Show me your post processing skills

Hi all,

I really enjoy taking pictures and find that I have got a fairly good eye for composition (as an amateur that is). One area that I could definitely improve are my post processing skills:

Whenever I take a picture I find that I like the original version best. I play around with pictures in Oly Viewer or other tools, but only really adjust brightness, crop and occasionally change contrast and saturation.

I always find when I am doing more "advanced" stuff, that I rather screw the pics up - I tend to find that I like the original image still much more.

E.g. I have uploaded the two pics below - I was wondering if some of you guys and girls with good post processing skills wanted to have a quick go at these to show me what's possible. It might be me not knowing the tools very well and perhaps because of that having a lack of motivation to do post processing, so I would like to know if these pics can be improved via post processing (hope they are good candidates), this might get me more motivated then again to dive into the post processing world.

So please, feel free, manipulate these pics and post them here again and perhaps with a very brief explanation what you have done...

Many thanks!

Cheers,
Pablo

--
Roel Hendrickx

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What software have you tried using for PP? I've found the ease/naturalness with which one can get pleasing results can vary a lot between programs, as can the ease with which one can wreck your image. One program that takes a different approach to the others is LightZone -- you might give it a try.

Also, color can make PP a lot trickier, particularly when Oly's OOC images are so nice. Why not try B&W instead? It may give you the opportunity learn many PP techniques without the complications of color. (You may also grow to like B&W!) Once you're more comfortable with the techniques, you can start color processing. A step at a time, so to speak. Just make sure whatever program you're using has a channel mixer (or similar tool) for doing B&W conversions.

I agree that they do not need any work and the stand as decent images as is. With PP it can be subtle or dramatic or over the top . I would suggest the retouching forum as there are some amazing talents in their and happy to share their skills. Here is a quick go from me more on the dramatic side or maybe even OTT .

Jim





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In the first photo the flower is too green IMO, so I softened it's color a bit, blurred the background (no need to f11 IMO) and darkened some areas.
Also, that white blobs in the background are quite noticeable.



On the second one, there's a flash residue on the flower, along with some OOF leaves, so I took care of it plus a bit of selective color adjustments.



However, PP-ing is just a part of the process, you definitely need to try to get the best photo possible which will require least amount of post-processing.
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Cheers,
Marin

Interesting.
Maybe I am just too easily pleased...
--
Roel Hendrickx

lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com

my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

Increased contrast and corrected colour of flower, lightened body of hoverfly.

It's very rare that an image can't be improved with some PP.

Frank

Gidday Pablo

I like them as they are.

IMNSHO, one should try to get an image as right as possible in-camera - you can't make silk purses out of sow's ears ... I know some people personally who can, but they take hours to do it, and the images are still not very good. Yours don't need anything here, AFAICS.

After that, I try to get any minor adjustments corrected in ACR processing (I now use CS5 Design Premium). I open the image as ProPhotoRGB, 16 bit, PSD.

By this point, I generally apply an USM of around 30%, 2.0 pixels (depends on which camera, and the image ... ).

Then I print from this file.

Minimalist approach.

Your images here seem to demonstrate a similar workflow ...
Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing your images.

--
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Thanks for the pointer to LightZone and B&W, will give these a try!

Thanks for your comments and your post processing example, Jim!

Thanks for your comments Roel - and being easily pleased sounds like a good thing

Hi msusic,

I like your post processing and fair point about the white spots on the image with the hoverfly.

Will look a little bit more into what you have done...

Cheers,
Pablo

I know that all images can be improved with PP. The questions for me is mostly - where to start and where to go...

Thanks for your comments John,

and I agree that the best option is still to get the pics as right as possible straight OOC.

Another plus of that approach is having more time away from the PC, which can't be a bad thing (especially as in my job I spent quite a bit of time in front of a monitor).

Cheers,
Pablo

Yes, I know. It's the same for everyone. Start by examining your image in detail - look at each element and check colour (WB is not necessarily the same in all the image due to reflections and/or different light sources), exposure, contrast etc. It's all a question of getting the hang of it.

Frank

I very much agree with you that one should, as far as possible, 'get it right in camera' i.e. properly exposed and a correct white balance.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that an image cannot be improved by PP. How much, or how little depends on the result one is trying to achieve and how much time/effort you are prepared to invest.

I personally find that getting it right in camera is practically only guaranteed in the studio where I can control light/shadow for each element. However even in the studio things are not always perfect. For example, when shooting food, a green or blue tablecloth can cause WB problems in parts of the food and this needs correction in PP.

Frank

Using f11 gives a huge depth of field, it can be distracting with a background. I converted to black and white, buffed out the distracting stuff.

I also played with the curves a bit to get more contrast and more details.

Then cropped a bit to add a bit of drama. This is probably too processed, but still fun to play with someone else's stuff!

= )



--
Experience is what you get seconds after you need it.

Really nice photos. I took a crack at it for my eye:
Cheers
Rich