Post-Processing Exercise !

[Ruffy]

For me that is, As some of you know, I have been busy spending hard earned doller on some P&P software and now its time to learn how to use it.

Below you will find an image that has had no P&P, it is of motorcycle racing as thats my focus in all this, now....What I would like is for people to give me some small, simple exercise if they could, ones that are easy to do and dont require hours of fine detail, just the basics would do or, what you feel needs doing to the image, just keep it simple (ish)

i feel that this would not only benifit myself but other newbes too, I admit I am not a head in book man, more of the type of person who just picks it up and plays with it.
If you could keep it in some sort of order too (i believe you call it "workflow") then that would be great and it would give me an idea on how I should be doing things.

The programmes I will be using will be PSE9 & LR3 to carry out this exercise so when you give me my exercise's please state what programme to use, lets see if this forum can assist me in creating an image with some good P&P, I would like to run this thread for 1 week, maybe giving me a few exercises per day.

Regards

Paul

PS, I hope this is ok doing this ?

[Geoff F]

We have had a few 'before and after' exercises, Paul, and they have indeed proved most illuminating for newcomers; and even a few 'old hands' have realised that a 'fresh pair of eyes' can be needed sometimes.

Well then, with this photo, I would say that the first obvious requirement is a crop. You need to remove that part of a bike on the left. But see what effects can be created by different crop ratios and amounts, slight and close cropping. Also the positioning of your main subject within those crops.

Then, and this is the technical part, have a go at selective sharpening and brightness adjustment; also blur of the background. With care you can, for example, just brighten part of a person's face which is in shadow.

I would do this with layers and carefully controlled masking which is feathered to blend into the scene. Using a low opacity soft edged brush is probably the easiest way to reveal or hide part of a mask.

This can get a bit complicated but the basics are quite simple.

Then of course, there is a monochrome option which I think should work well on some of the closer crops.

And this is just to start with.

See you next month!

[jiro]

Hello, Paul. Question: "Are you asking for comments as to what needs to be done on the image and then give you an example if ever on how the edit can be done using either PSE9 or LR 3?" Kindly clarify. Thanks.

[Ruffy]

Hello, Paul. Question: "Are you asking for comments as to what needs to be done on the image and then give you an example if ever on how the edit can be done using either PSE9 or LR 3?" Kindly clarify. Thanks.

Kind of yes, want to keep it looking real but improved, dont have to tell me "how" just what (with maybe a few pointers) and let me go off and find out how too do it, just remember its me your all talking too, a complete newbe...white balance, whats that ??? lol

For example...

Crop to suit in LR,
straghten in LR,
Clone out foreground bush and yellow tape in background using PSE9, etc etc

Hope this helps.

[jiro]

OK. Here's my suggestion:

1. I agree with Geoff, this needs some small amount of cropping. Using LR 3, use the crop tool but keep the ratio as is, just make the image size a little bit smaller. I would probably use the golden ratio guide on this one rather than the rule of thirds so that I can still have some good space on the left side of the biker to keep the dynamics of the shot.

2. The white balance seems to be good. To further counter-check it I would recommend you use the white balance tool and look for something close to middle gray on the image and click it.

3. A little contrast boost would make it pop more.

4. The leftover tire at the lower left has to be cloned out.

5. Some selective sharpening on the biker alone would be nice to let the viewers concentrate their focus on the biker.

6. A little dark vignette would help further keep the attention of the viewers to the biker.

Basically that's it.

[Ruffy]

Would/could you do all this in LR or switch between the two Jiro ?

The one that will be the challange will be the sharpening.

[jiro]

Would/could you do all this in LR or switch between the two Jiro ?

The one that will be the challange will be the sharpening.

All could be done in LR 3... in less than 7 minutes.

[Geoff F]

But only 6.5 mins with CS5.

Here is a totally different result by using a different crop to Willie's suggestion. Which is why I said experiment with various size ratios.

Selective sharpened, background blurred and yellow line removed. But you can do better with a little more time and the original image.

Actually, I don't have CS5 on this computer so I just used Photo Plus which is a much cheaper but similar copy.

[Ruffy]

Well people, here is my first go at some P&P, all very simple stuff for others no doubt but I big headache for me,

Comments please

BEFORE

AFTER

[jiro]

Definitely an improvement. Being a bike rider myself (used to) I would keep the yellow line since it adds significance to the danger behind it. Good work, Ruffy.

[Ruffy]

Thanks Jiro, along way to go but its a start.

[jiro]

Thanks Jiro, along way to go but its a start.

We all have to tread that road, bruddah.