How to get that POP

[Mullet]

I shhot RAW and after I post process my pictures they look good, but they just don't pop like others that I see here. What the secret???

[RAitch]

Post a sample.
By "pop" do you mean colour, or subject popping out from the background?

There are several ways to enhance colour. My favourite way (because I like the effect and like how it works) is a selective colour adjustment layer in Photoshop.

If it's about your subject standing out, that's depth of field (DOF) which is easily obtained using lenses wide open.

What camera and lens are you using?

[Mullet]

I use the Rebel XT. You got it with the colour pop. How does the selective colour adjustment work??

[RAitch]

OK. Load your image in Photoshop.
Switch to the layers pallete and click the icon (split circle I think) to add a new adjustment layer. Pick the "Selective colour" one.
Now, go through the colours in the drop down and play with the sliders. Some colours work best when minor adjustments are made while others work well with pretty major changes (greens). I usually just use trial and error. Start with the first slider and move it all the way left... then right. Which one looks closer to the colour shift that you want? Go back and forth in that direction until you narrow the setting down. Then move to the other sliders.
Don't forget about the black slider. Sometimes some minor adjustments will help with that.

When one colour is done, move to the next. I find that for some pictures, the white channel can also have some nice effect. Midtones I stay away from.

When you're done, if it's too strong lower the layer opacity. It's pretty cool because you can always double click on the layer icon to change the settings when you're done. Also, if the effect is too strong in only certain areas, you can play with layer masks to customize where the colour is applied.

Another nice trick is to add contrast. There are 2 ways that I do this (and there are probably more).
[1] Create a new curves adjustment layer. Just click OK without applying a curve. Then change the layer blend mode to soft light. Sometimes the effect is too strong, so again, don't be afraid to play with the layer opacity.

[2] Create a new curves adjustment layer. This time, apply a slight S curve... SLIGHT. Alt-click on the grid to give you more reference lines which might help. Make it an S curve that looks like an S or a 5 instead of the direction of a Z (backwards).

http://www.thegoldenmean.com/images/technique/curves/curves_valuedistribution.gifhttp://www.thegoldenmean.com/images/technique/curves/curves_beckcurve.gif

This will make the darks a bit darker and at the same time make more lights lighter... thus, increasing contrast. It's usually a good idea to make sure the line passes through the center point to keep the image balance.

Sometimes the curve shown above is a little too steep. Play around... and don't forget about layer opacity.

You can also do some interesting effects to increase the detail in one end of the spectrum... for example....
http://www.thegoldenmean.com/images/technique/curves/curves_lightsubject.jpg

Try adding something like this sometime if you're bored.
http://www.thegoldenmean.com/images/technique/curves/curves_fxcurve.gif

Also, if you want to correct some colour cast on your image, you can apply a curve to a single colour channel. Change the dropdown box.
This is different from the selective colour adjustment layer. The curves will apply a cast to the entire image. The selective colour layer will only affect the specified colour ranges in an image. When you are on the Green channel and you change the sliders, only the green colours will be changed.
If you apply a curve on the green channel (curves) you will apply a green cast to all of the colours. That's why I like selective colour. You can sergically enhance specific colours at a time.

[PhotosGuy]

Post a sample.

[Mullet]

I will do that when I get home

[Mullet]

Here are a couple od samples of my two boys. They just kinda flat to me

http://safhl.com/albums/HansenFamily/pony.sized.jpg

http://safhl.com/albums/HansenFamily/zach_002.sized.jpg

[robertwgross]

The subjects are evenly exposed, but that is just a start.

How about lining up some dramatic lighting? A beam of sunlight, or a flash of a flash unit.

How about a creative composition?

---Bob Gross---

[Mullet]

I just realized this is in the wrong forum. I thought I had placed it in the PP section. I am going to move it over if a mod wants to delete this!!:oops:

[Pekka]

Continue this here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89957