How to improve a photo?

I took this photo twice with a bit different setting, but still felt it needs something. Look too hazy. Being total beginner in image processing, in Picassa I tried the "I'm feeling lucky" button and they look much better. But I'd like to learn how to improve pictures myself. When I was trying to adjust things manually, it was always worse than better. Sounds funny, but I have no clue what to do Could you please tell me some simple steps what to do with these photos?
Thank you very much

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http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x223/eirianfa2002/?albumview=slideshow&mediafilter=images

http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x223/eirianfa2002/Komandoo%202008/?albumview=grid

Dokjang,

Nice image!

The hazyness is caused by the fact that levels need adjusting.

I adjusted in Photoshop, but you can do this in Elements 9 too, since it now has layers

Firstly select Layer-> New Adj Layer-> Levels





Then select each colour range as you can see in screenshot below

With Red channel move the little black slider to the right till it meets the bottom of the histogram.
Do the same for the Green and Blue channels.
This is also useful technique for bringing back colour to faded images

As always with Photoshop there are numerous other ways to solve this problem





Outcome.....
You could go further with this in PP terms, but this fixes the hazyness

Hope this helps

Dokjang said:

I took this photo twice with a bit different setting, but still felt it needs something. Look too hazy. Being total beginner in image processing, in Picassa I tried the "I'm feeling lucky" button and they look much better. But I'd like to learn how to improve pictures myself. When I was trying to adjust things manually, it was always worse than better. Sounds funny, but I have no clue what to do Could you please tell me some simple steps what to do with these photos?
Thank you very much

Click to expand...

--
Andy
Grey haired & Scottish
..and proud of both!
http://andelimages.com

LOL.

Michael Edward Rudge said:

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http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x223/eirianfa2002/?albumview=slideshow&mediafilter=images

http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x223/eirianfa2002/Komandoo%202008/?albumview=grid

Click to expand...

just a different feel perhaps

Ray

Mike! I fell off the chair when I saw this ! You are a witty devil and I thank you for a great laugh !!! Be Well and Stay Well !!!
--
Grazie, Thank you, - Sal

Dokjang said:

I took this photo twice with a bit different setting, but still felt it needs something. Look too hazy. Being total beginner in image processing, in Picassa I tried the "I'm feeling lucky" button and they look much better. But I'd like to learn how to improve pictures myself. When I was trying to adjust things manually, it was always worse than better. Sounds funny, but I have no clue what to do Could you please tell me some simple steps what to do with these photos?
Thank you very much

Click to expand...

Here is my attempt for you.



--
Conrad Birdie
"Aspire to Inspire before you Expire"

--
Tom
When my bones turn to dust,
and if my CD's didn't rust,
future generations will see my photos
and think that I was nuts.

Wow, wonderful!

Thank you, foresaa,

This version I like most from all those submitted, since it retains the original atmosphere.

Appreciate that you added the detailed description how to get there. The problem is, I haven't had the "courage" yet to start meddling with Photoshop, only tried something in Picassa and Picnic, so these layers, levels etc. sound like sci-fi to me I'd better start learning soon, it's truly amazing what magic one can do with a photo :O

Thanks everyone for the beautiful works of art!

Just as I said before, I would be happy if you could throw me a hint how to do this I also want to become a wizard!

Dokjang said:

I took this photo twice with a bit different setting, but still felt it needs something. Look too hazy. Being total beginner in image processing, in Picassa I tried the "I'm feeling lucky" button and they look much better. But I'd like to learn how to improve pictures myself. When I was trying to adjust things manually, it was always worse than better. Sounds funny, but I have no clue what to do Could you please tell me some simple steps what to do with these photos?

Click to expand...

I'm going to be less than polite, not at all diplomatic, and real straight...

You can't fix those. They are a learning tool, not a bit of great art. Learn from them and go on to the next step.

Why? Well, can you tell me what the subject of the photograph is? And then consider this quote, taken from Rudolf Arnheim's book "Entropy in Art" published in 1971.

• "When nothing superfluous is included and nothing indispensable left out, one can understand the interrelation of the whole and its parts, as well as the hierarchic scale of importance and power by which some structural features are dominant, others subordinate."

http://students.pratt.edu/~arch543p/readings/Arnheim.html

The problem that I see with your image is that it contains either way too much that is superfluous (pick out something in that picture, and photograph that instead of the composition as it is), or... it is missing something that is indispensable and was left out (perhaps a wider angle view? Or some way to emphasize to a much greater degree something, like the fog, that is there).

