Making Dull photos Un-Dull!

Gents,

Are there any simple tips in making dull photos - due to overcast weather - a bit more bright and colourful?

I went to Brussels this weekend with the wife and when ever we have been any where we always pick a few of the best photos for the hall wall.

However, it was very overcast/raining and my images from my 20D are very flat and i wondered the best way to 'Boost' them.

I have shot everything in RAW as well as JPEG as i knew one day i would start trying to play with the images!

I have PS Elements 5.0 and GIMP here at home but am not sure where to start

Nev

Post an example and let folks have a play with it, telling you what they did to their edit. Then you can take the advice and get something you are happy with.

How do i post a RAW file to the thread?

I can see how i would do it with a JPEG as i use Photobucket but can't seem to see how to get the RAW up?

Nev

You can't post the RAW file -- it has to be converted to a jpeg first. Take your "as shot" file, either the jpeg or convert the RAW to a jpeg, resized for the Web, and post it here.

For some examples of RAW conversions that deal with these issues, check out the RAW Conversion thread:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=684360

Tonylong, thanks for posting your thread i shall have a good look through it see if i can't get an idea for what iu am trying to achieve.

Cheers

Nev

You might try Local Contrast Enhancement, http://www.luminous-landscape.com …ontrast-enhancement.shtml. I've done it very little, but it can help overcome those overcast situations.

Easy, open jpeg in gimp, hit colors >> levels. press the auto button and ok. That should be it.

Picture is no longer dull, if that works for you then you can implement the same thing at the raw stage in dpp by grabbing the edges in the histogram window and pulling them inwards to meet the edges of the picture data. The more you move the left in the blacker the blacks get, the more you move the right in the whiter the whites get. By stretching out the contrast you should get rid of any kind of dull gray cast to the pictures.

Nevtiger,
You could also link back to your photo bucket site w/ full res jpegs some of us could play w/.
Each individual could then download the images off your site.

Later,
_Mark

Add contrast, saturation, and brightness.

For a rainy/overcast day I'll go B&W.

Nevtiger wrote in post #7949744
How do i post a RAW file to the thread?

You can upload it to www.yousendit.com and post the link here.

Peano wrote in post #7953234
You can upload it to www.yousendit.com and post the link here.

Yousendit.com files are available only for a limited time (a week, I think) and a limited number of downloads. Great for sending, but not great for a forum that encourages searching existing threads. It's frustrating to spend time searching a topic only to find dead links.

Ok, here is a shot in Brussels.

I have converted it to jpeg without any adjustments via UFORAW for GIMP. I tried with Elements but it would not convert to jpeg that Photobucket could see it was a jpf or something!

http://i253.photobucke​t.com …PEGnoadjustment​UFORaw.jpg

I have tried playing with the Histogram as Karlosdajackel suggested but in the RAW converters i cant seem to move the histogram in either UFORAW or the one in Elements. I do have a curve thing in UFORAW that i can play with which is a straight line that can be bent! I can also move the histogram about if i then open a converted image in GIMP once its been through UFORAW.

As i understand it from lots of reading of threads last night that its better to do this sort of thing at the RAW conversion stage - DPP is it??

Nev

Here is the original along with a couple of edits

They might or might not be to your liking as the pp tends to be very subjective.

Adjusted curves,vibrance and did some sharpening tweaking

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

FstopMiami123 wrote in post #7955669
Here is the original along with a couple of edits

They might or might not be to your liking as the pp tends to be very subjective.

Adjusted curves,vibrance and did some sharpening tweaking

Nice one thanks!

Now you say you adjusted the 'curves' is that the straight line on a graph that i can 'wobble' about?

I can not vibrance on my Elements or UFRaw/GIMP but i can see what you have done - i think with playing around.

Nev