Before & After #71

[TheSonofDarwin]

This game is to help those of us who are trying to learn new tricks when it comes to editing.

Here's the breakdown of the game. I will post a picture that I choose, resized to exactly 1024 pixels maximum on the long side. Outside of being resized it has to be unedited...meaning no adjustments to any levels, it has to look like it did as it came out of the camera.

The game will last 48hrs and whoever can produce the best edited image (as judged by me) will be picked and it'll be their turn to post their unedited picture for all of us to take a crack at.

The participants must have their "Image Editing OK" turned on and they must provide at least a simple breakdown of how they edited the image, some entrants are a little vague on this point, please give us all details so we can learn and share tips. For instance if you use the unsharp mask tool or Smart Sharpen, provide us with the adjustments you used so others can try them out.

You can post multiple images, but the first image you post will be the one that is judged - all other images will be considered for knowledge and tip use only.

Also, please keep all comments, be they positive or negative, to yourself until after the game has ended.

If you happen to be the winner of the game please start the next one with the title of the game and the following number. For example…the next game should read (Before and After #72.)

This is all about having fun so have at it!!!

This will end on Tuesday, June 17th at 8:00pm (Eastern).

I went up with my Dad today in his power parachute, which is essentially a go-cart powered by a hoverboat fan that goes up using a parachute (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/thesonofdarwin/IMG_8447.jpg). My very first time flying in anything -ever-, and being wide open 1,500ft up was cool. An unfortunately hazy condition to take pictures and late evening with high ISO, so have at it...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/thesonofdarwin/IMG_8559.jpg

[gburwash]

okok

First off,
Using levels only, Created 3 differently exposed edits of the image, 1 underexposed, 1 Proper exposure, 1 over exposed..
Merged the 3 new jpegs into a HDR image in Photomatix 3.
Tone mapped in photomatix, saved as jpeg and back over to photoshop once again.

Tweaked levels
upped saturation
Noise reduction
Border

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2582393123_4e0f4cfebe_o.jpg

[theflyingkiwi]

created a new adjustment layer for the curves ad added some contrast to the image.
edited this layer so the adjustment was only added to the ground and no the sky.
created another adjustment layer for Hue/Saturation and changed the colour of the sky to green.
edit the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and removed the the ground to create a mask for the sky only. also edited this layer so that the green would be in the valleys as well.
created another copy of the background
edited this copy with the dodge and burn tool so that it looks like the light is coming from the right.

[BitterSweet]

-Straightened out the horizon (tried not to crop too much off)
-sharpen then a smart blur to soften the pixels.
-Pro contrast layer
-Contrast color range filter that brought out the green in the trees
-Sunshine Filter
-tonal contrast filter
-Midnight filter
-Brightened the whole thing
-Brightened the water and land around it.
-Border

[symby]

3 Different layers of Hue Adjustments all merged together using transparency masks.
Added a light source of a similar color to the bright part of sky in the upper left corner.
Small adjustment to Contrast Curve.
Then a High Pass Sharpen (done to add some detail but more so to increase the grain).

[suzyb]

I used the lens correction filter until the horizon and the dam appeared to be parallel and level.
Cropped/then cloned in around the corners that got distorted with the lens correction.
Upped the exposure.
Upped contrast.
Brought up the shadows.
Selected just the middle section and added more contrast.
Noise reduction/sharpening.
Added saturation.
More USM.
Border.

I think that's it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2585319616_ed0689d30d_o.jpg

[ZeroOne86]

This is a great photo and was fun to work with. With this one I kept it simple.

-Tone mapped in Dynamic Photo HDR. Brought down the exposure up and down by 1, all the way up to +4 and all the way down to -4. I used ACR to do this which makes it nice and fast.
-Smart Sharpen.
-I did a surface blur with two different layers with a mask. That way I could do it on the sky and then on the mountain in the background only and then vary the opacity.
-Curves w/ a reduced opacity.
-Selective color with this I tweak pretty much every color. I tried to modestly boost the black for more contrast and also got the green as well other colors in the field to where I wanted them.
-Warm photo filter on the bottom portion of the picture with a mask
-Border

[Ocron]

I guess I'd call this "misty morning in a mostly desaturated world, well, except for reds" :)

- Opened in ACR and set the wb off part of the water, bumped the exposure +.5, blacks +26, detail +60 all to spread the histogram out and get rid of some of the haze.
- Cropped
- Bunch of selective color adjustments to mute the greens and blues
- Curves adjustment to bump the contrast
- Selective color layer, +20 on reds black slider
- Added a copy of the original on top but just let a small amount of the blue in the water through.
- Another curves adj layer to add a little more contrast to the water and skyline.

http://ocron.zenfolio.com/img/v2/p154212952.jpg

[hamtheman]

I'm happy with the result:
Curves then added new layer then extreme curves then erased away what I didn't like
did the above several times.
overlaid with orange
put sky in on overlay in lake and sky.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i62/hamtehman/photo.jpg

[kab8715]

Those parachute things always amaze me. There is one that usually flies over my house at least once a week over the summer. Happen to have the camera out the other day when it was going by and grabbed a few pictures.

layer mask to remove sky & part of mountains/hills
thought you needed a flying partner out there so I
added a power parachute and sky - scale to size
copy/paste parachute - flip verticle and reduce opacity to make reflection in water
run film strip action
run sepia action


http://www.my-photo-storage.net/potn/after71b.jpg

[Lee123]

- Added some selective Saturation
- Slight Curves adjustment
- Very slight USM
- Added in LearJet and reflection
- Gaussian blur added to reflection
- Merged layers
- Small adjustment to the levels
- Smart Sharpen
- Crop
- Border

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2585667807_9437fd07e0_o.jpg

[Permagrin]

ran through noiseware
sharpened
added a side light to simulate morning sun
added a bit of glow to enhance the effect
border

[TheSonofDarwin]

But, but, but.. I don't want to have to decide!

