I've seen these pleas for help from time to time, so I hope no one minds if now I break down and make my own... ;)
For anyone not planning to vote on the Trains & Railroads II challenge, could you offer me some advice on "dpc-ifying" my challenge entry? I have a shot I'm very proud of, and I think it has a chance to do well even with my own minimal processing; but I think it has potential to do *really well* if someone with more post-processing chops than I could take a gander at it and give me some advice.
I'm certainly not looking to have someone else do all the work, etc -- I'd like to *learn* how to process it like similar entries I've seen here (but, of course, sport the wonderful "N/A" description with no PP details to learn from...)
So, if anyone would be so kind and have the time to bat emails back and forth a little tomorrow, please PM me and I'd love to discuss ideas with you.
Also, I sent a PM with a similar request to my personal favorite dpc'er. If you note this post here as well, please don't be offended. I wasn't sure you'd see my PM in time to reply, and figured this would cover my bases if anyone else has time to make suggestions...
I think this really takes the whole earning a ribbon right out of it. What happens if you do ribbon? Will it still mean as much to you if you have someone else tell you how to edit it? What are you really learning here?
I think this really takes the whole earning a ribbon right out of it. What happens if you do ribbon? Will it still mean as much to you if you have someone else tell you how to edit it? What are you really learning here?
Come on, that's silly. This place is full of advice for people on how to manipulate images for maximum effect. As long as it's not somebody else doing the actual work, where's the problem? Way to make people feel welcome, sheesh...
R.
PS: feel free to contact me, CD. My mail's in my profile.
I plan on voting, but it you want me to give it a looksie, I will do the usual and skip voting on yours if it comes up for me.
I have to disagree with Dirt_Diver. I find some of the best learning experiences on this site come when I share pre-challenge critiques with another member. It shows you things you may not have noticed, which will hurt your score, but in-challenge nobody may take time to leave a comment about. It is often the most detailed and well intentioned feedback you may get on your shot.
I'm happy to have a look as well, unless of course you've blown the sky right out like I did in which case you're on your own lol
I'll PM you with as contact email
I think this really takes the whole earning a ribbon right out of it. What happens if you do ribbon? Will it still mean as much to you if you have someone else tell you how to edit it? What are you really learning here?
He is trying to get some insight into how to PP his image. No different from any one of us trying to learn how to PP by reading a book or asking a friend.
O and BTW, I won't pretend to be any where near Bears league in PP. He rocks!
I think this really takes the whole earning a ribbon right out of it. What happens if you do ribbon? Will it still mean as much to you if you have someone else tell you how to edit it? What are you really learning here?
The DPC Olympics (which is currently being run by a character named Dirt something or another) is full of people helping each other out with processing, choosing the best image, etc. I haven't heard of any olympics participants feeling bad about winning ribbons.
I've seen these pleas for help from time to time, so I hope no one minds if now I break down and make my own... ;)
For anyone not planning to vote on the Trains & Railroads II challenge, could you offer me some advice on "dpc-ifying" my challenge entry?
Here's a few tips for you.
Make a copy of the image you want to work on and park the original somewhere safe.
If it's in RAW, convert it out to .jpeg in sRGB - it it was shot in .jpeg, make sure it's in sRGB before you work on it.
Make any crop you need to make, then size the image for the competition to DPC standard.
Convert to B&W or grayscale to get a senes of where your tonal scale lies, then dump the conversion (unless you like it better) and start working on the file with the normal tools. Some folks use the unmask tool and then resharpen, some don't. In any case, that's the way to start off.
At that point, it's up to you what you want to do with it. Using that scheme though, it helps you identify problem areas that may need tweaking or you can improve the overall image in a global sense.
