C&C and where to start with PP

km991148

Hi,

I never really do any PP (Other than straightening horizons and cropping in applications like paint.NET) as I have never really made time to learn.

I downloaded capture one pro as a trial but similarly to Photoshop there are a lot of options!

I have a few images on 500px.com that could defo be doing with some adjustments such as:

1)
Park

2)
Night Sky

3)
Beach


What could I do to improve these images (If anything!!) - how can I learn:

From the above list I think the following needs done:
1 - slight focus issue - needs something to draw out either the park or the buildings?

2- Needs more to bring out the starts - is this the levels?

3 - Too dark - but how to lighten beach only etc

Any comments - or where to look to begin looking at these techniques is appreciated - as are any application recommendations!

Oran17

I think you have identified what can be done to improve these images, nothing to complected, id recommend you try adobe lightroom, it is just for photography so it has much less options and a smaller learning curve than Photoshop and if you shoot in RAW is just great.

Looking at your 500px you have some good,dynamic photos which are alot 'better' than the ones you have shared hear, not that these are bad but sometime Post wont be much help.

1) Park.
You could add a vignette around the building darkening everything else.

2)Night sky.
Yeah a levels adjustment, try get the sky to be as black as possible, (stars relay depend on location and how much light pollution there is when the photo was taken so not much can be done in post)

3)Beach.
A gradient adjustment brush in lightroom or the dodge tool in Photoshop are 2 'simple' ways of lightening the the beach with out the sky.

There are many YouTube and other tutorials on the internet which can help you learn what you need to know.

CabanSail

I tried a lot of things when starting to learn PP but have settled on just using Photoshop and sometimes Aperture as a RAW converter. Tried using Lightroom back in the early days and found it OK for simple things. It is included in my CC subscription but have not downloaded it.

Photoshop does mean a lot more of a time investment but it's the one program that will do nearly everything you will need.

ScumLord

CabanSail wrote: »

Photoshop does mean a lot more of a time investment but it's the one program that will do nearly everything you will need.

Once you get used to Photoshop it becomes second nature though and you can CC an image pretty quickly.

The problem with CC is that it can be subjective, only you were there on the day and if you want to match it to what you saw it's only you that has the information to make it happen. Anything is possible though, maybe you want it to look like it did on the day, maybe you want it more dramatic. Unless you're shooting in raw your options are limited though and unless you know how to CC in photoshop you won't know what's possible.

I'd recommend getting photoshop and a good book (that's the way I like to learn) on editing photos specifically. There are all kinds of techniques like high pass sharpening that you can do, but you kind of need to know about them first before you can begin to think about CC any image.