Need help with Post-processing :)

MXM · February 27th, 2006, 05:57 PM

I see most of you use some kind of post-processing on your photos, or I'm just a very crappy photographer, because nothing I shoot looks as good images/smilies/smile.gif

So I tried something on my own, and after spending almost 2 hours playing around with photoshop... I didn't do much anything images/smilies/sad.gif

I ask you to try and do to this simple photo whatever you would usually do to your photos and explain what/why you did it (no need for step-by-step instructions, just basic "algorithm").

Original (resized): orig.jpg
Original (big, 1.5MB): DSC_0434.jpg

This is what I did (resized): edited.jpg

I cleaned up some dirt on car, then did 4 masks for car itself, for snow, for dark trees and for light trees and tried to adjust them separately (mostly curves).
Doesn't give that sharp and contrast effect as most of your lens flair photos images/smilies/sad.gif

This is what pdanev did in few minutes: mytry.jpg

Show me your skillz plz images/smilies/smile.gif

jayjaya29 · February 27th, 2006, 07:00 PM

Alright this is what I got:

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6434/mytry3fl.th.jpg

I duplicated layer, then in blending options I went to overlay. After that I messed with Brightness/Contrast settings. Then I used a filter from the nik Color Efex Pro set to bring out the reflections a bit more.

Skoshi · February 27th, 2006, 07:16 PM

Ongelmana tässä on se, että alkuperäinen kuva on huonossa valossa kuvattu. Autossa jäätävät heijastukset ja kirkas lumi, vaikea saada toimimaan. Auringon laskiessa kannattaa hakea kulmia joissa saisit vähemmän heijastuksia, ehkä illalla jonkun valotolpan alla tjsp. Valaistus on kaiken a ja o images/smilies/wink.gif

Skoshi · February 27th, 2006, 07:37 PM

Made an edit too, but the original has some horrid reflections which really kill the lovely colour of the car.. I cropped it alot tighter to give the car more focus. Tried to eliminate the blueish hue from the snow too, but I fear it went too orange. Couldn't do much with the car for the above-mentioned reason, but I tried to clear up the windscreen a bit by brushing over it with a 20% blue.

http://www.isohali.net/kuvat/944.jpg

jayjaya29 · February 27th, 2006, 07:52 PM

Doesn't look bad tho. I really like it. The crop gives it a lot more focus.

swek · February 27th, 2006, 08:07 PM

All the edits so far are way too dark.

Kip_6666 · February 27th, 2006, 09:29 PM

The glare is really bad :/

Great background though.

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3775/9445wm.th.jpg

MXM · February 27th, 2006, 09:57 PM

Thanks, guys.

Why I asked this is basicly to see what options do I have, and could this photo with not perfect lighting as you mentioned, be brought to life images/smilies/smile.gif

Car on jayjaya's photo looks nice, but backgorund is gone images/smilies/sad.gif

Skoshi's photo works really well, but maybe a bit surreal compared to what I had in mind images/smilies/smile.gif

And I can't see what Kip did images/smilies/sad.gif

Anyway, it looked very nice on the place, live. Really images/smilies/smile.gif

I mean car is obviously the object, but I'd like to keep the scenery too...

Kip_6666 · February 27th, 2006, 10:04 PM

How can you not see what I did?!

burnsy · February 27th, 2006, 10:15 PM

Kip_6666, what'd you do to the photo? i'd like to know as well.

MXM · February 27th, 2006, 10:18 PM

Lol, I mean I didn't see the photo itself (but I could see other imageshack files, weird).

I can see it now images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Kip_6666 · February 27th, 2006, 11:08 PM

ahh, ok.

@ burnsy

I overlay'ed the background, and raised the contrast on the car a bit. I didn't want it to as dark black because I think the car is actually grey, and making it really dark brings out that glare too much. And also makes it kinda fake :/

Might help taking the picture with your back against the sun if you didn't before.

jayjaya29 · February 28th, 2006, 12:44 AM

Bleh, I knew it was too washed out. I can't find a good balance between the two.

MXM · February 28th, 2006, 05:09 PM

Today I found sharpening filter images/smilies/biggrin.gif

So I did this: edited2.jpg

It's ok I think, will not touch it further. If you see something that could be done better, tell me of course. So basicly I only used curves, levels and sharpening on this image (and some cloning to clean up car and slightly visible blue-ish lightpost on the background).

Skoshi · February 28th, 2006, 05:26 PM

I think the background still looks a bit too.. grey. I would make it a bit darker and leave the lovely 944 as it is. images/smilies/smile.gif

But thats just my opinion.. I like dark things.. images/smilies/vampire.gif

sandor_ · February 28th, 2006, 06:58 PM

whoster · March 1st, 2006, 12:53 AM

jayjaya29 · March 1st, 2006, 03:15 AM

1st one is better Whoster, in the 2nd, the reflections on the car's hood is nasty.

hansvonaxion · March 3rd, 2006, 07:02 AM

MXM; I think the last one you posted is the best so sar. All of the others peoples renderings are too dark so all shadow detail has been lost.