So many good edits.

kab8715 - I really like that! No one else in our area has one, but that'd make a great picture if we could find another to go with us. Very well done.

Ocron - I plan on going next time at sunrise, and I hope it looks like that!

hamtheman - I love everything about that. I wish I hadn't had to shoot at 1000ISO. Great job! You are the winner :)

Everyone did such a great job!

[theflyingkiwi]

congrats hamtheman and everyone that's had a go. some really good results.

[ZeroOne86]

Congrats hamtheman, as well as to everyone else, great job.

[BitterSweet]

Congrats Hamtheman and to everyone else.

[Permagrin]

congrats Hamtheman and Bittersweet and Gburwash, I really liked your edits :)

[suzyb]

Congrats Hamtheman! Great job.

Lee123, I really liked the colors in yours. Very nice.

[TheSonofDarwin]

They were all really superb, and a lot looked similar to what I quickly threw together to send (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2585796202_989628678c_o.jpg) to my father that night.

I'm excited for the next one!

[gburwash]

Congrats hamtheman :)
Great Edits all around!

[kab8715]

But, but, but.. I don't want to have to decide!

So many good edits.

kab8715 - I really like that! No one else in our area has one, but that'd make a great picture if we could find another to go with us. Very well done.

Ocron - I plan on going next time at sunrise, and I hope it looks like that!

hamtheman - I love everything about that. I wish I hadn't had to shoot at 1000ISO. Great job! You are the winner :)

Everyone did such a great job!

Thanks :)
Whenever I hear the one flying over my place I like to go outside and watch it. What exactly powers them? Are they electric or gas? I would love to see one take off and land. Maybe I'll have to pay more attention and see if it is a certain day of the week he flies and go wait at the small airport that I think it takes off from.

So I thought I would add a color version of the edit... I wasn't happy with my sky though from my original picture... No matter what I did my sky just didn't seem to "match" the scene of your picture. Thats why I ended up going with the sepia

http://my-photo-storage.net/potn/after71color.jpg

[ethos101]

I notice the reflection in the water shows much larger than I think it ought to be. That or the power-gliders reflection makes it appear closer to the water than it is. Just my observation.

Great job otherwise. :D

[Lee123]

Congrats Hamtheman! Great job.

Lee123, I really liked the colors in yours. Very nice.

Thanks Suzy :D

Congrats Hamtheman...nice seamless reflection there...very well done.

[TheSonofDarwin]

What exactly powers them? Are they electric or gas? I would love to see one take off and land.

They are gas powered, 5 or 10gal tanks. Ours is 10gal and lasts about 3 hours with two people in it. They go up to 50mph (though I can't tell the difference between 10 and 50 up there besides the gauges). They only require 100ft of landing space, or less depending on how good the pilot is - as soon as the wheels touch down you can stop instantly if need be by collapsing the parachute and jamming on the breaks. That eased my hesitation since we could land in almost anyone's yard if the motor died :D But we live in farm country, so we just take off from any surrounding field that isn't grown up yet, or from the private airport a friend of ours owns in the town.

They take off pretty much like a kite does, assuming you fly your kites like me. Run (or accelerate..) fast enough so the wind fills the kite/parachute and up up you go. ~5sec takeoff and you go straight up.

[hamtheman]

Sweet thanks everyone!

[kab8715]

They are gas powered, 5 or 10gal tanks. Ours is 10gal and lasts about 3 hours with two people in it. They go up to 50mph (though I can't tell the difference between 10 and 50 up there besides the gauges). They only require 100ft of landing space, or less depending on how good the pilot is - as soon as the wheels touch down you can stop instantly if need be by collapsing the parachute and jamming on the breaks. That eased my hesitation since we could land in almost anyone's yard if the motor died :D But we live in farm country, so we just take off from any surrounding field that isn't grown up yet, or from the private airport a friend of ours owns in the town.

They take off pretty much like a kite does, assuming you fly your kites like me. Run (or accelerate..) fast enough so the wind fills the kite/parachute and up up you go. ~5sec takeoff and you go straight up.

Thanks for explaining :) very interesting. Are they very comfortable to sit in? is taking off and landing pretty rough?

[TheSonofDarwin]

Thanks for explaining :) very interesting. Are they very comfortable to sit in? is taking off and landing pretty rough?

Very comfortable. The seats are like very expensive leather computer chair seats. Takeoff and landing are smooth IF there is no wind. Where we have to land right now is in a direct 90 degree crosswind, and you aren't supposed to land in any crosswind over 15, so it's fairly bumpy. It's also bumpy up in the air if you are near any mountains because of the drafts, and also 0-300ft depending on the type of vegetation you are flying over that also give off drafts. Not bumpy enough that it'll jolt you out or anything, just a little more bumpy than I wanted to take my relatively new 40D through ;)