Post edit blues. The advice, tips and questions column.

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
I love photography so i attempt to photograph things. Photos dont always come out the way you want or think they should. Good thing theres post editing processes readily available to us but its not quite the enjoyable aspect of photographs. In this thread we can ask any questions about post editing, get and share advice, and discuss all related topics about making our photos look better. I'll start us off.

I like spending the time to go through pictures after a shoot and seeing what worked well and what didnt, what needs to be fixed and what to learn from it but when you take upwards of a few dozen to several hundreds of photos it can become redundant very fast. Edit times per photo range depending on how well you shot to begin with. The question i propose is for the those who have spent time editing. How do you decide what to change? How much do you slide the adjustment bars? How much sharpening? Its best that everyone understand first that this is a broad question but im hoping we can inject some depth to it in discussion.

For those that are learning, take your time and play with the adjustments, learn what they do and how they affect the photo. Different software can produce different results. For example i used Canon's digital photo professional software for the first time last nite briefly and though i resorted back to photoshop cs6 for the settings im used to, Canons program seemed to achieve sharpening without introducing noise like photoshop's raw editor does. I'll need to learn how to use it better of course but it was quicker to just use PS right off the bat for the moment. As anyone new(er) will tell you, its not easy to decide on what the settings should be. But while there is a perception for how its supposed to look, something you have to remember is, the bottom line, how do you want to present the photo?

Im gonna upload a couple examples from my recent set when i retrieve them from the laptop in a bit.
 

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
This is a sneak preview. I havent even posted them to facebook yet. haha








Some edits turn out better than others in terms of color and it probably shows my inconsistancy in editing results. All the more reason to take better shots to start with.
 

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
That first edit was bothering me. Was the actual first edit from the set and i tried something different that i learned from a bit later and liked the results. I usually go straight for exposure adjustment first thing but im not sure thats where the correction needs to be done cus my settings should have improved over time for more accurate exposure. I try adjusting white and black (levels) first.

 

Ryan659

Active Member
The 2nd edit of the 1st photo is better. The 1st was under-exposed for the car.

I use the software that came with the camera "viewnx2". It has all the basic features, exposure, contrast, sharpness, etc... Photoshop seems too complicated to me (I'm being lazy to learn).

Typically though, I almost always start with sharpness going up to about +2-4 (out of 10 and depending on the amount of noise it adds). From there I'll adjust exposure, contrast, color enhancer, angle. I just use the sliders until I like what I see. Usually going to the extreme at first to see exactly what the slider effects. Edit: and I also adjust the shadow slider to makes the shadows not so dark, especially if I'm lowering the exposure.

It's nice when you have a group of photos with the same (or close to) original camera because then the adjustments are pretty identical. But it's better and more fulfilling having a good picture to start from.
 


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XjoEnX

Active Member
I love this thread. Bookmarked/subscribed. Editing is fun. Time consuming for some shots. But a fun learning experience. Here's two that I did:

Original of Coy's:


Post-edited into a rolling shot:


What was done:
I started by creating a duplicate layer with transparent background, cut out the car with an eraser and the pen tool, and created a duplicate layer of that followed by a couple different motion blur settings at different angles and blending the layers together with masking. Then after I got it how I liked it, I made a duplicate layer of the wheels and radial blurred it after transforming it to spec. And this is the end result after putting it all together.

Original drawing by Rachel:


Cleaned:


What was done:
Created a new empty layer and the used the pen tool. Set the feathering at 0.1 pixels and colored away.
 

Ganyon

Active Member
I like this thread. It gives me motivation.
 


NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
At first i thought that was Coy posting cus i didnt look at names, just the car and then im like.. why did coy add joe's watermark to his edit?


Joe you've taken the thread up a notch already. Ive got to try what you did with rachels drawing just to see how it works. The lines are so smooth in the finished product. Doing is the most valuable learning experience. What you did with coys car is something ive always wanted to try just never got around to doing.

The 2nd edit of the 1st photo is better. The 1st was under-exposed for the car.

I use the software that came with the camera "viewnx2". It has all the basic features, exposure, contrast, sharpness, etc... Photoshop seems too complicated to me (I'm being lazy to learn).

Typically though, I almost always start with sharpness going up to about +2-4 (out of 10 and depending on the amount of noise it adds). From there I'll adjust exposure, contrast, color enhancer, angle. I just use the sliders until I like what I see. Usually going to the extreme at first to see exactly what the slider effects. Edit: and I also adjust the shadow slider to makes the shadows not so dark, especially if I'm lowering the exposure.

It's nice when you have a group of photos with the same (or close to) original camera because then the adjustments are pretty identical. But it's better and more fulfilling having a good picture to start from.
Yeah balancing the exposure for some of those is a common dilemma because im already shooting from the wrong side. Subject between the sun and camera means subject is underexposed or background is over exposed. Looking back i left the backgrounds a little washed out cus i was too focused just trying to get the cars to comeout but sometimes i cant save the background at all.

Im probably not even using photoshop to 10% of its abilities. My skills are limited but i pretty much just open the photo, use its raw editor (which seems to have more options than the canon software i just installed) and a few final touches after. Basically its all sliders for me too.
 

LsTeg97

Power_Hitter
i decided to take a shot at one of your already edited photos. I believe i see the overall effect your going for. but i think it needs a little more push to get that final OOMMPHH it that makes sense...

Try this one out and see what you think...if you like ill post the step by step edit. Let ME KNOW! :)

Original:




Edit after the original notice the difference in sharpness and color pop as well as the glare>>??



just a few more added easy steps for ya that will work if your wanting to achieve this overall effect...:)
 

Nick_C78

New Member
^ That one looks too edited, imo. I know I personally don't like it when it is obvious that the photo was altered, but to each their own. Nothing beats a quality raw photo.

I need to detail my car and get a photoshoot done soon...My ROTM needs better pics. lol
 

LsTeg97

Power_Hitter
^ That one looks too edited, imo. I know I personally don't like it when it is obvious that the photo was altered, but to each their own. Nothing beats a quality raw photo.

I need to detail my car and get a photoshoot done soon...My ROTM needs better pics. lol
Its hard not to edit a photo these days....lol thats why i use adjustment layers so i can tone it down whenever i need to or just delete that layer in case the customer doesn't like it in particular.

I have yet to find a professional photographer who doesn't edit his photos for a living...it does save a hella lot of time if you dont need to edit either...:)

I love how this guy below shoots and edits his pictures they come out great and are sharp in detail he also uses his lights well and color matches perfect.

http://stickydiljoe.com/

check him out unless you guys already know who he is....:p

i would love to freelance like he does...awesome stuff :)

BTW here is the link and tutorial i used to figure the beamers edit out... most people signify it as the cinematic shot edit or the nitty gritty photo edit.

its not right on so be careful but its up to you, to make the final adjustments :)

http://photoshopfrenzy.com/?p=94

R13 this is how i learn man...i do random photoshop tutorials and bookmark them and look back at what i can do to make it easier in my terms and go from there....:)
 
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