before and after (of a different sort)

This post is about Photoshop, a program I literally use every day. Therefore, you had to know this was coming sooner or later. Here I go, about to sing the Photoshop praises. Photoshop rocks! The end.

Just kidding!

I think most photographers are somewhat shy about demonstrating the post processing they do in Photoshop. I know I’ve been guilty of wanting people to believe every picture I take comes out of my camera looking simply stunning. It just isn’t the case.

About 70% of the pictures I take get deleted straight off the card. This is because I’m a chronic snapper. Especially when shooting my kids, I’ve found it’s best to click click click and delete later. Unfortunately this has led me into a horrible habit of not checking my camera settings before I start. Since I shoot exclusively in manual mode, settings are extremely important. I wish someone would remind me of that... like every morning. I should just put a sign over the coffee maker: “Check Your Settings!”

Anyway, the saying goes that post processing can’t make a bad picture good, but it can make a good picture great. I agree. In the past I’ve wasted tons of time in Photoshop trying to fix a bad picture, or over processing a decent one. This is known in photography circles as being a “Photoshopographer”. It’s not a good thing. It’s also a fine line that I dance on daily. I’m dangerous like that.

Whew, I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but here are a couple examples of my personal photoshopograhy:

IMG_0911_edited-1 

Alien eyes. A huge Photoshop sin. GUILTY.

IMG_0458_edited-1

Pasty skin. Oh dear. No baby looks quite that flawless. GUILTY.

Not too proud of what I did to those photos, but that was back in 2008 when I was first exploring my camera and Photoshop. Since then I’ve learned a lot of what NOT to do.

Clearly this program can butcher a picture, but used subtly and tastefully, it can also works wonders.

Here’s a picture of my nephew Jonah that I took back in November.

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This is how the picture looked straight off the camera. I was shooting outside in low light without a flash and of course, didn’t remember to check my settings until I’d clicked about ten pictures. Normally I’d just toss this one out. It’s not a horrible picture, but it’s slightly overexposed and the colors are a little off. Besides that, it’s generally rather dull and flat. But I love his expression, and the static electricity in his hair. This was the only picture that looked like that…

So, let’s see what can be done.

I adjusted the white balance.

Bumped up the blacks.

Added a tiny vignette.

And sharpened the entire photo.

Voila.

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My editing style may not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it looks much better. And not over processed this time. This looks much more like what my eye saw that day.

Here’s the side by side before and after.

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What do you think?

Comments

Sunny said…
What a wonderful shot and the changes you have made are very nicely done.
Love the hair do by the way...sooo fun.
Cindy said…
I think you are wonderful.
VLR said…
Makes all my pictures look so bad.