Before and after #170

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 #171".

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

This round will end Wedneday 3/25 at 5:00 PM EST

How about an aviation shot? I know its a little soft due to sooting RAW but I think its recoverable. Good luck!!

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

Here's mine:

Cloned out bushes by selecting sections of wall and roof and pasting them over as building blocks. I also copied the helicopter to its own layer and moved it. I cloned and blended everything together. Then I selected just the heli and sharpened it. I added a bit of blur to the blades, and more blur to everything but the helicopter as fake DOF. Then I adjusted color and lighting/contrast.

added clouds, sharpen, burn, layers, brighten, contrast, cropped, grayscale, border

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

MJA - I think this goes too far outside the traditional boundaries of "Before and After" so please disqualify me. I'm just practicing my Photoshop skills and having some fun.

• Basically the same crops/clones/pasting that Tkbslc did.
  
• Removed some of the stuff on the roof too.
  
• Night sky added - moon should be sized correctly based on the focal length (best guess).
  
• Messed with the color balance a lot.
  
• Had a heck of a time with those pesky rotor blade blurs (I need more practice)
  
• Helicopter tilted 15 degrees for that "hotshot chopper pilot landing" feel.
  
• Some directional lighting.
  

TIMES UP!

tkbslc - Good cloning job and using the rule of thirds.

Lore - The clouds are a great touch. The objects at the bottom are a little disctracting. I'm undecided on the b&w treatment.

LuckyStar08 - A nice simple edit. On my screen there seems to be a halo around the copter? Was there any sharpening done?

Kendoway - I think you were onto something with this. I would have liked to see the copter without the blue tint, a bit brighter and maybe some beams from the lights?

This one is gonna go to tkbslc...CONGRATS!! Good job all and thanks for playing. The more people the better.

Tkbslc - lovely edits, congratulations. I'd like to know how you blurred those blades so well. It was driving me nuts when I worked on those.

Kendoway wrote in post #7597566
Tkbslc - lovely edits, congratulations. I'd like to know how you blurred those blades so well. It was driving me nuts when I worked on those.

Thanks! I just loosely lasso selected the blades and used a very light gaussian blur.

I'll have the next one up in a few hours.

Congrats tkbslc -- I could not touch that edit!!

Nice job everybody -- Kendoway I think you did a great job on the night conversion.

.

Thanks! In hindsight I wish I had blurred the moon a little - and followed MJA's advice on the blue tint and the spotlights. Oh well, there's always next time