Creative post-processing – before & after

[gruhl28]

Very nice, Neuro. I still can't see the images for the "pretty simple one", though, or the source images for the Planet Boston, chicken and egg, fall foliage globe, or merganser.

I especially like the chicken and egg, the globe, and the merganser. Too often the results of creative post-processing just aren't attractive or appealing, at least to me - these look fantastic.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Very nice, Neuro. I still can't see the images for the "pretty simple one", though, or the source images for the Planet Boston, chicken and egg, fall foliage globe, or merganser.

I especially like the chicken and egg, the globe, and the merganser. Too often the results of creative post-processing just aren't attractive or appealing, at least to me - these look fantastic.

Really odd, they're hosted on Google Photos. Seems Google is mucking something up...I fix them so I can see them (starting with a clear cache) and a few days later, they're gone again. Time to find a new image host...

 

[privatebydesign]

Scott, you've lost me - why the dark night photo to begin with?

Jack

The way I do these images is based on blending modes much more heavily than masking, if I start with a darker frame I can use the blending mode 'Lighten' and the specific area that I have illuminated will shine through, the masking for that layer is then much easier. If I started out with a more modest base exposure the 'Lighten' trick wouldn't work as well.

It's just one of the million ways of getting to the same place, I just found it more intuitive.

 

[Dylan777]

Great topic John, we should more threads like this

Have safe, wonderful holidays.

Dylan

 

[Mr Bean]

Very nice, Neuro. I still can't see the images for the "pretty simple one", though, or the source images for the Planet Boston, chicken and egg, fall foliage globe, or merganser.

I especially like the chicken and egg, the globe, and the merganser. Too often the results of creative post-processing just aren't attractive or appealing, at least to me - these look fantastic.

Really odd, they're hosted on Google Photos. Seems Google is mucking something up...I fix them so I can see them (starting with a clear cache) and a few days later, they're gone again. Time to find a new image host...

Yep, its been an issue with my photos on Google Photos. They made a change to how images are "shared" 18 months ago and its been a nightmare of disappearing images since. Oddly, Googling for an answer gave me "solutions", which don't seem to work :/

 

[chauncey]

Showing the "before images" would be a waste of time as they're nothing more than wisps of smoke...
something akin to this, using incense sticks. All edited in PS.

 

[Click]

Cool pictures, chauncey. 8)

 

[Jack Douglas]

All the samples so far strike my fancy. Guess I'll have to start learning how.

Jack

 

[scottkinfw]

I thought it might be fun to start a thread on creatively post-processed images, shots that are clearly 'photoshopped'. The idea is to at least show the before and after versions, and if you're willing to share the details, an outline of the processing steps to go from the original to the final image.

I'll start the thread off with a few examples, with the processing details for some of them...



This is Boston Light, on Little Brewster Island in the Boston harbor. The only way to get to shots of the lighthouse in 'good light' (sunrise, sunset) is to have your own boat; the tours go out in the middle of the day. This shot was taken from the tour boat on the return trip, at about 4pm on a hot summer day (~90 °F) with a hazy sky - not particularly good light.

EOS 1D X, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 300mm, 1/250 s, f/16, ISO 100

In CS6:

• Duplicated image in new layer
• Filter Gallery > Glowing Edges (width 5, brightness 10, smoothness 6)
• Blended layer as Vivid Light (100% opacity, 50% fill)
• Magic wand selection of sky (tolerance = 20, anti-alias and contiguous)
• Filter menu > Blur > Gaussian blur (radius = 20.0)
• Cropped image (remove about half of water at bottom and and a bit of sky at top)
• Saved as JPG

In the LensFlares app for Mac OS X:

• Added Polaris flare (decrease brightness by ~50%, increase scale by ~50% and adjust rotation)
• Added Gamma Rays flare (decrease brightness by ~80%, adjust aspect ratio ~50% rightward)

Here's the result:

Great Job Neuro