Camera RAW -> Post-Processed Image Thread

Shining

Shining

Shining

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Joined
9 Nov 2003
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434
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Thought I would start a thread to post comparisons between RAW negatives and you're final processed image.

Sometimes the shot you get out of camera quite simply sucks, and it's amazing what a bit of PP can do to turn a bad or so so image into something worthy of showing.

To start off, this is a beach shot taken around sunset without the use of any ND filters. There is no warmth to the image, it's both overexposed in the sky and under in the rocks. There is also significant barrel distortion from the 17mm end of my lens.

In ACR I fixed the exposure as best I could bringing back a bit of detail by using the "Fill Light" slider and adding a grad filter for the sky. Also fixed distortion and any visible CA. In Photoshop with the use of a few colour sliders I began to bring a bit of warmth to the image whilst keeping the sea a cool blue. Finally (bit overboard) added a gradual lens blur to retain focus on the shore/rock foreground.

EDIT: sorry this web image is so blurred. Original is pin sharp but you get an idea of it!

beachcomparisonnet.jpg
 
Here is another one; taken in Hong Kong last year. Major cropping as this was originally taken portrait. Cropped to retain the bottom half of the image then added a gradual lens blur in PS but cutting out the girl so she remained in focus. Then upped the contrast+saturation. Bam!



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Usually I tend to agree, the better the image in camera the less is needed with PP work, and it feels great to have gotten the capture right at the start.

This is more about showing what can be done with software like Photoshop, and i'm amateur at best!
 
photos were edited on my macbook, it's not been calibrated so can understand that processing might look a bit "extreme". The dark contrast and saturation are deliberate however.

EDIT: now calibrated :)

Have to say after all the opinions on the first image, yes it does look rubbish. I only created it for the purpose of this thread i.e. what extremes can be done with pp work.
 
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