Why I love RAW - '53 Ford Sunliner (Fixed)

[PhotosGuy]

Rag-top, a pearl paint job, bubble skirts, lakes pipes, Packard tail lights, frenched headlights... what more could a kid in the '50s want?

I almost missed this one. The tripod was already in the trunk when I saw it, so I grabbed a couple quick shots at minimum settings before he drove away. Being a film guy for years, I totally forgot that I could have bumped up the ISO! I also forgot to take the bright background into consideration. The car was the subject, not the sunset, right? So here's the results.

300D, Kit lens, ISO 200, RAW, Manual everything.
1/80 sec, f-4.5, FL= 18mm.

This is a jpeg from the umprocessed RAW file. Nice, huh?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/53-Ford_RAWtiff_05.jpg


These are the results after processing RAW +2.0 exposure into tiffs, & the usual PS work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/53-Ford_Sunliner_Front_07.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Car%20Stuff/53-Ford_Sunliner_side_05.jpg

[Conk]

Great job Frank.

[PhotosGuy]

Thanks, Conk. This post seems to be "going down the tubes" fast. Maybe I should have added (topless) to the title? :lol: :lol: :lol:

[PhotosGuy]

Photobucket was down all weekend. Apologies to those who waited for this to load. :cry:

[wolverinesr1]

wow is all i can say. that is a great testament to use raw. which i have slowly come around to using, because of pics like this. i'm even saving the raw files to maybe visit a year later to see if i can do even better processing. now if i could only get my PS skills up there i would be happy.
great job Frank.
jeff

[marie]

love the first shot especially

great atmosphere in it

8)

[Ballen Photo]

love the first shot especially

great atmosphere in it

8)

Marie hit it right on the nail head.

The PS work is great too. :wink:
-Bruce

[drisley]

I really like shot #2.
Excellent cropping and composition. It almost looks 3D.

[KevinO]

I not normally a 'still life' person, but these are just great shots. 8) 8)

[Mooneyes]

Very classy shots, think I may start experimenting with raw after seeing these... :D

[Ikinaa]

This is a jpeg from the umprocessed RAW file. Nice, huh?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/53-Ford_RAWtiff_05.jpg


These are the results after processing RAW +2.0 exposure into tiffs, & the usual PS work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/53-Ford_Sunliner_Front_07.jpg



I didn't know that you could rotate the car when shooting RAW . Or do you have this blade-runner aka CSI-plugin for PS? :wink:

Great job...

how long does it take to isolate the car from the background.
I've never tried doing it because of the long (my guess) time needed

[PhotosGuy]

how long does it take to isolate the car from the background.

The more you do it, the faster it is.
To select it & hide the background: Selecting areas in PS. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39994)
1. 5 minutes for the (dark) bottom of the car:
Add an adjustment layer (Levels) & kick up the brightness so I can see what I'm doing. Make the selection & save it, then turn off the adjustment layer. Then add the rest of the car to the selection & save it = another 5 minutes.
2. Erase or hide the background. see the bottom link.
3. Recall the selection, invert it, & expand it 1-2 pixels. Then erase any halo like the one you see at the top of the fender at the right in the first pic. (I didn't do that here before I posted the pic - I usually wait 'till I see what it looks like against whatever background I end up using.) Maybe another 5 minutes for that.
So, about 15 minutes for the whole process + time wasted if I see something interesting on the TV while I'm doing this.

EDIT: Using a Layer Mask to hide part of an image. Advantage is that the mask is reversible, where the effect of an eraser is not.
Need to remove a background from something? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=82876)

[Ikinaa]

how long does it take to isolate the car from the background.

The more you do it, the faster it is.
To select it & erase the background: (See my 'selection' tutorial in Post Processing)
1. 5 minutes for the (dark) bottom of the car:
Add an adjustment layer (Levels) & kick up the brightness so I can see what I'm doing. Make the selection & save it, then turn off the adjustment layer. Then add the rest of the car to the selection & save it = another 5 minutes.
2. Erase the background.
3. Recall the selection, invert it, & expand it 1-2 pixels. Then erase any halo like the one you see at the top of the fender at the right in the first pic. (I didn't do that here before I posted the pic - I usually wait 'till I see what it looks like against whatever background I end up using.) Maybe another 5 minutes for that.
So, about 15 minutes for the whole process + time wasted if I see something interesting on the TV while I'm doing this.

Seems easy :wink:
I guess it's all about training... like 1st time 3 hours, second time 2hours 59 minutes... etc 100th time 15 minutes :twisted:
I'll give it a try, just read your tutorial too... very interesting...

[4walls]

Wow, great work as always Frank.

[PhotosGuy]

... etc 100th time 15 minutes

That's it! Thanks, 4walls.

[Belmondo]

Very nice. (The shadows especially!)

Tom

[ajax]

Ohhh, I really like those! I didn't used to give two hoots about cars, but, I do love photographing them for some reason--particularly that vintage and style. The colors and shapes appeal to me.

I'll have to try your selection techniques--when I'm feeling patient. :D

[4walls]

Thanks, Conk. This post seems to be "going down the tubes" fast. Maybe I should have added (topless) to the title? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ha, ha, you would have to delete the ragtop first.

[BigRed450]

Excellent as usual Frank.... Haven't had the need or time to tinker with RAW, but I will give that a try during the slow times this winter...

Thanks for sharing....

[PhotosGuy]

Jeff: For a "film guy", there's nothing like having a negative to work with! See my "Contrast Control" tut in "Post Processing" for some ideas on how versatile RAW can be. I'm all in favor of anything that can save my butt when I screw up :!:

[J___]

wow looks complicated..... im still a jpeg lover haha.... too lazy to experiment with raw....

can u get the same or simular results editing a jpeg?

[PhotosGuy]

can u get the same or simular results editing a jpeg?

Why don't you try it? Take one normal & one 2 stops under. Then see if you can PS match the normal one.

[J___]

can u get the same or simular results editing a jpeg?

Why don't you try it? Take one normal & one 2 stops under. Then see if you can PS match the normal one.


hmmm i should try that haha.

but what filters to apply to get the result that Photosguy got? curves, levels, saturation? USM, anything else?

[PhotosGuy]

but what filters to apply

RAW conversion takes care of color balance, contrast, 'levels', etc. I only add a touch of levels if needed before USM in PS.
One step at a time, J__ ! :wink:

[toddb]

Another fine example of why to shoot raw to get the most out of your images. I wish the first 6 months I had the camera I would have shot more Raw, but I guess there is always going to be that transition period. I really wish I would have went into debt earlier and dumped my small point and shoot digital years before I did. Talk about hard images to deal with out of the camera due to noise. :-P

[jj_photography]

WOW..

I am a quite of a beginenr. And I am just wondering how you did this picture? From a outside thing and when you fixed it looks so professional... I am amazed :-o... How did you do this?

Cheers

[kona77]

WOW..

I am a quite of a beginenr. And I am just wondering how you did this picture? From a outside thing and when you fixed it looks so professional... I am amazed :-o... How did you do this?

Cheers

I belive Frank posted how to do this in post #12 on this thread. He does good work and so far I have taught him nothing.:)

[brantfordbandit]

did you use ACR or DPP for raw conversion

[mlav]

The real Q - how did a 4.5 year old post get up to the top? :)

[Razor524]

I was just trying to figure that out myself.

[PhotosGuy]

did you use ACR or DPP for raw conversion RawShooter was, & still is being used until I replace the 20D. Why?