It depends what you want to achieve to begin with. Also shooting a very dark car on snow, backlit, with a row of dark trees behind is about the worst set-up you could have chosen to begin with! Try something out in the open, with less objects to reflect on the car and preferably not on snow! An overcast day will help reduce specular highlights, or otherwise shoot just after sunset_before sunrise.

sandor_ · March 3rd, 2006, 01:44 PM

so is the car grey or black?

February 27th, 2006, 05:57 PM	#1
MXM old porsches do run! Joined: Jun 9th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Finland Age: 26 Posts: 2,651 Car: Porsche 944 LFS Status: Rep Power: 31	Need help with Post-processing :) I see most of you use some kind of post-processing on your photos, or I'm just a very crappy photographer, because nothing I shoot looks as good So I tried something on my own, and after spending almost 2 hours playing around with photoshop... I didn't do much anything I ask you to try and do to this simple photo whatever you would usually do to your photos and explain what/why you did it (no need for step-by-step instructions, just basic "algorithm"). Original (resized): orig.jpg Original (big, 1.5MB): DSC_0434.jpg This is what I did (resized): edited.jpg I cleaned up some dirt on car, then did 4 masks for car itself, for snow, for dark trees and for light trees and tried to adjust them separately (mostly curves). Doesn't give that sharp and contrast effect as most of your lens flair photos This is what pdanev did in few minutes: mytry.jpg Show me your skillz plz

February 27th, 2006, 07:00 PM	#2
jayjaya29 Joined: Mar 18th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Lindenhurst, NY Age: 20 Posts: 4,822 Car: 2000 Nissan Altima Rep Power: 20	Alright this is what I got: I duplicated layer, then in blending options I went to overlay. After that I messed with Brightness/Contrast settings. Then I used a filter from the nik Color Efex Pro set to bring out the reflections a bit more. __________________ Check out my Gallery. Check out my Car.

February 27th, 2006, 07:52 PM	#5
jayjaya29 Joined: Mar 18th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Lindenhurst, NY Age: 20 Posts: 4,822 Car: 2000 Nissan Altima Rep Power: 20	Doesn't look bad tho. I really like it. The crop gives it a lot more focus. __________________ Check out my Gallery. Check out my Car.

February 27th, 2006, 09:29 PM	#7
Kip_6666 I Bought This Title :o Joined: May 17th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: The Netherlands Age: 22 Posts: 2,960 Car: Saab 93 2.0t @ stage 3 now Rep Power: 31	The glare is really bad :/ Great background though. __________________ http://www.internet-memes.com My Flickr

February 27th, 2006, 09:57 PM	#8
MXM old porsches do run! Joined: Jun 9th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Finland Age: 26 Posts: 2,651 Car: Porsche 944 LFS Status: Rep Power: 31	Thanks, guys. Why I asked this is basicly to see what options do I have, and could this photo with not perfect lighting as you mentioned, be brought to life Car on jayjaya's photo looks nice, but backgorund is gone Skoshi's photo works really well, but maybe a bit surreal compared to what I had in mind And I can't see what Kip did Anyway, it looked very nice on the place, live. Really I mean car is obviously the object, but I'd like to keep the scenery too...

February 27th, 2006, 07:16 PM	#3
Skoshi Joined: Aug 15th, 2005 Last Online: July 30th, 2007 Location: Tampere, Finland Age: 23 Posts: 484 Rep Power: 0	Ongelmana tässä on se, että alkuperäinen kuva on huonossa valossa kuvattu. Autossa jäätävät heijastukset ja kirkas lumi, vaikea saada toimimaan. Auringon laskiessa kannattaa hakea kulmia joissa saisit vähemmän heijastuksia, ehkä illalla jonkun valotolpan alla tjsp. Valaistus on kaiken a ja o

February 27th, 2006, 07:37 PM	#4
Skoshi Joined: Aug 15th, 2005 Last Online: July 30th, 2007 Location: Tampere, Finland Age: 23 Posts: 484 Rep Power: 0	Made an edit too, but the original has some horrid reflections which really kill the lovely colour of the car.. I cropped it alot tighter to give the car more focus. Tried to eliminate the blueish hue from the snow too, but I fear it went too orange. Couldn't do much with the car for the above-mentioned reason, but I tried to clear up the windscreen a bit by brushing over it with a 20% blue. http://www.isohali.net/kuvat/944.jpg

February 27th, 2006, 08:07 PM	#6
swek Global Moderator Joined: May 19th, 2004 Last Online: 02:58 AM Location: Hamburg, Germany Age: 26 Posts: 4,335 Car: Does a bicycle count? Rep Power: 45	All the edits so far are way too dark.