I am personally not into photographing that kind of scene, so I'm not sure I have any advice for a composition that will work. I can see why you wanted to capture it though! It must have been, and this does come through in the photographs, a very pretty scene. But there doesn't seem to be that "hierarchic scale of importance and power" apparent in the images. It needs something that a viewer's eye zeros in on.

Well, I'm no pro, nor an artist. I saw a nice scene, took a shot, wanted to make it look better. That's all.

Thanks for your feedback anyway. Next time I will pay attention to the indispensable and superfluous

::::::

Just as a footnote (merely for information): What looks like a fog is not a fog in fact, but dust. Very dry weather...

GET UP!!!! Run

Butch

why are you trying to get into some deep philosophical criticism of the photo whilst admitting that you don't even do this sort of picture? That is not what the OP asked for is it?

The last two PP attempts were excellent, maybe they could expand a little on how they were done as the first retouched did. I would like to know their methods as well asvthe OP would I guess.
Jules

apaflo said:

I'm going to be less than polite, not at all diplomatic, and real straight...

You can't fix those. They are a learning tool, not a bit of great art. Learn from them and go on to the next step.

Why? Well, can you tell me what the subject of the photograph is? And then consider this quote, taken from Rudolf Arnheim's book "Entropy in Art" published in 1971.

• "When nothing superfluous is included and nothing indispensable left out, one can understand the interrelation of the whole and its parts, as well as the hierarchic scale of importance and power by which some structural features are dominant, others subordinate."

http://students.pratt.edu/~arch543p/readings/Arnheim.html

The problem that I see with your image is that it contains either way too much that is superfluous (pick out something in that picture, and photograph that instead of the composition as it is), or... it is missing something that is indispensable and was left out (perhaps a wider angle view? Or some way to emphasize to a much greater degree something, like the fog, that is there).

I am personally not into photographing that kind of scene, so I'm not sure I have any advice for a composition that will work. I can see why you wanted to capture it though! It must have been, and this does come through in the photographs, a very pretty scene. But there doesn't seem to be that "hierarchic scale of importance and power" apparent in the images. It needs something that a viewer's eye zeros in on.

Click to expand...

--
Julesarnia on twitter

Dokjang said:

Well, I'm no pro, nor an artist. I saw a nice scene, took a shot, wanted to make it look better. That's all.

Thanks for your feedback anyway. Next time I will pay attention to the indispensable and superfluous

Click to expand...

You might not be a "pro", but I see no reason to think you are not an artist. Artists learn more about technique and more about technology every day. My point was that it is a learning experience, and you probably can't fix that one with post processing technology. You can fix it with pre shutter release composition technique. Part of that is learning a little bit of new philosophy...

Look at works by Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Alfred Eisenstadt, or whichever of the "great" photographers appeals to you, and analyze their styles of composition. You'll find they were all very careful about composition in exactly the way that Arnheim described. Each image is communicating something to the viewer, and they first decide what that is going to be and then compose an image such that everything necessary is included and nothing that isn't useful is there. They may use the angle of view, depth of field, or resort to post processing techniques to accomplish that.

But that is what makes a great photograph great. It's a lot more than just a nice scene captured at the click of a button. Ansel Adams began what he called "pre-visualizing" his photographs in about 1929, and from that time on made a lot of effort to separate the reality of a scene from the actuality of the photograph. He was never trying to create reality in a picture, he was trying to capture the parts of reality that would make a beautiful print.

There is something to be learned from your images. You can apply it the next time you see a scene like that particular one.

Thanks for the kind words.

I did try to restrain myself to the adjustment you were looking for and for us that is usually very difficult ...lol

Photoshop or Elements is worth the investment in learning.
This link below might be of use to get you started
http://pixlr.com/editor/

The adjustments I made took ten seconds - literally!

Besides, photography doesn't end IMHO once the image is captured.

It used to end as output from the darkroom, o it's the output from digital postprocessing.

Other postprocessing software is available

Dokjang said:

Thank you, foresaa,

This version I like most from all those submitted, since it retains the original atmosphere.

Appreciate that you added the detailed description how to get there. The problem is, I haven't had the "courage" yet to start meddling with Photoshop, only tried something in Picassa and Picnic, so these layers, levels etc. sound like sci-fi to me I'd better start learning soon, it's truly amazing what magic one can do with a photo :O

Click to expand...

--
Andy
Grey haired & Scottish
..and proud of both!
http://andelimages.com

I used levels with masks and little color tweaking.

Thanks again for the link. Looks very good. I've read something about the levels on http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/ They have excellent tutorials.