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Kendoway
10th of March 2009 (Tue), 20:20
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 #167".

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

**Personal Note – Since I’m new here on the boards, I’m hoping I got this right. The idea is to post not a “great” picture, but one that really needs some PP – right? We had gorgeous sunny clear weather for our private guided hike up Table Mountain, Cape Town South Africa. Yes, we climbed to the top! Brahm our guide (on the left) met us in the hotel lobby at 8am on Tuesday morning and we started off on the Platteklip Gorge Trail by 8:30AM. The climb started at 350m above sea level and finished at 1080m. The trail was easy to navigate except for the quad burning rock steps, steep ascent and crawling on all fours! Almost a 60 degree ascent at many portions throughout the climb. We finished the hike in 2 hours and then continued on further to Maclear’s Beacon—the highest point on the mountain. We did not hike down, but took the cable car. My wife Rochelle is on the right.

This round will end Friday 3/13 at ~12:00pm EST

http://s5.tinypic.com/5dkneh.jpg

MJA
11th of March 2009 (Wed), 16:52
Guess I'm going first..

Tonemapped the image with -4 to +2 in full stop increments
Cloned flares out
Adjusted highlights/shadows
Adjusted contrast
I was going to do it color but the sky just wouldn't come in so...
Converted to B&W
Slight sharpen
Blur pixelated areas
Resize to 1024 wide

http://www.cornbread.com/~ratta/banda167.jpg

DonJuanMair
12th of March 2009 (Thu), 00:54
i couldnt resist

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k21/DonJuanMair/5dkneh.jpg

cropped it tighter, and went in really really close and used the polygonal lasso and selected husbands head and then did the same for the wife, created a new layer from each one. then cloned the background to cover up any obvious signs of head switching antics. Used the patch tool to clean up skin differences Used curves to match husbands head to wifes body and here we go

MarineManiac
12th of March 2009 (Thu), 14:37
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cabbage2003/5dkneh.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e363/cabbage2003/Untitled-1.jpg

Kendoway
12th of March 2009 (Thu), 16:20
Great entries everyone - keep them coming! :)

Ocron
13th of March 2009 (Fri), 08:25
- I tried to make you wife the focus of the picture (as I'm sure she'd agree she should be :D) without being too obvious about it. I did this on my uncalibrated laptop monitor so hopefully it looks ok.

- Opened 3 copies from ACR, 1 with the sky exposed correctly, 1 the mountains, and 1 the people. Blended using layer masks.
- Masked curves adjustement layer to brighten you wifes face under her hat and did a little extra on her teeth and eyes.
- Little bit of skin smoothing on her cheeks using TRA Pro Retouch and toned down the reds there also. Looked like maybe the hat reflected some extra red.
- 20-50-0 USM dehaze at 50%
- Noise Ninja pass to smooth sky a little bit and add some sharpening
- CEP Darken/Lighten at 50% with the center over your wifes face.

http://ocron.zenfolio.com/img/v6/p23122498.jpg

Kendoway
13th of March 2009 (Fri), 21:03
The winner will be announced at 10:00 am on the 14th (EST - USA). We have 3 hours left.

Kendoway
14th of March 2009 (Sat), 10:15
Great entries everyone, and even with a limited number of participants in this round - I found it incredibly hard to make a decision. I’m still practicing and honing my own post processing skills, so this has been a real learning experience for me. Thanks everyone! Though it bends the rules a little bit, my wife Rochelle (who has keen photographic eye herself) acted as a second judge.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Goes to DonJuanMair. Head swapping is lot more difficult than it looks, and you did a great (and funny) job with the patch tool getting the skin tones properly blended. You got a big “laugh out loud” from the wife when she saw it – and you have effectively destroyed our sex life for the next week, until I can get that image out of my head :)

3RD PLACE:
Goes to MJA. Great work burning the sky, and the technique you used to remove the lens flares took a steady hand on the mouse. The background sharpening is remarkable!


2ND PLACE:
Goes to MarineManiac. I love selective color photographs, and you did splendid job with this. The focus is now on the hikers (where it should be), and you did it with a subtle touch that gives the entire photo a sepia tone feel. Excellent technical synopsis by simply doing a screen cap of the layers window. Honestly, it was a razor thin choice between you and Ocron.


1ST PLACE:
Goes to Ocron. Your decision to leave the lens flares in the photo took artistic courage (I would have been tempted to remove those myself), and I commend you for that. You took my terribly blown-out and over exposed picture and made just the right color and lighting corrections, and effectively “recaptured the moment” - to perfection. It was a special day for us, and you’ve created an excellent keepsake. I’m looking forward to seeing what you post for “Before and After 168”.


Again, fantastic work everyone – and they are all “keepers”!

DonJuanMair
14th of March 2009 (Sat), 11:16
great work guys!
im glad the wife liked it ha

Ocron
14th of March 2009 (Sat), 12:07
Thanks and great job by all. DonJuan that head swap killed me. Nice job. I'll get 168 up this afternoon.