Before & After #155

[lavanut]

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 72hrs 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 & After #156".

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

I took this shot a few years back, and it didn't come out like I wanted (still learning about the camera then). I tried various edits, but I want to see what you come up with, so go forth and play!

This game will end on Sunday January 25nd at 7PM EST!

[Flo]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/emmaloudawg/birds/IMG_1352-BA_155.jpg

crop
brightness levels at 92%
dark level 1%
contrast 72%
shadows 8.5%
Saturation 48%
temp 63.4
tint -95.9

conversion

[tkbslc]

I put way too much time into this for how lame it is. Going for a retro feel here:

Used my freeware editor photoscape:

Backlight: +200%
Backlight: +/- 100%
Film effect: crossprocess - low
Vignetting effect.

[monty28428]

ACR - warmed white balance, upped exposure, added fill light, upped vibrance
Orangish Gradient top to bottom
Curves
Vignet

[MJA]

low pass noise reduction
sharpening
auto levels
lightened shadows
slight saturation increase

http://www.cornbread.com/~ratta/banda155.jpg

[lhos]

Curves
Adjusted exposure slightly
Levels adjust
Increased brightness
Selective color enhance- red,yellow,green
Black color overlay with gradient to make sky more dramatic
warming photo filter
border

[vroom_skies]

I took a different approach:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/vroom_skies/Photography/Edits/IMG_1352-BA_155e3.jpg

- Crop
- Levels
- Color tones
- unsharp mask
- little dodge & burn
Bob

[theryaner]

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/650/mytryiy5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/mytryiy5.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img518/mytryiy5.jpg/1/)

[lavanut]

Thanks to all who played on this challenge! I've wanted to see what could be done with this shot to bring it more to life. The Tetons are a majestic place, and the colors were great then. I just wish it hadn't been overcast that day and that I'd done better with the camera.
This is my first time judging something like this, and these are just my opinions. But since it was my photo to begin with, I guess that's what I'm supposed to use!

theryaner - Too much contrast for me... too much too light and too dark. In the future, remember to post your steps so others can learn from what you did. Others may find that approach appealing.

vroom_skies - nice touch with the Lavanut signature. You get bonus points for that!

tkbslc - The retro idea was nice, and I like the separation you got between the clouds and mountains, but the other colors are just a little too saturated for me. I know that's more of the retro look, but it just doesn't speak to me in this shot.

lhos - If it had been a stormier day that afternoon, your take on the clouds might have been the deciding factor, but the weather wasn't that bad that day (and I'm glad)! :)

Monty - Your take was good too, but the sky was just a bit too orange for me. I guess you were just trying to warm it up!

Flo - I hadn't thought about b/w for this before. That was a different take and a nice approach. If you could have gotten a little more contrast between the sky and mountains, you might've pulled this one out!

And my pick for the winner...
MJA - Your edit did the best job of capturing the moment of that shot (which I didn't quite do in the original photo). Nice job, but tell me, where is low pass noise reduction in PS? I found High pass.

Here's was one of my versions of that photo. I couldn't change the weather there, but I can after the fact. It was an earlier pass at PP, but after picking up some tips & tricks from all of you, I may go back and play more.

Thanks to all who participated!! Congrats MJA!
337339

[monty28428]

^good job

Congrats MJA! Nice edit's everybody!

I was just trying something different as my orginal edit was quite close to tkbslc's!

[MJA]

Nice edits everybody! I'm a little surprised I won. I just reinstalled my OS and have been trying to get my color management right. Also, looking at the other submissions, my edit seemed to have the most sharpening applied.

As far as the noise reduction, I will have to look at my filters (i'm not at my desktop now). This was pretty much my first before and after contest I tried and will keep a more detailed history of what I do next time. Great job again to all and now to find a pic for #156...

[Ivoryplum]

I didn't realize it ended at 7 EST. So I guess I'm a little late on this, but will post it anyways since I did take the time to edit. :)
Congrats MJA!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/sk8erek/IMG_1352-BA_155.jpg
Levels
USM with Lab Color under the Lightness channel.
Shadows/highlights
Filter plug-in - Beautifier
Noise Ninja (to help soften field)
Used overlay layer with 50% gray to "brighten" areas and darken clouds...also made field more green to contrast against the other fall colors.
Added 3 borders.

[Flo]

WTG MJA!

[lavanut]

I didn't realize it ended at 7 EST. So I guess I'm a little late on this, but will post it anyways since I did take the time to edit. :)
Congrats MJA!



Sorry you missed the deadline! I like your edit! It has a very nice ethereal feel to it... mystical and magical at the same time. Would you go ahead and add your steps so others (and me) can see how you did it? Thanks for taking the time to do the edit and post it!!

[Ivoryplum]

Sorry you missed the deadline! I like your edit! It has a very nice ethereal feel to it... mystical and magical at the same time. Would you go ahead and add your steps so others (and me) can see how you did it? Thanks for taking the time to do the edit and post it!!

Thanks! :)
And not a problem. Added to post above.