush for the different areas (some will be very small especially close to her lips) and DO NOT drag the brusk -- just click the mouse for a light correction.

Suggest you go lightly (don't try to over correct) and check frequently using larger magnification to be certain of proper and even coverage.

This is the method I used for the image in my original post. However, I was rushing to finish it in order to leave for an appointment and see that I stopped too soon and did not finish the Groom -- especially around the back of his neck area.

Please understand that I am NOT being critical of your final corrected image, I am only trying to help. It would be interesting to see your image after applying the above suggested retouching.

My Best Regards and Happy Retouching...
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--

Click to expand...

http://www.pbase.com/phili1/forum_files

Suixiong Pan said:

span

Click to expand...

I came as close as possablle to get wall grey dots. check it out at the above site.

Can you post the original-original? Would help.

Mathias

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Mathias Vejerslev said:

Mathias

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Hello Mathias,

Can you download the original to your computer. if so, below is the link which I copied from a few lines above in the original post.

Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Hi Vernon,

That link does not go to any original. It´s been de-noised, meaning there´s a lot of original info lost from the start.

Mathias

Vernon D Rainwater said:

Mathias Vejerslev said:

Mathias

Suixiong Pan said:

My G2 greatly under exposed this shot at ISO 400. I have applied
Fred's Noise reduction to get rid of the noise. However, I tried
to use curves under ps 5 to correct the exposure but have not much
luck. Can anyone help me save this kiss? ...



Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original

Please post your best shot and the step you used as well. I am not
trying to be lazy, just stumped...

Thanks,

--
span

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Hello Mathias,
Can you download the original to your computer. if so, below is
the link which I copied from a few lines above in the original post.

Here's the full-size image:
http://www.pbase.com/image/4243793/original
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

Click to expand...

Mathias Vejerslev said:

Hi Vernon,

That link does not go to any original. It´s been de-noised, meaning
there´s a lot of original info lost from the start.

Mathias

Click to expand...

Sorry -- it was identified as the original and that is why I referred it to you... Maby the original poster will respond and make the TRUE original available.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain