Before & After #243

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 #244".
This is all about having fun so have at it!!
This round ends Wednesday, December 23rd at 12:00pm EST
Old Storefront in New England (before the snow!)

HOSTED PHOTO
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Crop, adjust level, smart sgarpnen, topaz clean, dodge and burn

use H/S to change the color of white wall to brown.
select the window, copy & paste, multiply.
high pass sharpen.

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

Cropped, Curves Adjustment Layer, Adjusted Colour, Added Multiply Layer to selectly darken down background and reflections, Added Vignette

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

2 Curves Layers, one to up the contrast, one to give it a cross processed look. Lens correction filter to give it a slight vignette. Cropped

- tried to change to look of the image to an older style with the old photo filter in Nik Color Efex Pro
- added a Vinnette with the center point around the cereal box

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

Here's my take...

In ACR: bumped blacks up +5 and clarity +40
In PS:
- Transform->perspective adjustment to tilt the box left a little
- I did some selective contrast and levels adjustments to separate the box and desk from the background
- Ran an antique tone action
- Added grain
- ran a stamp action, then put it over an old paper background.
- "aged" the stamp border by adding grain, satin layer style and dropped the opacity a little.

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

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

Straightened and cropped. cloned sections of the fencing then used replace colour to brighten things up a bit.

And I thought picking a winner would be easy !Get it straight in my head what I wanted, then just pick that one.
That was until I saw all of these;cccc yours has somehow just the right look to it,reisset yours is just so clean, wish I could even begin to get to this point,bdbox got the imperfect glass brought out, which was one of the things I wanted to do with the original,coops61 and viciouscircle, not sure what direction you were going, but the style is somewhere I haven't been before,palladium, the effect is great, it sort of looks like the old box style camera images.
Ocron and nigelD both are very cool, ocron I can see you put a fair bit opf work into this, and nigelD brought out things that i didn't even know were there.
I have to give two thumbs up here as well as a thanks to all who put so much into this simple image.

NigelD you would have won hands down,but the yellow saturation is just a bit much for the look I was thinking of, but you did a great job as I said bringing out the detail.
Ocron I think you won it here, but just by a nose. It's not the look I was thinking of exactly, but I must say it really captured the spirit of the moment, so to speak.
Ok you know who won, but If you don't mind reading a little bit more I'll explain about the image.

This is the window of what we called "the little store" just down the street from my house. I remember it so well when i used to go there as a kid. That dark wood was throughout the whole place, but when you walked in you could see the dust floating around inside highlighted by the light coming in those huge windows. You could smell the brine of the pickles in the wooden barrel on the right. On the left was heaven behind glass. Curved glass, behind which were rows upon rows of penny candy. the glass made it all the more special, because you couldn't get to it, unless you asked first. There behind this glass and counters was a very fragile looking older lady with silver in her hair, a retired school teacher in fact.
But I think the best part was when I was asked to get some bread by my parents, because I knew I would get a nickle or possibly If I was lucky a whole dime, If I walked down and got that bread. Needless to say that nickle or dime never made it home again.
Talk about a special place, all that from a simple photograph.

Thanks Bsmooth, your picture has a lot of old time character to it.

reisset -I liked your edit a lot, what is "topaz clean"?

I'll get 244 up shortly.

Topaz clean is a plug-in available for photo shop.

here is the link : http://www.topazlabs.c​om/clean/

Well done Ocron - I really liked your stamp version.

Great "going to the store" story. Congratulations to Ocron.