142597 - DPChallenge Forums

Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera

02/01/2005 03:13:16 PM · #1

Do you like this photo?

ButterflySis

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/01/2005 03:18:04 PM · #2

I like it but I'd try a little more contrast and a little less brightness. I would also try b&w. I like the comp.

nsbca7

02/01/2005 03:31:48 PM · #3

Originally posted by ButterflySis:

I like it but I'd try a little more contrast and a little less brightness. I would also try b&w. I like the comp.

I don't think you can go with much more contrast on a snow shot like this. Just a few points up would start washing out detail.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

02/01/2005 03:33:37 PM · #4

black and white, darker and slightly more contrast...

I'd love to send the original to somebody who is able to make this photo shine! I know for a fact there are some issues with the original exposure (as the title indicates, it was just before the sunlight had a chance to hit it...also, it was taken at ISO 800 - pure stupidity on my part).

Anyone?

Message edited by author 2005-02-01 20:35:29.

dg02

Nikon D70

02/01/2005 03:40:33 PM · #5

Slightly different take...

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/01/2005 03:42:38 PM · #6

PM'd you, cloudy...

Robt.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/01/2005 04:07:32 PM · #7

thanks, sending file...

dg02, you did a good job but that's exactly what I didn't want to do with it, I wanted to keep it very natural looking...but thanks!!

riotspyne

Nikon D80

02/01/2005 04:28:20 PM · #8

I think I took a nice shot and and made it bad... :-/
It was fun though...nice shot.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

02/01/2005 04:37:09 PM · #9

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/01/2005 04:53:16 PM · #10

Originally posted by zeuszen:

That's great, zz! Now spill the beans!

Oh, and any suggestions on the photo itself?

Message edited by author 2005-02-01 21:53:26.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

02/01/2005 05:01:32 PM · #11

> cloud

Brightened shadows via Curves, reduced contrast slightly, sharpened very lightly (feeling a tack-sharp tree wouldn't help the natural feel). Applied light Diffuse Glow (white).

As to the image itself, I have little criticism. I like it quite a bit. I like the expanse and atmospheric distortion toward the background. The tree closest to us provides a simple, sturdy anchor from which to roam.

Artless and no evidence of camera interference. Good for the soul. :-)

Message edited by author 2005-02-01 22:07:09.

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

02/01/2005 05:03:38 PM · #12

Originally posted by zeuszen:

> cloud

Brightened shadows via Curves, reduced contrast slightly, sharpened very lightly (feeling a tack-sharp tree wouldn't help the natural feel). Applied light Diffuse Glow (white).

If I sent you the original would you be able to do a quick once-over and send it back (with levels in tact if your internet access will allow that size of file)?

If not, that's okay...but I'm addicted to learning this stuff.

just-married

Canon EOS-10D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/01/2005 05:07:15 PM · #13

I like the photo, but certain elements of the original interrupt my appreciation of it. The first feeling I get from the photo is a sort of melancholy swimming from the vast expanse of white. However, the fence and the teeny tree in the center disrupt this for me. If it were mine, I'd try removing them and seeing if I liked the image better without them. I like the treatment from zueszen and dg02 - two different spins, but I liked them both.

coolhar

02/01/2005 05:37:28 PM · #14

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

Do you like this photo?

Yes. The faint trace of blue in the sky sets it apart from most snow shots.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

02/01/2005 06:03:36 PM · #15

I know this is a little different editing than you were probably looking for but while I was working on it I came up with this look and thought it looked good. A bit outside the box though. Let me know what you think.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/01/2005 07:32:24 PM · #16

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

...If I sent you the original would you be able to do a quick once-over and send it back (with levels in tact if your internet access will allow that size of file)?...

I PM'd you re. this.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/01/2005 09:20:20 PM · #17

I've taken the original sent to me by thatcloud and done some fairly extensive but subtle photoshop work. Here's the result:

My operative assumption is that Mike wants to keep the ethereal blue of it, but to make the snow glow a little more.

Here's what I did:

1. Opened jpg and saved as psd.
2. Used cntrl-alt-tilde (~) to select the brightest areas (most of the image) and cntrl-J to create new layer named "brights"
returned to BG layer, cntrl-alt-tilde again, inverted selection, saved as a new layer called "darks"
3. Use layer modes on both of these to lighten the lights and darken the darks, respectively, then faded opacity in each of these layers to get the image close to where I wanted it to be.
4. Flattened image to a single layer, and started over with that. The above steps were essentially exposure compensation.
6. Did a hue/saturation layer to reduce the blue somewhat.
7. Did a levels layer to fine-tune the whites.
8. Feeling that the sky was somewhat blown out and bleeding off especially in upper left, visually, I created a duplicate layer from BG layer and adjusted layer mode here to "gradient overlay". I selected a blue-to-transparent gradient, aligned it diagonally, and increased "size" to 154% to keep it confined to upper left on a sweeping diagonal, then faded this gradient layer until it slightly darkened the sky gradually to the upper left.
9. Finally, for the PSD image, applied a filter called "supersoft" from xero (very similar to neat image) at a very low level, largely to smooth the sky out a tad.
10. Resized and converted to jpg.
11. Sharpened jpg slightly with Filtermeister's convoline filter (USM can do this, I like Convoline) and then faded that from the edit menu until it looked right.
12. Finally, used 4% highlight burn on 1 60-pixel fuzzy brush to VERY lightly contain 3 of the 4 corners.
13. Saved and uploaded.

