america!

sweet_sac · 18-11-2006, 17:43

Hello all,

My first post here, quite scary!

I was in America this summer and I took a couple of photos I quite like. At the time I wasn't really interested in taking pictures or anything but since I took so many I think a new hobby may have crept up on me!

Anyway, i've attached a couple of pics i took on my Sony T-1 Cybershot and just wanted to know what kind of image processing I should look at to make improvements to them?

This is in Arizona

Brooklyn Bridge on a cold day in NYC

Thanks for lookin guys and gals.

fionaB · 18-11-2006, 20:56

nice couple of shots Sweet, i think in the first one i would be tempted to crop off a lot of the sky, there seems to be too much with nothing in it to hold the eye. The bridge shot is great, you should enter that one into the fortnightly theme comp as the them this time round is perspective.
and last of all welcome to pixalo!

Fiona

sweet_sac · 18-11-2006, 21:42

I hear ya Fiona! I was thinkin about cropping that one actually. I literally have NO experience in PS and was wondering if there is any need to jazz up those pics in any way? I hope to get in to it soon but need a few pointers !

lolyton · 18-11-2006, 21:46

I quite like the simplicity of the shots. The first one, i'm going against the grain here and would say take a fraction off the bottom and the left side then add a little saturation particularly to the sky (if you know anything about masks and gradients then should be easy to add to the sky and a lttle to the ground).
The second, just needs a little more punch, i would try and get a little more contrast into it, also highlighting the American flag would help to denote where it was taken.

sweet_sac · 18-11-2006, 21:52

Thanks lolyton.

How would I go about highlighting the flag?

**Markulous** · 18-11-2006, 21:59

Lolyton beat me to it! Little off bottom and LHS! Makes use of all that lovely sky!

Lovely perspective of bridge - that lamp just makes it (giving a sense of scale but also the exception to the symmetry)

If you have PS then some dodge of the flag to brighten it. Failing that Picassa and Gimp are two freebie graphics editors

lolyton · 18-11-2006, 22:03

There are several ways of doing it.....probably one of the quickest and simplest ways of doing it would be, if you are using Photoshop, to use the dodge, burn and sponge tools. These can be located on the same button about halfway down on the right hand side of the tools palette (click and hold to select one from the other). Play about with the settings at the top and see what gives you the best results. Maybe the sponge tool set to saturate with a small brush and a lowish (20ish) percentage flow. There are several other methods to go about doing this sort of thing, but most involve a bit of knowledge first, above mentioned is a good starter.

lolyton · 18-11-2006, 22:06

In the end i took some off the sky too, only a quick go, the crop is probably nowhere near what i intended, maybe a little more off the LHS. These are slightly different versions to what you have posted just to show a little of what i was saying.

sweet_sac · 18-11-2006, 22:14

oooh! The sky looks really intense now, quite liking it - thank you much!

I stood for quite a while in the cold whilst people were bumping in to me to get that bridge shot just right, so im glad people like it.

I'll play with them myself on PS to have a look, hopefully if I can recreate what you've done i'll have learned a few neat tips!

**Markulous** · 18-11-2006, 22:23

Maybe all too similar to Lolyton's, but my take on the two pics:

Bridge: Dodge and sponge (saturate) flag. Dodge pier to bring out stone detail a little
Road: Crop LHS and bottom. Grad sky and dodge hills

sweet_sac · 19-11-2006, 16:57

I had a go on the sky and got a pretty similar effect, also on the ground too. When I try to dodge the hills they just get lighter though? How'd you make yours dark?

**Markulous** · 19-11-2006, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweet_sac

I had a go on the sky and got a pretty similar effect, also on the ground too. When I try to dodge the hills they just get lighter though? How'd you make yours dark?

Is this the moment I say that I made a deliberate mistake (to see if you were paying attention!)............... or own up to being an idiot?! I meant 'burn the hills'

Apologies!

sweet_sac · 19-11-2006, 19:34

Hahaha! Well yes you certainly got me understanding the difference between dodge and burn!

I'll have a wee play with it later on tonight I think! Essays to write, uni work to avoid.....

19-11-2006, 19:45	#14 (permalink)
Rob Barron Loves the place Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Poole, Dorset Posts: 5,615