Applause to Private By Design AKA: PBD

Ozarker

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I just want to give a very public thanks to PBD for helping me learn a technique in post processing that I have tried to learn over and over myself for a very long time. His explanation was precise, concise, and simple. I'd taken a photo of my grandson, but the grass here in North East Texas had already turned brown, so it just didn't pop. PBD walked me through how to turn the grass green and I learned something very valuable to me. I'd watched dozens of YouTube videos on the subject, but just couldn't get it. So, PBD, thank you so very much again! Below is a before and after. As you can see, the photo is much better after taking the steps he provided to me in posted instructions and through private message. Thanks again PBD!!!!! :love: I've already ordered two prints for framing. You didn't have to take the time to help, but you did... and it really made my year!
 

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Exchanges like that between PBD and CFB are why I follow this forum - grateful recipient to positive contribution addressing a real world question. Not the endless debates over spec. sheet details.

As to the color of the grass... I'd say it just depends on whether you are on the other side of the fence or not. In my part of the world the grass is still bright green (but not for long).
 
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Exchanges like that between PBD and CFB are why I follow this forum - grateful recipient to positive contribution addressing a real world question. Not the endless debates over spec. sheet details.


+1

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I just want to give a very public thanks to PBD for helping me learn a technique in post processing that I have tried to learn over and over myself for a very long time. [...]
I second that! I have always found PBD's posts thoughtful and have learned quite a lot from them.
 
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ISv

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(In the other order, though, at least on my phone)

Personally, I find the original picture more realistic, but I may well be in the minority there.
You or me don't need to like that modified photo: if CanonFanBoy like it (hey - it's his grandson, not mine or yours!) - it's enough!!! Also, take it as a learning a new technique! He got help and it worked - it said all!
It is not about being minority or majority here - it's about new technique learned and one more photographer happy!
 
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cayenne

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I just want to give a very public thanks to PBD for helping me learn a technique in post processing that I have tried to learn over and over myself for a very long time. His explanation was precise, concise, and simple. I'd taken a photo of my grandson, but the grass here in North East Texas had already turned brown, so it just didn't pop. PBD walked me through how to turn the grass green and I learned something very valuable to me. I'd watched dozens of YouTube videos on the subject, but just couldn't get it. So, PBD, thank you so very much again! Below is a before and after. As you can see, the photo is much better after taking the steps he provided to me in posted instructions and through private message. Thanks again PBD!!!!! :love: I've already ordered two prints for framing. You didn't have to take the time to help, but you did... and it really made my year!


Can you post the steps you DID for this?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne
 
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Joules

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You can look here to see the instructions I got from PBD. Works great! https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?threads/little-booger.37876/
I'm wondering if using PS is necessary for this. I'm frequently unhappy with green tones in my images (though in the opposite way you are, I like them more yellowish) and only use the HSL sliders in Lightroom to adjust colors to my liking. I suspect with your image, the grass might be so yellow that the green slider doesn't work anymore and therefore the masking is required to preserve the skin tones?

I'm just curious if you tried the HSL sliders and found them not working.
 
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Ozarker

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I'm wondering if using PS is necessary for this. I'm frequently unhappy with green tones in my images (though in the opposite way you are, I like them more yellowish) and only use the HSL sliders in Lightroom to adjust colors to my liking. I suspect with your image, the grass might be so yellow that the green slider doesn't work anymore and therefore the masking is required to preserve the skin tones?

I'm just curious if you tried the HSL sliders and found them not working.
The problem would have been destroying the skin tones, yes, but also the color of his car and clothing.

This method isolates the subject from the HSL adjustments that would normally affect the photo globally. I've thrown away a lot of otherwise nice photos that ended up being crappy after making global adjustments rather than adjustments that only effect what I want affected. I can see learning deeper now and how this can have many more uses... including using a color wheel (color theory) to make adjustments for more "pop" in the photos.

For instance, on the color wheel the orange of his little car (and red in his bow tie) is more complementary to the green of the grass. So this method can be used to change wall colors, backdrop colors, clothing colors, etc., if I can learn to take it deeper and take advantage of the power that is in photoshop/lightroom. Regardless of which photo one might like better as an individual... according to color theory in art, more people will find the orange/green combination more appealing. I know I do, but I should have made the grass a little darker green for my personal taste. In reality, the grass was a lighter brown in real life, but I try to underexpose the ambient background by .2-.7 when using flash... so it came out a much deeper brown in the photo than it really was.

I get a 10x15 and a 20x30 print today according to FedEX. Can't wait. :)download (1).jpg
 
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I'm wondering if using PS is necessary for this. I'm frequently unhappy with green tones in my images (though in the opposite way you are, I like them more yellowish) and only use the HSL sliders in Lightroom to adjust colors to my liking. I suspect with your image, the grass might be so yellow that the green slider doesn't work anymore and therefore the masking is required to preserve the skin tones?

I'm just curious if you tried the HSL sliders and found them not working.
Yes global edits don't work so the real issue with LR is two fold, the masking ability and the range of color adjustment you get with a local adjustment brush. You can't get the HSL in an adjustment brush and even if you max out WB and Saturation (which do get you a good green) it takes a long time to get a grass selection because the colors in the 'before' image are so similar. To be sure you can, with more time, get a very similar result in LR, but it takes longer (PS Select - Subject is a very powerful tool) and the results are not as good due to the limited color adjustability.

LR edits work fine for web and low resolution, not so much for printing and especially not for big prints.

I get a 10x15 and a 20x30 print today according to FedEX. Can't wait. :)
For me that is the hoped for end goal for the images I take, big prints, nothing seems quite as satisfying as people smiling when they see a big print. I am so pleased you got the results you wanted with a little nudge in a different direction CanonFanBoy.

Green is often one of the more difficult colors to print and it really helps using printer profiles in PS to soft proof to get the expected results.
 
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Ozarker

Love, joy, and peace to all of good will.
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Jan 28, 2015
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Yes global edits don't work so the real issue with LR is two fold, the masking ability and the range of color adjustment you get with a local adjustment brush. You can't get the HSL in an adjustment brush and even if you max out WB and Saturation (which do get you a good green) it takes a long time to get a grass selection because the colors in the 'before' image are so similar. To be sure you can, with more time, get a very similar result in LR, but it takes longer (PS Select - Subject is a very powerful tool) and the results are not as good due to the limited color adjustability.

LR edits work fine for web and low resolution, not so much for printing and especially not for big prints.


For me that is the hoped for end goal for the images I take, big prints, nothing seems quite as satisfying as people smiling when they see a big print. I am so pleased you got the results you wanted with a little nudge in a different direction CanonFanBoy.

Green is often one of the more difficult colors to print and it really helps using printer profiles in PS to soft proof to get the expected results.
Exactly, and I cannot thank you enough for the major leap you gave me with that technique. I am now much more motivated to learn more. I cannot afford "art" for my walls, so I make large prints of many of my better photos instead. I can usually find an inexpensive mat/frame at one of the craft stores. My wife really enjoys that, so she allows me to spend on camera gear without any complaint. Win/win! It is also how I compensate many of the models in my photos. They tell their friends, and I get more free models.

*My wife's father was a share cropper and she grew up in extreme poverty in the Appalachian region of Tennessee. As a result, she is very careful with money. However, she is happy to let me spend on this hobby because she enjoys the photos.
 
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