Starting Over - a kind of PAD for January

Luke

Legend
Location
Milwaukee, WI USA
Name
Luke
I fizzled out on the Decemeber Doodads PAD and barely had time to check in for those who kept at it. And now here it is already the 5th of the month and the January one hasn't been started. So rather than a new thread for every day with a handful of entries, I thought we could just have a nice long one and people can add or check-in as time permits.

It was suggested that since January is cold and snowy in the northern bits and stifling for our Southern hemisphere residents that photography is just a bit harder and maybe we could try some re-processing of older photos.

Use this shut in time to try new software (free or paid....and most of those have 30 day trials). Try new techniques with old software. Work on your b/w conversions and try your hand at some photo manipulation. Create a diptych or try a post-production double exposure. Just because you're not outside with your camera doesn't mean you need to shut down being creative.

Feel free to show a before and after if you like. Give us a little description about what you did to make your photo better. Feel free to add a tutorial for some process you do or a new one you discovered. None of are above learning a new trick.

Now get busy and show us a photo that you "started over" again.

p.s. - sorry I got this started so late
 
Here's a couple of snow pics. We're getting a bit of snow since the first. The late night snowfalls seem to draw me out for walks at night. It gets soooo quiet. These were converted to BnW in Sigma Photo Pro

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11703010843/]
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night by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11703125134/]
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night2 by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11775554136/]
11775554136_fe7d82b7ac_b.jpg

SDIM3827 by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11775146904/]
11775146904_7c6eea345d_b.jpg

SDIM3843 by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11775645126/]
11775645126_51322d3fd4_b.jpg

SDIM3818 by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]
 
I made this image a few weeks ago, and I don't really remember the steps I took as I was just fooling around with Photoshop Elements at the time. I know that I converted the original colour picture to b&w, increased the contrast and then applied a filter which just picked out edges, but after that I forget. But I quite liked the illustration effect I ended up with, so I kept it.

Memo to self: Must do this again properly some time.

-R

11786998036_5ec3053420_b.jpg

NY Sketch by clearbluesky44, on Flickr
 
Thanks Mark I'm sure we can come to some arrangement ;)

Here's another Rework from last week

This from the Coolpix E3200 3mp camera. Iso 50.
Original cropped sharpened then expanded to 300 dpi converted to BW then graded filter applied then Vignetting for added light focus then Soft focus applied to smooth out light streaks then Sepia toned

BW version already posted in the BW thread


 
Here's a couple of snow pics. We're getting a bit of snow since the first. The late night snowfalls seem to draw me out for walks at night. It gets soooo quiet. These were converted to BnW in Sigma Photo Pro




[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/11775645126/]
11775645126_51322d3fd4_b.jpg

SDIM3818 by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

I like them all, but this one is magic. Take care tonight! I'm about 2 hours south of you, and we've got highways closing tonight.
 
I like them all, but this one is magic. Take care tonight! I'm about 2 hours south of you, and we've got highways closing tonight.

Glad you like them. For the one you like i put the DP2M on my gorilla pod and set it on the ground. I really like the view from this angle. I'm indoors tonight. Those minus temps are rough but the 25mph winds with them make it too crazy to be out. I saw that you got more snow than here and with these winds the blowing and drifting stuff must make it very hazardous. Be safe and thanks again for your comments
 
I swore I was going to do this thread or no thread, but of course I didn't.

I'm so glad this was started! In 2010, my second year in a row to get to spend a few days in Canterbury, Kent, UK, on account of the bus schedule, I devoted a day to photograph the ruined church at Reculver and then walk about 4 miles down the Saxon Shore Way by the seaside to Herne Bay. It was a wonderful excursion, but the photos were what might be expected on a typical (if there is such a thing!) March day after 9am in Kent. Some versions of the same photo, now that I at least know enough to apply the default settings to a few Photoshop Elements plugins.

The original photo:
11790646205_7a36e7d4b2_b.jpg

Reculver #1 by rubyj29, on Flickr

Run through Topaz Adjust Spicify at the defaults. I remember it being more overcast than this, but this is plausible and this is how I would have liked it to be. I cleaned up the spots on the sensor after Spicify - I hope I found them all!
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Reculver #2 by rubyj29, on Flickr

This was the "Last used Preset" when I opened up Restyle. Of course, Topaz doesn't bother to tell you which one it was, but I tracked it down - Gloomy Candlelight. I applied it at about 79%, then ran the file through Topaz Adjust Detail Medium, and cleaned up the spots on the sensor after all that. This bears no relation to my reality - but it's pretty and I like it.
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Reculver #3 by rubyj29, on Flickr

And I had to try it in black and white - I took the "spicify" above, and ran it throughTopaz Restyle Matt Black and Dove Grey. I have a strong bias toward color, but I like this. It sort of felt like this in March with the wind coming off the sea!
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Reculver #4 by rubyj29, on Flickr
 
Surf's up at Mattiscombe

The original was taken during January 2012 as part of the Single in January PAD. This is the original image from that time

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Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)



I've reworked the image to produce this

1020372_DxO.jpg


Following minimal adjustment in a raw editor (DxO Optics Pro 9) the tiff has been worked on in Photoshop CS2.

