Photoshop to the rescue. I would be interested to see how post processing has saved your photo. I was unfamiliar with the use of my strobes and I only had one sitting to work with. Only a few of my photos turned out to need just minor adjustment but none of the photos with Megan and her violin were acceptable. I was determined to salvage at least one. I believe that this shot could have been achieved in camera, if I had set it up correctly. The PS lighting effects really worked magic here.
Do you have a before & after you would like to share?
Wow, that's wonderful and very nicely done... you've taken some fairly mundane raw material (not insulting your neice, I mean in terms of lighting, clothes, skin tones) and turned it into a beautiful image.
A simple crop can work wonders on a photo. I also see a color adjustment that looks good too. Thanks for sharing.
Actually didn't mess with the color. Used the clone tool a lot to get rid of the drool. Same with the face, only at 40 to 60% opacity to get rid the hot spots from the flash. Mainly just tried to clean it up.
I probably went way too far with photoshop in this one, but...
The after looks much better, only one suggestion. The roofs of the buidings look over sharpened. Most likely from selecting the sky. I don't know how you make selections, but I use a mask. Once you get the selection, create a new alpha channel. Make the selection pure white, the rest black. with the white selected use a low amount of gaussian blur. ctr- click on the alpha channel to select. Then you have a gradual fade at the selection border.
The after looks much better, only one suggestion. The roofs of the buidings look over sharpened. Most likely from selecting the sky. I don't know how you make selections, but I use a mask. Once you get the selection, create a new alpha channel. Make the selection pure white, the rest black. with the white selected use a low amount of gaussian blur. ctr- click on the alpha channel to select. Then you have a gradual fade at the selection border.
Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try that. I know just enough in PS to be dangerous... and not enough to do it the "correct" way. I'll definitely try your suggestion, though. It actually makes sense to my dense brain. ;o)
Photoshop to the rescue here!
And Thanks to dcrazyrn for the pen/path tools tip!
I really didn't get in a good position for these photos. The seating was to one side and there were a ton of people standing in front of the stage where the better photographic options would be. I liked the colors of this dancer and especially the eagle feathers and wanted to salvage a couple of these photos.
Photoshop to the rescue here!
And Thanks to dcrazyrn for the pen/path tools tip!
I really didn't get in a good position for these photos. The seating was to one side and there were a ton of people standing in front of the stage where the better photographic options would be. I liked the colors of this dancer and especially the eagle feathers and wanted to salvage a couple of these photos.
Before: After:
How did you do this!! Looks great! Would be really interested in hearing about dcrazyrn's pen/path tools tip.....have needed something like that on a few occasions.
Well, here's a team photo I did for an old co-worker who is now teaching gymnastics. I actually ended up reshooting with proper strobes/backdrop equipment, but I wanted to see what I could do:
Photoshop to the rescue here!
And Thanks to dcrazyrn for the pen/path tools tip!
I really didn't get in a good position for these photos. The seating was to one side and there were a ton of people standing in front of the stage where the better photographic options would be. I liked the colors of this dancer and especially the eagle feathers and wanted to salvage a couple of these photos.
Before: After:
How did you do this!! Looks great! Would be really interested in hearing about dcrazyrn's pen/path tools tip.....have needed something like that on a few occasions.
thanks
sue
Actually, dcrazyrn just mentioned that the pen tool would be easier and that I could create a path with it. I kind of figured the rest out myself.
If you choose the pen tool and then zoom in real close and just keep picking points around your subject until you have a closed path. Then right click on that path and do a set selection and it works just like the selection tool after that. The nice thing is that you can go back to those points and manipulate them one by one, adding curves and tweaking until its just right. You can't do that with the selection tool or lasso.
Hope that sheds some light. It was really helpful for me.
...right click on that path and do a set selection and it works just like the selection tool after that. The nice thing is that you can go back to those points and manipulate them one by one, adding curves and tweaking until its just right. You can't do that with the selection tool or lasso.
The way you can very delicately manipulate a selection is by editing the alpha channel where it is stored -- works just like an 8-bit (grayscale) image. Paint, draw, airbrush; the effects of all of these are reflected when you then load the selection.
Well, here's a team photo I did for an old co-worker who is now teaching gymnastics. I actually ended up reshooting with proper strobes/backdrop equipment, but I wanted to see what I could do:
Wow, that was a lot of work! The one thing tha I have never been able to do successfully is remove a background. I love how the gymnasts on the floor now look like they are jumping and splitting in mid air.
Photoshop to the rescue here!
And Thanks to dcrazyrn for the pen/path tools tip!
I really didn't get in a good position for these photos. The seating was to one side and there were a ton of people standing in front of the stage where the better photographic options would be. I liked the colors of this dancer and especially the eagle feathers and wanted to salvage a couple of these photos.
If it wasn't for the lack of floor, I'd swear that was a perfectly photographed studio shot. Excellent work and positively a work of art. Wow!
Photoshop to the rescue here!
And Thanks to dcrazyrn for the pen/path tools tip!
I really didn't get in a good position for these photos. The seating was to one side and there were a ton of people standing in front of the stage where the better photographic options would be. I liked the colors of this dancer and especially the eagle feathers and wanted to salvage a couple of these photos.
If it wasn't for the lack of floor, I'd swear that was a perfectly photographed studio shot. Excellent work and positively a work of art. Wow!
...right click on that path and do a set selection and it works just like the selection tool after that. The nice thing is that you can go back to those points and manipulate them one by one, adding curves and tweaking until its just right. You can't do that with the selection tool or lasso.
The way you can very delicately manipulate a selection is by editing the alpha channel where it is stored -- works just like an 8-bit (grayscale) image. Paint, draw, airbrush; the effects of all of these are reflected when you then load the selection.
I should never say "you can't"!!!! I should have said I don't know of any way to do that. (: Theres always a way, right! Thanks GeneralIE.
Jo Ann, I like what you've done with the background and all. Might I suggest a little dodging around the face now to give her face a little more depth. Right now it appears a little flat, but I'm sure even that can be fixed up. Give it a try...
I wanted to thank dcrazyrn and MWitt for the tip about the pen tool. It works in psp too. I've had this program for many years and never thought to use the pen tool in that manner! Wow. Much easier than smart edge or any other selection tool and it can be edited. Thank you both.
Here's a PS rework that I was very pleased with. I had a hard time exposing this one because of the time of day. The sun was low & behind some trees. The sky blew out when I exposed the windmill right & windmill was too dark if I exposed the sky right. Curves & levels are a wonderful thing ;)
