Rock 'N' Roll Diner

[debbie_liane]

Went travelling this weekend all over the place to get some photos for a college entrance portfolio, and i took this picture while in a diner having some drinks!

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/cf329e67.jpg

I'd like to edit it to make it look funky but i don't know how to because im a newbie in photoshop. Any suggestions welcome! :)

[elysium]

Not much to show it was a Rock n Roll style diner. I can see small hints of it but maybe a shot looking down the diner. Ill try an edit when I get home. Colours do already stand out quite well. :)

[debbie_liane]

I did take one, we were sat in a funny place and people were giving me really evil looks for taking photos... This is the only one i got of the diner, i wasn't sure if i liked it though. The second was me pratting about with the camera at the table next to us.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/b7417e05.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/fbc54106.jpg

[elysium]

I did take one, we were sat in a funny place and people were giving me really evil looks for taking photos... This is the only one i got of the diner, i wasn't sure if i liked it though. The second was me pratting about with the camera at the table next to us.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/b7417e05.jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/fbc54106.jpg
Both work well, will give it a go for a random edit when I get home. Has even more potential. :)

[debbie_liane]

Ahh okay, if you say so!! lol!

I took these with the intentions of making them punchy and really funky when i got back home but i can't do it.. im new to photoshop so i dont know where to start.

[Kathy H]

I really like the first & last ones! I'm going to go have a play with them.:D You definately have an artistic eye. You are going to do well in this art!

[poloman]

Try this for fun when you get time.
In ACR...
recover=100
fill=100
black=24
contrast=100
vibrance=100
saturation= -85

Now play around a little in photoshop!
Sharpen way too much
Play with curves to boost contrast.

[debbie_liane]

Whats ACR? Sorry if that is a ridiculously stupid question!

[poloman]

Adobe Camera Raw.
If you have CS3, you have this.

[debbie_liane]

Oh right, what does it do?

[poloman]

You should use ACR to tweak your jpgs and convert your RAW files.
For fun...try the directions and see what it does.
Here is an example
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2753996395_cbca481e8a_o.jpg

[debbie_liane]

Yes!! Thats the kind of look i wanted!!

Some funny faces on that photo lol! Relatives??

[poloman]

The one on the right is my cousin. The others are her friends. That look would fit with the fifties diner thing.

[debbie_liane]

I cant find these to things to do it.. im in photoshop now and i cant find all that stuff

[debbie_liane]

How do i do it? Where is it...?

[poloman]

Use bridge to open your file. Double click on it to open in ACR.

[debbie_liane]

Haha, whats bride? :-P

Sorry .. im not deliberately trying to be a pain in the ass.. honest!

[debbie_liane]

i mean bridge.. bah.. ive just been looking at the wedding photos in another section, gone to my head a little bit!

[debbie_liane]

does this look any different? i edited it a bit but i couldnt find all the things you told me to use so i just used contrast and a few other things.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/432777da.jpg

[poloman]

Adobe Bridge comes with CS3 and is designated with a BR icon
Adobe Camera RAW also comes with CS3 and is accessed from Bridge most easily. Bridge is a great program that will help you organize your files.
There might be a shareware or freeware RAW editor out there that you could use to do the "tweaking".

[poloman]

Here is your file after the process I described.

[debbie_liane]

Argh, how frustrating! I tried to make mine look like that and it came out soooo wrong! Can you please talk me through how you did that?

Also, my images are all jpeg, i think you only use camera raw when your images are RAW right?

[poloman]

If you open a jpg in photoshop, Camera Raw will open first. That is the wonderful thing about camera raw. You can change white balance in jpgs after the face. Why aren't you shooting raw?
If camera raw doesn't open when you open a jpg, open photoshop and click edit/preferences/file handling and check the box that says prefer adobe camera raw for jpg files.

[debbie_liane]

Ok i have clicked it for my preferences... ill give it a little go now but im up early tomorrow so ill be going to bed soonish!

[poloman]

Sleep tight...I have to eat dinner. It must be 2:30 am there.

[debbie_liane]

I just opened it and it looks exactly the same as before. Im really confused.

[debbie_liane]

Nah its only 00:30! lol, I say only.. i should really be asleep... but still, im doing something productive so thats how i will justify my being awake...

[poloman]

Did ACR not open?

[debbie_liane]

I dont think so no... im very confused. I need to get this done because i need to send them off for printing... i dont know what to do!

[poloman]

If you have CS3...open bridge. It should be in your menus.
Now find the file you want to play with and right click on it. Select "open with Adobe Camera Raw". Camera Raw will now open with the image. Use the directions I gave you earlier then click "open image" . The file will now open in photoshop. Duplicate the background layer by dragging it onto the layer icon (looks like a page with the corner folded). Click filter/other/high pass. When the dialog comes up select a high number like 25. Click ok. Change the blending mode of that layer to high pass. Click layer/flatten. Your good to go!

[aduda]

Did you shoot the image in RAW? I don't know about for anyone else, but ARC only comes up for me when I open an image that was originally shot in RAW.

I say this because I had the same problem before. I thought I had been shooting in RAW, and was confused as to why ARC was not coming up. Then I realized I was shooting jpeg.

[poloman]

Follow the direction in the post prior to yours. You will find ACR will open a jpg. You will appreciate that when you need to adjust the white balance of a jpg. :)
You can also drop a file onto photoshop and it will open ACR. This is only true if you specified in photoshop...
edit/preferences/file handling/ prefer Adobe Camera Raw for jpg.

[debbie_liane]

Thanks! I'll give it a go.. haven't been on here really today ive been super busy out buying portfolio stuff! I got a filter for my lens today, and a new camera strap cause mine drives me crazy!

I'll let you know how i get on, thanks so much for all the help you have given me, i really appreciate it

[poloman]

More than happy to help. I always learn something too.

[debbie_liane]

Ive done it but im scared that when i print it its gonna come out all grainy because i sharpened it a lot. Here it is:

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p403/debble1/1bbc3897.jpg


What do you think??

[poloman]

All right! Looks like you found everything!
It won't be as grainy as the image on your monitor. If you want less grain, reduce the opacity of the layer that you sharpened.

[debbie_liane]

I didn't use layers, i just opened it in bridge and did roughly what you said, with a little give or take. I mean it looks really really grainy.. and yours doesnt look grainy at all. Why is that? Should i try again?

[debbie_liane]

Right ive done it. I have finished. HOORAY! I have sent my photos off for printing.. They should arrive on saturday or monday so i will see what they look like! Interview is on wednesday so its a bit of a tight squeeze but hopefully all will be well and if not ill be running out to somewhere to get some more prints done!

Wish my luck!!

And thank you SO SO much to everyone who helped me with this, i really appreciate it!! Lets just hope it works and i get on the course!! :):):)

[poloman]

If you sharpened in ACR, that is why it is grainy. I had used high pass sharpening in Photoshop.
Good luck with your project, I'm sure you will do well.

[Spacemunkie]

I quite like the graininess of that image, although you may find the grain comes out a little digital looking with a lot of chroma noise. You can add more grain to cover up any digital noise if you slightly over cook things.

Copy your image to a new layer, add some noise to that layer - 150 should do it. Add some Gaussian blurring - 0.4 and monochrome should work well, then change your blending mode to Overlay. You can adjust the intensity with layer opacity.

I'm going to start a campaign to bring back grain!!!

[poloman]

It kind of fits the edginess of the post processing.