I know first hand how post processing can completely kill an otherwise beautiful image and unfortunately I've killed my fair share.. Anyone have any advice or tutorials for someone in my position who has a lot to learn?
Yours came in very close to mine and a low 6 is doing quite well around here. Congrats on the new PB. In both cases, I think we slightly overcooked the PP in order to bring out the details and some wow factor. Much of it depends on the light. Some images seem to pop with only minor adjustments needed, others need more massaging. Learning to see the light and recognize what will work has been a learned skill for me and I have only acquired some competence in it through experience.
Anyone have any advice or tutorials for someone in my position who has a lot to learn?
dont over do it, subtle is key. once your image doesn't look real any longer, its not.
especially with topaz, which i use less and less btw, if at all. i will open open it up in topaz just to see if the image will get any special pop and i usually find that it doesn't look better. The processing can look really fake, really quick. i find that i can get better images by applying the proper sharpening technique in Photoshop and adjusting the curves and colors in Photoshop or lightroom.
you know how people hate hdr? im thinking people hate topaz in the same way, but just aren't as vocal about it. However, both can produce stunning images but on the best ones, you can't tell that it was used.
I'm a fairly novice photographer so take my advice as you wish, though I find it's very easy when editing photos to do direct comparisons of minor adjustments and constantly think the one with slightly more pop (be it a minor sharpness, saturation adjustment etc.) looks better, where as if I go away and come back fresh (e.g. the next day - or week), having not been staring at the image for an hour, my perception of which looks better completely changes. And as has been said already, for my taste at least, subtlety is often (though not always =)) the key.
I'm a fairly novice photographer so take my advice as you wish, though I find it's very easy when editing photos to do direct comparisons of minor adjustments and constantly think the one with slightly more pop (be it a minor sharpness, saturation adjustment etc.) looks better, where as if I go away and come back fresh (e.g. the next day - or week), having not been staring at the image for an hour, my perception of which looks better completely changes. And as has been said already, for my taste at least, subtlety is often (though not always =)) the key.
I completely agree with this. i cant count the number of time i processed a photo (using topaz) and thought "wow, that looks awesome", only to see it weeks later and wonder wtf i was thinking.
I completely agree with this. i cant count the number of time i processed a photo (using topaz) and thought "wow, that looks awesome", only to see it weeks later and wonder wtf i was thinking.
That's also really good advice I would like to give. If you have enough time, sleep on your entry. I often find that my first edit or two turns out ok, but not great. So I like to come back and try again. I don't just tweak some sliders, I start fresh, do a complete re-edit (sometimes multiple times) and compare all the results I have come up with.