I use adjustment layers in the following order:-
1. levels - black and white points where I adjust the black and white points at either end of the histogram
2. levels - brightness where the mid point of the histogram is adjusted for overall brightness of the image
3. curves - shadows where I adjust only the shadow end of the curve, the rest of the curve being locked by fixing points on it
4. curves - highlights where I adjust only the highlight end of the curve, the rest of the curve being locked by fixing points on it
5. channel mixer - select the monochrome box

I now save this as a pdd file so that I can revisit it at a later stage should I wish to make any adjustments

Now the image is flattened, then further work is done in Silver Efex, this is possible since although already in black and white the full colour information is still present. That means that when the Silver Efex image is sent back as a layer into the original Photoshop image further adjustment is possible using the opacity blending option on the Silver Efex layer before flattening.

The layers are then flattened, a duplicate layer is created and using Filter > Other > High Pass select the radius box to about 10-15 pixels. Select ok. In the layers palette select overlay and I usually use Soft Light and you'll see a sharpened image. Adjust the opacity of the top layer until the overall image is sharpened to your satisfaction.

For the above image I also used a layers mask before the sharpening stage to dodge the area of the isolated standing rock.

If that all sounds like too much trouble so be it, it doesn't take very long once you are familiar with the work flow and I thing a better image has obtained as a result of the work.

If I post anymore images in this thread the work flow applied is likely to be the same, colour or black and white so this will be the only description of that I will give.

The original image was taken with a Panasonic G1 and 12mm Voigtlander Ultra Wide-Heliar lens


Barrie
 
Thanks Mark I'm sure we can come to some arrangement ;)

Here's another Rework from last week

This from the Coolpix E3200 3mp camera. Iso 50.
Original cropped sharpened then expanded to 300 dpi converted to BW then graded filter applied then Vignetting for added light focus then Soft focus applied to smooth out light streaks then Sepia toned

BW version already posted in the BW thread

I read your description of the edits and thought "oh geez, that's going to look overworked". Then I scrolled down to the image. Wow! Fantastic image. Unique. I am humbled by your three megapixels!
 
Thanks Dean

Take a look at My Gallery Pages 9 10 for Dusseldorf Images - all shot with the Nikon E3200 3mp - most tweaked a bit but not extensively Long shots were at full zoom (3x) then cropped
 
three megapixels!

Nothing wrong with 3MP. Here's one from my old Olympus C760uz, 3.2. Shot in 2005, contrast boosted, and an attempt to remove the glass reflections (not entirely successful) because it was shot from the top of Australia Square (a revolving restaurant, must go again sometime). This is the view of the harbour toward the Heads.

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Sydney Harbour by kyte50, on Flickr

And the original with little editing, for comparison. You can see I've cropped out the featureless sky, it really was not worth hanging onto, I thought.

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Sydney Harbour by kyte50, on Flickr
 
Short story long, I've been a fan of G. K. Chesterton since high school. In his poem, "To a Modern Poet," he makes the remark (which I have reproduced without the line breaks, "I cannot say I ever noticed that the pillar-box was like a baby skinned alive and screaming. I have not a Poet's Eye which can see Beauty everywhere." As a result, I can't pass a pillar box without thinking of the poem and chuckling.

Last January I was on my way to Dunelm Mills to do some shopping and passed this mailbox outside the train station at Canterbury. Despite the looks of "Crazy tourist!" some people shot my way, I took a picture of it. Aside from being a bit askew, the original is an accurate depiction of the box in the light of that midday. But it didn't "click" for me.
11809043464_72249e8c9a_b.jpg

Elizabeth Regina Pillar Box, SOOC by rubyj29, on Flickr

So I went back to it today, straightened it (I hope!), cropped it a bit, and, for the first time in my life, used adjustment layers to tweak it, following as many of Barrie's suggestions as I understood (thanks again, Barrie!) - Brightness & Contrast, Levels, and, selecting just the pillar box, hue & saturation. Then I flattened the layers and used auto sharpen.
So, with a nod to Chesterton, I give you my Canterbury pillar box!
11808738995_af26b9240c_b.jpg

Elizabeth Regina Pillar Box, the Vision by rubyj29, on Flickr
 
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