Ice Storm: Before & After

I am usually a fairly light editor. I learned basic PP in a very basic program (probably something similar to Picasa) and last year learned the basics of RAW in DPP. Beyond that, I am clueless.

So . . . this was quite a challenge . . . I loved the light and composition of this photo (though I sure wish I could have gotten out there for more tries!), but did not like the telephone wires that seem to permeate ALL the woodsy areas in my town! (How I wish they'd get with the times and go underground. Sigh.)

So . . . I had to use "smudge", "clone", and "lighten" (burn) tools to get a decent result. What do you think? I'm pretty happy with it -- and it's not a huge deal if it's not perfect -- but I'd love any tips and feedback for future "problems."

(Some day I will use LR and PS, but these are good learning projects in the meantime. )

BEFORE:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/yankeemom/55144​70219/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/yankeemom/55135​68327/

Not a bad job at all. The telegraph pole looks a bit lonely now though

I might have waited or went back later for better light but that didn't appear to be an option as it looks like you shot through your car window and maybe hanging around or going back was an option.
You mean you didn't even get out of the car to take a shot! hehe

Nice job though of getting rid off all the 'garbage'...power lines, but I think you should (or missed) taking out what seems to be a bit of dashboard in the very bottom left corner.

Bottom final looks a bit like a postcard. (meaning good)

Nice edit +1 with the postcard look,now see if you can add branches to the telegraph poles . Could have posted it up a bit bigger to give it better impact or were you trying to stop people from saving image and using it themselves .

crawford wrote in post #11994239
Not a bad job at all. The telegraph pole looks a bit lonely now though

Yes, I left it there -- hoping it would blend into the trees, LOL. (Trying not to push it with the editing.)

GtrPlyr wrote in post #11994258
I might have waited or went back later for better light but that didn't appear to be an option as it looks like you shot through your car window and maybe hanging around or going back was an option.
You mean you didn't even get out of the car to take a shot! hehe

Nice job though of getting rid off all the 'garbage'...power lines, but I think you should (or missed) taking out what seems to be a bit of dashboard in the very bottom left corner.

Bottom final looks a bit like a postcard. (meaning good)

No, I didn't get out. We were on a trip and in a hurry, so just snapped quickly with my T2i + 18-55 IS. I wish I could have had more time -- the whole storm was AMAZING. I never saw a sight quite like that morning; the sun was shining down and it made the trees look like they were covered with silver and diamonds. I could not do it justice with my camera. Normally, I avoid bright sunlight, but it was necessary to get some of the effect in this shot. Thanks for the feedback! I'll check that corner.

butugly wrote in post #11994310
Nice edit +1 with the postcard look,now see if you can add branches to the telegraph poles . Could have posted it up a bit bigger to give it better impact or were you trying to stop people from saving image and using it themselves .

I always post in that (default) size; didn't think to change it, but might have been a good idea (if people don't mind scrolling.) Of course, they can click on it and go to my Flickr to see in larger size. Not too worried about people stealing the image, but I do watermark.

FTR, I am not much of a "landscape" photographer. I don't have the patience, discipline, or equipment for it, but living in beautiful New Hampshire makes me wish I were! Of course, I will always dabble in it when opportunities like this come along.

Just size them to 1024 x whatever and attach away and we get a chance to see a monitor sized image .

I opened these up on my larger screen, and the sky in the PP photo shows pretty distinctly where you removed the lines in the sky. The smaller images it is much more difficult to see.
If you keep the images small, it is a good job.
Regardless, it is a good step in the right direction.

Thanks. I "smudged" and "blurred" the lines in the sky, so you shouldn't see a line (like you might with cloning.) I'll have to look again.

I don't know how to resize through Flickr? Do you mean post the "large" size? (You can see them in super-size if you go there.)

Kristen, you definitely got a nice start there! Beautiful scene, so it's worth the trouble!

You don't say what software you are using for this. There are some artifacts in the sky that you can see when viewing the full-size image that shouldn't be hard to get rid of. Stuff like that often involves a combination of cloning and then some healing or blurring or whatnot.

Thanks -- like I said, I rarely edit beyond adjusting exposure, sharpening, and other basic things. More extensive stuff is new to me, but I thought this photo was worth the effort, too. (A good one to learn on -- I just couldn't bear those power lines!)

I converted in DPP, but I did all this editing with a simple software program called, "Memory Manager." It is really more a photo storage program, but has basic editing options (similar to what you would find on, say, Picasa.) I looked at the sky again and I don't see any lines or obvious markers, but I will go over it again with the "blur" and "smudge" tool (in spots.) This will probably only be developed in 4X6 (not sure if it's good enough to frame; something I rarely ever do.) Thanks again, everyone, for the feedback!

Well, it's a nice enough photo that if I were you I'd step out for a bigger print, say an 8x10 since you did crop some off the long side, and it may put a smile on your face!