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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Post processing help on swimmers
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 07/28/2007 11:12:29 AM · #1
I took a series photos of my friend (in red) training at the local pool. I am post-processing about 10 for her to have but I am not satisfied with what I have done so far but I don't really know what it's missing. Some pointers would be great. - Thanks

07/28/2007 11:24:34 AM · #2
Here's my take on it. It's not an easy edit for sure.

07/28/2007 11:28:23 AM · #3
I don't consider myself an expert at photo processing by any means, but here's what I came up with. I added a channel mixer, selective color and curves adjustment layers. And a light unsharp mask.



Here's the PSD file with layers so you can see what I did:
swimmers.psd
 07/28/2007 11:39:30 AM · #4
This is great....

So in general it sounds like, I need to:
get rid of the greenish color in the water
keep the saturation in blues of the lane markers down
highlight the skin tones more

07/28/2007 11:44:39 AM · #5
I think the main thing to do to give this image "impact" is to crop in tight. Something like this:



I did modify the colors just a bit with hue/sat and then lightened with curves. A bit of USM at 11 / 60 / 0 helped make the swimmers pop.

Note that I did up-size the image because I cropped in so tight. It would have looked better (less grainy) had I not had to up-size it.

07/28/2007 11:58:33 AM · #6
Originally posted by wronp:
This is great....

So in general it sounds like, I need to:
get rid of the greenish color in the water
keep the saturation in blues of the lane markers down
highlight the skin tones more


I personally preferred the bluer tones in the water instead of the green, but I'm not sure what you were after exactly. So I went with what looked good to me. :) As I looked at it some more, I took some red out of the skin and it looked even better, too.
 07/28/2007 12:08:13 PM · #7


Cropped and used a post processing work flow shared by benjikan. I use PSP X so the terminology might be slightly different in Photoshop but you should be able to figure it out.

1) USM @ Radius 50, Strength 15, Clipping 3
2) Duplicate layer
3) USM Duplicate @ Radius 0.3, Strength 300, Clipping 3
4) Set Duplicate layer to Soft Light
5) Desaturate duplicate layer (This is optional and is dependent upon the image)
6) Set Duplicate layer Opacity to 50-60% or taste
7) Merge all layers
8) USM @ Radius 1.0, Strength 100, Clipping 3 (This is my standard USM after down sizing for the web.
 07/28/2007 05:58:34 PM · #8
Thanks everyone for the great guidance. I really appreciate all of your input. I now have something I am much happier with. Now I am trying to make it consistent across all of the photos.

Thanks again.
 07/28/2007 07:30:14 PM · #9
I might get lynched for saying this on DPC but... why do you need to post process a photo like that? If the colors look like they did in real life, why screw that up?
 07/28/2007 07:53:13 PM · #10
Sometimes, besides the colors / sharpness, contrast, brightness etc adjustments, a creative crop can change the whole look & feel of an image.

-- to -->
(open each in a new window and shift between them in the task bar to see changes easily)

Opened, rotated CW, adjusted white balance, did a hue/saturation & lighten adjustment of the greens, added a warming filter, shifted the hue on the red saturation to pop the yellows in the skin a bit more, ran a strong USM sharpening action, cropped and saved.

Message edited by author 2007-07-28 23:54:22.
 07/28/2007 08:00:52 PM · #11

Adjust layer Hue/Sat (to run away from that green sick look in water)
- Desaturate green
- Desaturate cyan
Adjust layer color Balance (to give a cyan/blue clean color to the water
- Use mask to protect the swimmers from this tone
Merge
Some dodge in the splashes for a more dynamic image
Unsharp mask 150, 0.3 fade to Dark

I feel the image is pushed too much for the blue... But u got the steps here and you just need to go until u happy ;)


- less cyan/blue tone and some dodge and burn around

Message edited by author 2007-07-29 00:16:29.
 07/28/2007 08:20:40 PM · #12

here's my shot at this ron! although i love those green waters while i am swimming in them, i think the tones are off-putting to the viewer. i would write my steps, but i think de sousa's are better!
 07/29/2007 06:59:22 AM · #13
Here's my try!! :)



Option 2:


Message edited by author 2007-07-29 11:03:18.
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