Before and After #173

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 #174".

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

This round will end Sat 4/4 at 5:00 PM EST

Not a spectacular snapshot but heres one from last years vacation in maine. This river connects Moosehead Lake to Indian Pond. Whenever I view this, it brings back the serenity I felt while relaxing there with my wife.

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

Hit it with 'Dramatic Sky' in Lightroom 2, took it into Photoshop got rid of that post, did some selective sharpening added a vignette & decided not to do much else.
(decided to edit)
took my photo out and cropped it, border, dropshadow.

Looks like a peaceful spot.

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

duplicated into 3 layers. Shadows/highlight maxed on layer 2 - opacity 50%. vivid light blend mode opacity 25% layer 3. Flatten. USM - (100%, .5. 2). Clone out stake

photoscape used to resize and add bloom filter.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

- Opened 2 smart object copies from ACR. 1 adjusted for the sky (exposure -2.15,recovery +12,blacks +30,clarity +25,vibrance +20 and one for the rest (temp +10,tint +8,brightness +19,vibrance +20) and used a layer mask expose just the sky on the first one.

- cloned out the stick
- Boosted contrast and saturation on the the blues in the sky by a small amount.
- Ran TRA Bowtwells Magic Glasses @ 50% opacity, but masked out the water.
- levels adjustment layer with a mask to brighten up the girl
- In honor of the retirement of a 3 time World Series hero this past week, gave the girl a Curt Schilling replica jersey. I'm guessing Mike is a Yankees fan and will love this.
- Small amount of high pass sharpening, but just near the shore area.

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

OK people...just 24 hours left. I see obout 130 views and about a half dozen entries. Is it safe to assume, the viewers whom don't participate are already pros at retouching OR don't own any editing software? What can we do to get more people to participate?

Stop people from posting such great edits

My current edit is just about an exact copy/steps as one of the above... so I'll see if I can come up with something diferent.

Cloned out post, duplicated layer 4 times
layer 1 - rendered light on young lady
layer 2 - added contrast and hue/sat to sky and river
layer 3 - darkened, contrast adj.
layer 4 - very light blur added
layer masks on each layer to control where the effect was applied.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I went and played around with this image so many times over the last few days anything from a sepia tone to a weird artist type thing so I might of skipped a few steps below sorry. I always came back to the more natural look so this is what I did.

-Added Contrast
-Added Color to the water, trees, grass and sky
-Messed around with the Graduated Neutral Density Filter to darken the sky and lighten the area where she was sitting
- Bleach Bypass Layer on a Screen filter
- Added a ripple effect to the water.
- Cropped
- Brightened a bit
- Border

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

"Kendoway, this is the police department. Put down the mouse, and step away from the copy of Photoshop.
We repeat: Put down the mouse, and step away from the copy of Photoshop. You are under arrest."


Honestly I have no idea why you guys continue to tolerate my nonsense in these contests, but thanks for having me

• Flipped the picture for no reason whatsoever. Maybe there's something in my coffee this morning.
  
• Cropped.
  
• Adjusted levels and curves.
  
• New sky which looks hideous - say it with me! "Hideous!"
  
• A little burning and dodging.
  
• Just having fun.
  

Such a beautiful setting. I decided to stick with that theme and selectively soften the image, while preserving some details to keep the essence of your original picture without making it too harsh.

1. Selected sky, applied Levels adjustment layer, reduced red & green channels
2. Copied to new layer, applied GB @ 1 pixel to soften forest, added layer mask, selectively revealed softened forest in some areas @ 50% opacity
3. Copied original layer, applied USM @ 100,1,1 to enhance detail & clarity of water, added layer mask, revealed entire river @ 100% opacity and gently revealed your wife @ 25% opacity
4. Merged, copied to new layer, set blending to multiply mode to deepen the blue sky, added layer mask and revealed with 50% gradient
5. Added lens flare to give feeling of early morning

I made a couple other attempts but they felt too harsh or too soft, so I decided to go with a more balanced edit this time. Not sure if it's what you were looking for, but it was fun.

Thankyou all for playing. Great edits and now for the tough part. Ok not really since I am weaseling out of it and letting my wife pick since she was in the photo. I am doing my critique followed by which one she chooses so don't be surprised if the winner contradicts my own critique

Lore - Beautiful sky. It looks just a little crunchy at the furthest part of river. Crop is a little tight on the right.

mattograph - Nice HDR. I'm not sure if eliminating all the shadows makes it or breaks it. Very sharp too.

tkbslc - This looks like a dreamy edit. Bright colors and nice sharpening. The sky could be a little darker.

masterwillems - Another great sky. On my monitor it looks just a little too saturated. I like the subtle crop.

Ocron - Great edit as usual. You took a gamble with the schilling jersey and it touched a nerve in this household. Both of us are Yankees fans. I am contacting a moderator in an effort to get you banned for this stunt

monty2848 - thanks for your submission (even though i think i put a guilt trip on you to submit one somehow). Very rich colors in the water and I like how you brightened where my wife was.

BitterSweet - Very natural looking edit, nice border. My only nit would be the trees on the right are a little dark.

Kendoway - I think its great that you try new stuff. The same old stuff gets BORING and you never learn anything. The B&W might have worked better if there was a wider range of grays in the photo. Lots of blacks next to whites. I think the area of trees across the river looks best.

SilverHCIC - Another natural looking edit. How did you add the flare? I know theres a filter for flare but this appears more like a tube?

My wife says if she were to pick just 1 to have in her office, its gonna be BitterSweet's edit. Congrats, and great job all!

Congrats Tracey!!

Nice edits everybody.

BTW - No guilt trip here Mike - these are always fun and I do an edit when I have time, I don't always post it up because somebody usually has posted one up that's pretty much identical.

Bravo Bittersweet - well done!

Lore - I really liked your sky and light. Nifty.