February 27th, 2006, 10:04 PM	#9
Kip_6666 I Bought This Title :o Joined: May 17th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: The Netherlands Age: 22 Posts: 2,960 Car: Saab 93 2.0t @ stage 3 now Rep Power: 31	How can you not see what I did?! __________________ http://www.internet-memes.com My Flickr

February 27th, 2006, 10:15 PM	#10
burnsy Joined: Mar 25th, 2005 Last Online: 05:43 AM Location: Indiana, USA Age: 26 Posts: 643 Car: 2006 Ford Ranger FX4 LFS Status: Rep Power: 15	Kip_6666, what'd you do to the photo? i'd like to know as well. __________________ Top Gear Episode Guide & More \| Top Gear DVDs \| Team FinalGear.com

February 27th, 2006, 10:18 PM	#11
MXM old porsches do run! Joined: Jun 9th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Finland Age: 26 Posts: 2,651 Car: Porsche 944 LFS Status: Rep Power: 31	Lol, I mean I didn't see the photo itself (but I could see other imageshack files, weird). I can see it now

February 27th, 2006, 11:08 PM	#12
Kip_6666 I Bought This Title :o Joined: May 17th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: The Netherlands Age: 22 Posts: 2,960 Car: Saab 93 2.0t @ stage 3 now Rep Power: 31	ahh, ok. @ burnsy I overlay'ed the background, and raised the contrast on the car a bit. I didn't want it to as dark black because I think the car is actually grey, and making it really dark brings out that glare too much. And also makes it kinda fake :/ Might help taking the picture with your back against the sun if you didn't before. __________________ http://www.internet-memes.com My Flickr

February 28th, 2006, 12:44 AM	#13
jayjaya29 Joined: Mar 18th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Lindenhurst, NY Age: 20 Posts: 4,822 Car: 2000 Nissan Altima Rep Power: 20	Bleh, I knew it was too washed out. I can't find a good balance between the two. __________________ Check out my Gallery. Check out my Car.

February 28th, 2006, 05:09 PM	#14
MXM old porsches do run! Joined: Jun 9th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Finland Age: 26 Posts: 2,651 Car: Porsche 944 LFS Status: Rep Power: 31	Today I found sharpening filter So I did this: edited2.jpg It's ok I think, will not touch it further. If you see something that could be done better, tell me of course. So basicly I only used curves, levels and sharpening on this image (and some cloning to clean up car and slightly visible blue-ish lightpost on the background).

February 28th, 2006, 05:26 PM	#15
Skoshi Joined: Aug 15th, 2005 Last Online: July 30th, 2007 Location: Tampere, Finland Age: 23 Posts: 484 Rep Power: 0	I think the background still looks a bit too.. grey. I would make it a bit darker and leave the lovely 944 as it is. But thats just my opinion.. I like dark things..

March 1st, 2006, 12:53 AM	#17
whoster Joined: Jun 7th, 2005 Last Online: October 28th, 2008 Location: toyota city, CA Posts: 785 Car: Lexus GS400 Rep Power: 16	__________________ Lexus GS400 Nikon D70s Flickr blog.

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February 28th, 2006, 06:58 PM	#16
sandor_ Joined: Mar 16th, 2005 Last Online: December 28th, 2007 Location: Philadelphia, USA Age: 28 Posts: 1,043 Car: 911, 328i, Golf, '71 Vespa Sprint Rep Power: 0

March 1st, 2006, 03:15 AM	#18
jayjaya29 Joined: Mar 18th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Lindenhurst, NY Age: 20 Posts: 4,822 Car: 2000 Nissan Altima Rep Power: 20	1st one is better Whoster, in the 2nd, the reflections on the car's hood is nasty. __________________ Check out my Gallery. Check out my Car.

March 3rd, 2006, 07:02 AM	#19
hansvonaxion Joined: Apr 8th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Posts: 1,083 Rep Power: 29	MXM; I think the last one you posted is the best so sar. All of the others peoples renderings are too dark so all shadow detail has been lost. It depends what you want to achieve to begin with. Also shooting a very dark car on snow, backlit, with a row of dark trees behind is about the worst set-up you could have chosen to begin with! Try something out in the open, with less objects to reflect on the car and preferably not on snow! An overcast day will help reduce specular highlights, or otherwise shoot just after sunset_before sunrise. __________________

March 3rd, 2006, 01:44 PM	#20
sandor_ Joined: Mar 16th, 2005 Last Online: December 28th, 2007 Location: Philadelphia, USA Age: 28 Posts: 1,043 Car: 911, 328i, Golf, '71 Vespa Sprint Rep Power: 0	so is the car grey or black?