Edit My Photo!

obrano

Hey everyone.

I don't know if this has every been done before, or if anyone wants to try but I would like it if members could edit one of my photos.

I find I'm not too adventurous/always do similar things when editing photos. Do I go too far or do I not do enough? Is there more I could do? Is there things I should ease up on... I work in Lightroom and can only do minor edits in PS.

I've attached a RAW file of a photo in a dropbox line - a portrait of a man working in a rice paddy. I hope this is ok by forum rules...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/auppsmt679m8qr7/IMG_2063.dng?dl=0

I edited this one myself a few months ago but I really want to see other people's take on the editing of the photo. If you go through the process of editing, it would be great to know what you've done. C&C is always welcome, of course, and please feel free to do ANYTHING at all to the photo.

If you go ahead and edit the photo, and want to know how mine ended up - you can check it out here. It's probably better to check it out after your edit!! C&C are more than welcome on both the photo and the editing and I would actively request them:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101141708@N03/15114907162/

Thanks for your time everyone.

I've added another photo, this time a landscape:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn9ovcjv4h5x1wv/IMG_9162.dng?dl=0

And what I did:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101141708@N03/14309376761/

CabanSail

My 3 minute effort

Adrian.Sadlier

A little longer than CabanSail (8 minutes). Straightforward mono conversion, crop, S curve and alittle dodging and burning

Just noticed - I went for almost exactly the same crop as CabanSail

quazzy

I'm very new to Photography and Lightroom but here's my version.

Be gentle.

flyingsnail

here is my effort

obrano

I like the extra cropping in the shot. Brings more attention to the subject. I didn't do near enough cropping. Ardrian and CabhanSail basically cropped identically Quazzy and flyingsnail that little bit more. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's great to see different takes. Everyone's edits are completely different.

Obviously it depends on the shot but would you generally crop this much in your edits? I couldn't get much closer to the subject at the time of this shot because he was mid work and didn't want me poking the camera in his face for much longer!!

dirtyghettokid

i usually edit most of my pics the same way, so just applied what i do to my own pics…
adjusted WB, darken/lighten centre in nik fx, ran a detail enhancer action i have in photoshop, threw on a mask and made it so only his face was under the detail enhancer action, then ran one of my curve actions over it.. cropped & saved :pac:

flyingsnail

obrano wrote: »

Obviously it depends on the shot but would you generally crop this much in your edits? I couldn't get much closer to the subject at the time of this shot because he was mid work and didn't want me poking the camera in his face for much longer!!

Obviously I prefer to get it right in camera when I can but as you say it isn't always possible in which case I would have no problem cropping a little or a lot (provided the image quality is there) to create the best image.

obrano

I really like that edit Dirtyghettokid. The photo feels like it was taken decades ago and has a bit more of a story to tell. Thanks for that! Really nice.

obrano

Can I be a demon and put up another photo? This time a landscape. I've put it in the original post in this thread too.

It's a bit underexposed but there's plenty of data there to bring out. I only have a 2-stop ND filter and it was difficult to get a longer exposure. There's a decent bit of light here so I think a lot can be done with it.

Looking forward to seeing the results.

Thanks again to everyone. This is really great.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn9ovcjv4h5x1wv/IMG_9162.dng?dl=0

mystic86

obrano

Another great edit. Thanks mystic86. Fancy having a pop at the landscape shot too? Thanks!!

dirtyghettokid

landscape….i'm so indecisive with edits.. that's what took most of the time hehe



used nik fx again for bringing out some detail. also used my detail enhancer action again. and some more colour actions for the sky, which i masked … and then a fake nd gradient layer over the top 20% of sky
where's your edited version of this?

mystic86

obrano

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

landscape….i'm so indecisive with edits.. that's what took most of the time hehe

used nik fx again for bringing out some detail. also used my detail enhancer action again. and some more colour actions for the sky, which i masked … and then a fake nd gradient layer over the top 20% of sky
where's your edited version of this?

Sorry. I should have added this too. Here's my edit here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101141708@N03/14309376761/

I tried another edit last night but I think it looked a bit too much.

