Did I improve this?

I was working with a lot of glare (need to find a better place to do this I guess) and I don't have a monitor calibrator yet. I just would like to know if I'm "getting the idea."

Buddy the Rooster before:

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I think it looks good. Maybe a slightly warm and slightly saturated but definitely better.

Try cutting it half-way between the two. The second looks too saturated to my taste.

i like the pp cock the way it is

Thank you! Was worried about over-saturating between the fact I'm new at this (first time I tried to "fix" so much - usually I adjust white balance to maybe warm things up a little and/or deal with exposure if I think it might be better a little lighter or darker) and the glare where I was working.

Bryan are you trying to be funny or do you mean "pre photoshop"? (hard to tell and the wink suggests the former). I did like the capture - it's hard to get a good chicken picture - they are sure whatever you're holding must be edible (especially if you hand fed them treats their whole life to tame them in the first place). End up having trouble keeping them far enough away to get an image!

post production

joedlh wrote in post #13145996
Try cutting it half-way between the two. The second looks too saturated to my taste.

I agree with this, a bit saturated for me. I think 1/2 between the two would be perfect!

Thank you for the clarification Bryan. It has been fascinating during the short time I've been here to realize that even "how much" or, for that matter "how" seems as much personal preference/taste as anything else.

I laid down for a while so I could be recharged for this evening. I'll play around with making it a little "less" when I get back or tomorrow, depending on how late tonight goes.

Bryan, I did love how much more light there seemed to be on his head and how gold the feathers got (he really is a lovely bird, especially for a mutt with either coordination or cognition issues!). I'll have to see if toning it back a smidge works for me, especially when I don't have all the glare from in here competing!

Definite improvement but it does not need a vignette.

Wow Frank - this is a change of an older (unedited) copy - believe it or not, the one that was loaded with this watermark was never photoshopped! It was just that bright.

Hmmm... that makes me wonder then, about the "real" original results - maybe the one capture was after the sun went back and was why it wasn't as vivid as the one you chose to tone down.

Maybe the goal should be to put him close to the original you used to photoshop instead of as bright as I had him.

Thanks though.

Thank you Titus - I was wondering if the vignette was too much - it might have been me being a little doting... believe it or not this is one of my "very special" chickens.

When I realized how much redder the picture that Frank grabbed and modified had been, and that it was never modified, I realized that he definitely is a lot more colorful than the original image made him. I've had company all evening and haven't had a chance to go play again. It will probably be tomorrow morning - it's BEDTIME in 23 minutes! YIKES!

I like it. I think I might want to pull back the vignette a little if it were me- otherwise it's quite striking.

Thank you Littlebay!

I'm glad you like it.

Is your monitor calibrated? I still need to buy a calibrator and I'm wondering if the opinions are just what people prefer or if what I've done so far with gamma adjustment etc., isn't adequate to be sure that I'm accurate. It is my first try at anything more elaborate than exposure and white balance changes. I'm working on another one now here - still have to take the clone stamp and get rid of the bleacher supports and additional railing in the background...

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