Before and After - The Weekly Editing Challenge

rrblint wrote in post #19186556
Thanks for the detailed review Martin. The only reason that I was replacing the skies was the amount of dust and dirt that would have to be removed. I liked the original skies and hated to change them. If I had had that Polaroid app beforehand, I wouldn't have had to replace them. I'm still learning that app, but hopefully by next time I'll be ready to use it.

Congrats Mark. With a lot of dust etc on the "big sky" in that photo, I found that using dark and then light spot removal worked best for me, though I still haven't played around with it much. I decided to replace the sky (plain blue one in my first post, then the sunset ones) because there were still some minor artifacts scattered throughout. Even with the blue sky replacement there was some bleed through that I had to clone out, though I might have tried a second pass through with the Polaroid app ... . Happy with any notes you can pass on to us, too. Lead on!

Stiga wrote in post #19186869
Just a quick first attempt

ACR > suppress highlights > Photoshop > denoise, darken and blur background > replace bird

Hosted photo: posted by Stiga in
./showthread.php?p=191​86869&i=i18449128
forum: Competitions

"... replace bird" !!

My contribution - the endangered Woods Duck

It seems that no one is taking my hawk pic seriously so HERE is an alternative. Another one of my film portraits. I hope you like it better.

rrblint wrote in post #19187403
It seems that no one is taking my hawk pic seriously so HERE is an alternative. Another one of my film portraits. I hope you like it better.

Just when you said that, wala

Lr lens correction, noise reduction, basic adjustments, PS replace backround, curve & color adjustment

Sorry - wasn't trying to duck the challenge. Couple real ones below. Both went from raw into Aurora for some HDR and a wee bit of sharpening. Then:

# 1. in Luminar 4, straight into Warm Sunset looks and stopped there just to report what that did.

I have a bit more time now, so here is a serious attempt.

1. PL4 > export as DNG
2. Aurora
3. PS&ACR > Denoise > crop > select background > darken blur & suppress highlights > select foreground > adjust highlights and shadows > resize

The portrait - beautiful subject. All in Luminar Ai but didn't use a whole lot of the Ai part. Removed dust spots throughout and cleaned up a few uncooperative hairs (erase and clone); played with colour, structure, detail sharpness, and light settings in portrait and "essentials"; removed second light reflection in eyes. Oh - and reduced size for posting in MS Photos.

And with different toning.

In Adobe Camera Raw, I adjusted white balance, contrast, and brightness. I also reduced noise. Back in PS CC 2021, I applied Lasersoft Imaging dust and spot removal then removed a coupole of the larger ones remaining. Using Portrait Pro, I adjusted the lighting a bit and added some makeup. I also brightened her irises. Next, I used the new 'sky replacement' feature to remove the original bg and replaced it with a sky I thought went with her hair. I also added a hue/saturation layer and changed the blend mode to 'Luminance' so I could darken her hair a bit. Resized and sharpened.

Sky replacement left a bit of a halo around her.

The raptor is the main subject, so I tried to zoom in on it. I started with the TIF I made with Aurora and then did a lot of selection and brushwork on the background. Finally Topaz Focus AI on the bird.

Ok, here's another "non-entry" image. Stealing Borrowing Stiga's cropped image I adjusted it a tad.

Adjusted levels a bit to get the histogram backed off from the black and white ends.

Saw some purple/red fringing in the edges of the back feathers so used unsharp-mask.

Adjusted coloration a tad...seemed mine image was growing green in it...I think there's still some green in the feathers of my version.

Saw that some very slight purplish/pinkish tint had returned to the edges of the feathers again so ran unsharp-mask on it again.

Lastly I downsized it to be 571x800...I figured a smaller image my help with the sharpness (resolution?)-loss from the cropping...but what do I know?

Intheswamp wrote in post #19189085
Ok, here's another "non-entry" image. Stealing Borrowing Stiga's cropped image I adjusted it a tad.

Adjusted levels a bit to get the histogram backed off from the black and white ends.

Saw some purple/red fringing in the edges of the back feathers so used unsharp-mask.

Adjusted coloration a tad...seemed mine image was growing green in it...I think there's still some green in the feathers of my version.

Saw that some very slight purplish/pinkish tint had returned to the edges of the feathers again so ran unsharp-mask on it again.

Lastly I downsized it to be 571x800...I figured a smaller image my help with the sharpness (resolution?)-loss from the cropping...but what do I know?

Hosted photo: posted by Intheswamp in
./showthread.php?p=191​89085&i=i42129501
forum: Competitions

Nice job

I couldn't've done it without ya!

Intheswamp wrote in post #19189104
I couldn't've done it without ya!

That's very gracious; many thanks.