Your edit is much more atmospheric. I really like what you've done with the sky here. Thanks again for putting in the time. I love seeing how a photo can change based on people's edits!!

obrano

Hey Mystic86, what was your process on this one?

flyingsnail

I may have gone a bit overboard with the colour but I kind of like it

dirtyghettokid

i actually think it's cool to have threads like these... it's really interesting to see how different people edit the same pic!
it's also great to learn other's processes ..
i really like both shots obrano -- thought they were fun to PP :cool:

obrano

Delighted you enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun seeing people's takes. Everyone has a different eye and it's cool to see my photos morph and take different shapes. Thanks to everyone. It would be cool to try it again for sure.

obrano

flyingsnail wrote: »

I may have gone a bit overboard with the colour but I kind of like it

I really like this edit flyingsnail. My girlfriend let out a big WOW. The colours are great. I see you didn't up exposure or shadows much in the foreground. Did you find that bringing it out detracted from the picture?

MysticalRain

A slightly more surreal version below

dirtyghettokid

love how the rocks look in that one! contrast overall is nice! ^^^

MysticalRain

You have to be careful not to over do it with contrast in these kinds of shots! I thought the rocks could have done with a lot more exposure seeing as how they are a key element in the image.

flyingsnail

obrano wrote: »

I really like this edit flyingsnail. My girlfriend let out a big WOW. The colours are great. I see you didn't up exposure or shadows much in the foreground. Did you find that bringing it out detracted from the picture?

I did bring them foreground up initially but then dialled it back again so your eye was drawn to the colours in the sky / water rather than the rocks.

obrano

MysticalRain wrote: »

A slightly more surreal version below

I really like this one too!! What did you do in your edit for the sky? It's amazing. The colours are fantastic and atmospheric.

MysticalRain

obrano wrote: »

I really like this one too!! What did you do in your edit for the sky? It's amazing. The colours are fantastic and atmospheric.

I upped the clarity a bit in Lightroom. Then used Niks Color Efex Pro to change the colour cast, add in some complementary colours, and some extra contrast.

Loki98

Whammy!

My two attempts...

obrano

I'm so impressed with the uptake on this thread! Thanks everyone. It's been of real benefit doing this. Not only are the edits varied and excellent but I'm seeing different styles and take and finding out what people find important in a photo. I had also never heard of Nik's colour efex until you guys mentioned it today!

Loki98

Hey obrana,
this is a great idea for an ongoing thread. Its really interesting and good fun to see the different takes on the same photo.
If you don't mind I'll add a link to one of mine in case anyone would like to take a stab at it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i8u5c71hpzertik/_MG_0051.CR2?dl=0

Maybe someone else will post one of theirs to continue the thread.

dirtyghettokid

loki's pic… prob a bit OTT… but i kinda like it

obrano

Please, I would love to see the thread continue. I think I'll have a stab at your photo later

flyingsnail

obrano wrote: »

Please, I would love to see the thread continue.

Me too

dirtyghettokid

ok here's one of my aul boring photos.. would love to see what you all can do with it!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ck6tudcjoe46s21/IMG_9057.CR2?dl=0

Zillah

A little melodramatic but it kind of works



And I really think this needs a crop. Probably went a little overboard on the dodging but I'm not going back now :pac:

MysticalRain

In an interesting twist from looking at the date stamp on the pic: I was at the same location trying to take a pic. I ended up botching it by leaving too early just before the good light began to appear (you obviously showed up later and did better with your timing). So this is exactly the kind of pic I would have liked to have taken

Myksyk

Deliberately dramatic!

MysticalRain

This one calls out for a black and white version I think

obrano

This is a little too much fun. It's great to work with other images. Anyway, here's my attempts. I've also gone a little mental on the dodging but it feels too good.

One question. I have these pics uploaded as private photos to flickr. Is there a way I can upload them directly to boards and have them visible in the thread without having to click/open the file?

Oisin (2 of 2) by obrano, on Flickr

Oisin (1 of 2) by obrano, on Flickr

Whammy!

I generally prefer a softer color palette with lower contrast which is obvious with my previous two edits.

These two aren't any different except one is black & white. But it is low contrast.
I do try and retain as much detail as possible.

dirtyghettokid

loving the edits of my pic! great to see the different ideas!
anybody have anymore pics to edit?

flyingsnail

Ok here is one of mine for you to try,

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ydlvmis0vioj0v2/20131130_7510.dng?dl=0

and here is what I did with it

dirtyghettokid

i just used some cross processing curves

Loki98

Loki98

Myksyk

CabanSail

Mono conversion with sepia and film grain.

CabanSail

CabanSail

Please keep images to the forum size of <800 pixels on the long side.

kevc2

CabanSail wrote: »

Please keep images to the forum size of <800 pixels on the long side.

Sorry about that.

CabanSail