I need help!!

[eastcoastsponger]

Hello All,

Here's the deal. I've been shooting with a DSLR for almost a year now. I'm a huge fan of surf photography and it's something I've wanted to do since I picked up my first issue of Surfer Magazine when I was 12 yrs old (I'm now 34).

The thing is I've been told that my pictures are good but I need to improve on my PP. When it comes down to it I'm clueless on how to adjust a picture or simply put make it pop. I have CS3 and when looking at it I might as well be reading Japanese.

I turned to a well established surf photographer who I respect very much and he suggested that I search for a book using the key wprds "Photoshop CS3 for Photgraphers" on Amazon and when I did a bunch of options came up. So, I went to B&N tonight and found a bunch of books. The thing is he said I should learn how to edit my photos in Bridge and to find a book that explains it.

Can someone suggest a good informative book for a beginner that could help me with this? I found a book from Scott Kelby that seemed pretty informative but I wasn't sure if it was the right choice.


Thanks for any and all input.

[Cybnew]

Scott Kelby is a GREAT photoshop author..regarded by many as the best...you can learn a lot from that book. A possible suggestion...post some of your images in here, and help explain what results you are looking to achieve...chances are someone on here will be able to help you get there :) Good Luck!

[tonylong]

You know, I'd suggest starting from scratch...first of all, when shooting surf shots you're shooting from a distance, and I'd suggest shooting RAW and editing in Adobe Camera RAW. And, let me tell you, getting good surfing shots requires good lenses!

If you can shoot good captures, post some pics here, and we could help!

[Titus213]

If your more into video instruction check out Lynda.com.

[rfreschner]

If you're going to be shooting RAW, a great book to read would be Real World Camera Raw for Photoshop CS3. (http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Camera-Adobe-Photoshop/dp/0321518675/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195145658&sr=8-1)

[squashed]

Scott Kelby explains it where a rookie can understand. He has numerous books on post processing too.

[eastcoastsponger]

I appreciate the few of you that took the time to respond. Getting an idea of how to properly PP my images is very important to me.

Here's a few images I took that all need help. They were all shot using a Canon XTi and a Canon 70-300mm IS lens with a CP and UV filter.

For instance in image #2 how can I get those faint water drops out of the picture? Those drops are from the spray coming up from the rocks in front of me.

1.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eastcoastsponger/IMG_3613.jpg

2.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eastcoastsponger/IMG_3473.jpg

3.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eastcoastsponger/IMG_3411.jpg

4.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eastcoastsponger/IMG_2612.jpg

[rfreschner]

To get rid of small spots in my images I usually use either the Clone or Healing tool in LR. For images that require a lot of retouching I use the Healing Brush or Clone Stamp in CS3.

[number six]

For instance in image #2 how can I get those faint water drops out of the picture? Those drops are from the spray coming up from the rocks in front of me.

I'm not sure which water drops you mean - looks like they're all around the surfer to me.

I did make some simple adjustments in #2 to increase contrast, saturation and sharpness. I'm not posting it because you don't have "Image Editing OK" in your profile. If you'd like to see my small effort I'll post it...

-js

[eastcoastsponger]

I'm not sure which water drops you mean - looks like they're all around the surfer to me.

I did make some simple adjustments in #2 to increase contrast, saturation and sharpness. I'm not posting it because you don't have "Image Editing OK" in your profile. If you'd like to see my small effort I'll post it...

-js


Sorry about that...feel free to post what you have. I would love to see how it came out. If you take a step back and look at the image I posted you can see faint penny sized circles. Those are the water drops splashing up from the rocks about 5' in front of me.

[rfreschner]

Sorry about that...feel free to post what you have.

You need to turn on permission to edit your images in your forum profile before he can post his edit.

[number six]

Ah, I see the penny-sized spots now. I didn't do anything to them, but I did bring up the shadows and saturation significantly and sharpened a bit:

230753

-js

[eastcoastsponger]

Cool thanks for posting!!

This is the best I could do :confused:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/eastcoastsponger/IMG_3473-1.jpg

[snowangel]

I tried learning CS from books and it didn't work. I found it very frustrating. I took a couple of one day courses and it was hands on the computer. I learned more than I would have ever learned from a book. But that's just me. CS is a difficult program if you don't know the basics.

Edited to say ACTIONS are the best. Search around the net for color pop actions and other color actions. All you have to do is download the actions then drag them into the actions window in CS. You just click the action and let it do it's thing. It's fast and easy. Here's a link to some free actions

http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm

[eastcoastsponger]

thanks for the link!