Note that NO sharpening has been applied to the full-size psd image; I sharpen images only when I have them sized for printing or display, as the parameters vary so much depending on the resolution and size of the image, and the output device.

I had wanted to send Mike the PS file entire, but it's over 64 Mb in size, so that ain't gonna work.

Perhaps all this is by way of producing an image nobody will like, but I think it's fairly faithful to his intentions/vision when he shot this.

Mike, why not compress and post the actual original, so folks no from whence all these variations derived?

Peace, Robt.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

02/01/2005 09:23:39 PM · #18

Originally posted by bear_music:

I've taken the original sent to me by thatcloud and done some fairly extensive but subtle photoshop work. Here's the result:

My operative assumption is that Mike wants to keep the ethereal blue of it, but to make the snow glow a little more.

Here's what I did:

1. Opened jpg and saved as psd.
2. Used cntrl-alt-tilde (~) to select the brightest areas (most of the image) and cntrl-J to create new layer named "brights"
returned to BG layer, cntrl-alt-tilde again, inverted selection, saved as a new layer called "darks"
3. Use layer modes on both of these to lighten the lights and darken the darks, respectively, then faded opacity in each of these layers to get the image close to where I wanted it to be.
4. Flattened image to a single layer, and started over with that. The above steps were essentially exposure compensation.
6. Did a hue/saturation layer to reduce the blue somewhat.
7. Did a levels layer to fine-tune the whites.
8. Feeling that the sky was somewhat blown out and bleeding off especially in upper left, visually, I created a duplicate layer from BG layer and adjusted layer mode here to "gradient overlay". I selected a blue-to-transparent gradient, aligned it diagonally, and increased "size" to 154% to keep it confined to upper left on a sweeping diagonal, then faded this gradient layer until it slightly darkened the sky gradually to the upper left.
9. Finally, for the PSD image, applied a filter called "supersoft" from xero (very similar to neat image) at a very low level, largely to smooth the sky out a tad.
10. Resized and converted to jpg.
11. Sharpened jpg slightly with Filtermeister's convoline filter (USM can do this, I like Convoline) and then faded that from the edit menu until it looked right.
12. Finally, used 4% highlight burn on 1 60-pixel fuzzy brush to VERY lightly contain 3 of the 4 corners.
13. Saved and uploaded.

Note that NO sharpening has been applied to the full-size psd image; I sharpen images only when I have them sized for printing or display, as the parameters vary so much depending on the resolution and size of the image, and the output device.

I had wanted to send Mike the PS file entire, but it's over 64 Mb in size, so that ain't gonna work.

Perhaps all this is by way of producing an image nobody will like, but I think it's fairly faithful to his intentions/vision when he shot this.

Mike, why not compress and post the actual original, so folks no from whence all these variations derived?

Peace, Robt.

Very Nice processing Robert. What kind of results was Mike looking for? - If you don't mind me asking.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/01/2005 09:32:02 PM · #19

He didn't say. But I liked the blue, which was MUCH stronger in the original, which was very dark, and he left quite a bit of it in his. Since others have gone in the opposite direction, removing blue and neutralizing tone, I went in this direction since I like it.

The amusing thing is, now I compare his original post (not his original image, which he sent me) to this version I did, they are not that far apart in many ways. Arguably, I went to a hell of a lot of trouble to accomplish very little :-)

I tend to do that...

Robt.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

02/01/2005 09:42:37 PM · #20

Originally posted by bear_music:

You did a great job!

Ivo

02/01/2005 09:51:27 PM · #21

Left a comment on your photo.

RayEthier

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

02/01/2005 10:18:51 PM · #22

Originally posted by bear_music:

Arguably, I went to a hell of a lot of trouble to accomplish very little :-)

I tend to do that...

Robt.

Very little is what nobody notices... and believe me ... we have noticed. One hell of a job you did Bear_Music, very nice indeed.
Mes compliments monsieur.

Ray

02/02/2005 03:06:26 AM · #23

Originally posted by SDW65:

I like it, but it's not where I was hoping this image would go...but it does look nice!

02/02/2005 03:06:29 AM · #24

Originally posted by just-married:

Sorry...the tree and fence were there before and I live my life in basic editing mode (no major elements removed or added) so they'll have to stay! But I completely see what you're saying...