The OFFICIAL "Before and After" Thread

[tardypizza]

We all know how important post-processing is in the digital age. With tools like Photoshop you can take an ordinary image from "meh" to "WOW" in a few short clicks. While the goal of every aspiring photographer should be to perfect everything they can in camera, there is no denying that even rudimentary post-processing of any image is a necessity. Afterall, the whole procedure is analogously no different than what filmies do in the darkroom.

So I propose that we post an example of one of our photos that has the potential for greatness, but the final product is missing something. Maybe it was a once in a lifetime capture, maybe it was a shot that required sitting in one spot for days. Regardless, post 2 pictures up, an original and your attempt at post-processing, and then let the rest of us have an attempt.

I'll go first!

This was taken from a kayak at sunrise in the Sea of Cortez looking back at the beach house I was staying in. There was absolutely no way to keep the camera level and even less of a chance of predicting when this pod of dolphins was going to surface. This was definitely a fortunate capture! I was lucky I didn't lose my camera in the ocean.

Here is the original:



And the version that is hanging on my wall:




What can you guys do with this shot?

[tardypizza]

Okay, time to kick start this thread again at the risk of revealing too many secrets. This is a lightning shot I took in Colorado in RAW format. This is how the data looks straight out of the camera with no alterations.




And now with a slight WB tweak and several adjustments to sharpness/saturation/and noise reduction that the camera would automatically do when it converts to jpg internally. Also, slight shadow/highlights, levels, and unsharp mask applied after conversion from RAW. I also cloned out the annoying plane trail bottom center. Quite a dramatic difference!



I may have overdone it a little on the blue sat., but I love the final product.

[talon95tsi]

here's a recent retouch:



benjamin

[tardypizza]

dayumn! Nice work!

[Algonquin]

Ok here is the first time I have ever retouched a photo in PS - please give me any tips or advise on what I did wrong/ could do better (besides level the horizon - crap, forgot to do that). Thanks.

Before:

[img width=800 height=533]http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1150/1240591576_402da74427_o.jpg[/img]

After:

[jblaze5779]

here's a recent retouch:



benjamin

holy crap!

It's weird seeing what could possible be done to your favorite model (who appears to be perfect) in the post processing...

[jblaze5779]

Before:



After:

[jacobsen1]

both shot as JPEGs.

[talon95tsi]

holy crap!

It's weird seeing what could possible be done to your favorite model (who appears to be perfect) in the post processing...

thanks, the lighting was directional and was in a poorly lit parking garage so i couldn't use ambient. the result is blemishes that show up more due to the shadows. i removed a lot of them with the healing brush, then clone stamped (set to darken and ~50%) the bright hot spots. then i used a lab color skin softening action i wrote.

Ben, what kind of sharpening technique did you use in those photos?

benjamin

[jacobsen1]

for web:
*do all corrections on full res
*USM set to ~150, 1.5, 0
*resize to 1500 pixels in their largest dimension
*"sharpen" (yes the tool that sucks and over does it)
*resize to 800 pixels in largest dimension

For print, I just to the USM, somewhere around the 150, 1.5, 0, but it totally depends on the shot and how well it takes to it... It's never a default USM amount for printing because I find some images need a ton, some none, and any amount between. My web images do all get very similar sharpening via an action though as it's "good enough" for most anything I post. It's the same action that does my frames and name.

Why, do they look good or bad?

[Colorblinded]

I only USM after resizing it to the intended size. I never much bothered with "sharpen" since I have no real control over it and I've found multi-stage sharpening mostly redundant. YMMV.