sample photo what can be done to tweak this up

[boxer82003]

hi there im just curious what someone could do with this photo in photoshop it seems a bit soft and underexposed

if you take this task on could you tell me what you did to improve it as i would like to learn a bit more about post processing. photos like this seem to be a common thing for me as i am still learning

opps helps to post the photo
this is the original size

http://members.shaw.ca/samplephoto/sample.JPG

[Jesper]

Here is my result:

http://home.hccnet.nl/jesper.de.jong/images/sample-jesper-small.jpg

I did the following with your photo:

- The photo has a blue cast (the blue channel is even blown out in the boy's shirt collar), so I corrected the colours with the Curves tool in Photoshop CS.
- I also used Curves to make it a bit brighter.
- I used Neat Image to get rid of most of the noise.

You've shot this at 1/200 sec, f/13, ISO 800, focal length 290mm. So it isn't slightly out of focus because you used a slower shutter speed or large aperture. Because you used a high ISO setting, the image has quite a bit of noise. This noise can also drown the finest details in the image, so it also contributes to the softness in the image.

p.s. The photo above is a small version, if you want me to send you my version at the original size (3072 x 2048), send me a private message.

[Goofup]

Well, I couldn't help myself, had to give it a go.

This was cropped to get rid of the extra background, color cast corrected, brightened, more contrast, a tad of fill flash, and sharpened- all using Elements 2.0. Then I ran it through Helicon Noise Filter @20%, and finally one more round of a tiny bit of sharpening.

Cute kid!

http://www.pbase.com/goofup/image/35207296.jpg

[Flagpole]

G'day Boxer!

Here is my take :) And I am not a pro in PS by any means.

http://members.oztralia.com/~bfeldman/Testshots/samplefixed.jpg

My steps were similar to Jespers. I decided not to use curves to lighten the image but blend two layers together and also used a USM on red channel to add a little detail. I could have used slightly more sharpening I guess :roll:

1) Used Curves to get rid of blue color cast
2) Used Duplicate layer to brighten the picture (Screen with opacity of 60 %)
3) Used USM at 150%, 1, 10 on Red Channel only (not sure how much details it brought back)
4) Removed noise using Noiseware (Portrait mode)

Flagpole

[who10]

Didn't have much time to play with it, I'll try again when I get home from work.

http://www.haskellct.com/photos/sample-jesper-small_updated.jpg

Looks like I made this attempt a little too soft...

David

[Molydood]

these are fantastic, I tried my more basic approach for comparison:
just did levels, colour balance, sharpen, then noise:

http://www.pbase.com/molydood/image/35227467.jpg

[who10]

Okay here's my final shot at it...

[ {edit} Image didn't resize properly - I'll repost this one later ]

[boxer82003]

well thank you for all your replys guys they all look great

who 10 could you post what you did to enhance the photo i like the first one the best seems more natural they both look better then the original

also i have photoshop cs and elements 2.0

where is this curves tool that is so talked about
and neat image is that different software

very sorry for noob questions but thats me total noob

[Jesper]

Only Photoshop CS has Curves, PS Elements 2.0 doesn't have it. It's a tool that you use to change the contrast and brightness of your image. It's more advanced and more difficult to use than Brightness/Contrast or Levels, but it gives you more control. Curves Tutorial (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/command_primer.shtml).

Neat Image (http://www.neatimage.com) is a program to remove noise from images while preserving the detail in the images as well as possible. I recently bought the Pro+ version, which works also as a Photoshop plug-in. It works remarkably well to remove noise. Besides Neat Image, there are other programs that do more or less the same thing, for example Noise Ninja (http://www.picturecode.com) and Noiseware (http://www.imagenomic.com).

[who10]

Boxer,

Moved this post to a PM since what I described really only applies to
your pic..


Have fun! David