Another attempt at PP

[rawill]

As you can see I have attempted to improve on the original.

removed, wires etc, straightened, increased saturation, contrast and sharpness and a small crop.
comments welcome.





Maybe I overdid it, please let me know what you think.

[Steve S]

Not too bad robin. Careful with the contrast. If you look at the overhanging limbs, you will see you lost alot of detail, from the original. Alot of the shadow areas have gone to almost black.

There are different types of contrast. .............

Large scale contrast (difference between tones that are fairly far apart) You can gain large scale contrast with the contrast slider or the curves tool. I usually don't add too much with the contrast slider.

Small scale contrast (difference between similar tones ) You can gain small scale contrast with the clarity slider, or you can use sharpening. Using unsharp mask with a small amount and a large radius will give small scale contrast. For example an amount of 0.40 and a radius of 4 or 5, then adjust the opacity slider to your liking.

Color contrast. You can lift and seperate colors using LAB mode to add saturation. This will add some color contrast.

[rawill]

Not too bad robin. Careful with the contrast. If you look at the overhanging limbs, you will see you lost alot of detail, from the original. Alot of the shadow areas have gone to almost black.

Yes, you are right, about the detail in the overhanging limbs, I was looking more at the Cathedral and missed that!~!.
Interesting, as I was thinking I should get rid of the overhanging limbs, but chose to modify one of them instead. I thought they intruded too much.

I wonder if I can lighten those particular areas up again, and leave the rest untouched.

[Steve S]

If you look at the colors of the 2 images, you have change them as well. When adding contrast, it's best to use a layer and set the blend mode to luminosity, to protect your colors. Contrast will muck up your colors if your not careful.

As far as the branches are concerned, yes you can lighten them back up with a little dodge and burning. Or you could clone them out.

[rawill]

I will look out some tutorials on the PP process. I am sure I will get lost. hehe!~!

[revi]

The darker leaves in the upper corners don't bother me too much: they are there to frame the cathedral.

You might have pushed the contrast a bit too much though... Did you try a levels adjustment first (just increasing the 'black point' a bit might have given you a lot of what you wanted in increased contrast)

[keladawy]

Good attempt Robin, The PP did much to the photo
If I was you. I'd have removed the limbs at the top left and right of the frame. In my opinion, elements used for framing should have a strong relation with the main object (Cathedral) which is not the case here

[rawill]

Thank you for your comments.

I am just learning about levels and curves, instead of sharpening and contrast, or saturation.

So much to learn.

And I think yes to the branches being a bit intrusive.
When I took the photo, I was trying to create a frame, and there was nothing else to do it with.
But I overdid it.

Elesewhere I posted a different photo of this Cathedral, from lying down on the footpath, but it was a really sunny day, lots of traffic, that stopped to see if I was alright! My wife was embarrased at my antics.

Just as well I don't live there.
For those who don't know it is St Peter and St Paul in Brno, where the mid day chimes strike at 11.00am.
Do you know why ?

[Dave Humphries]

Elesewhere I posted a different photo of this Cathedral, from lying down on the footpath, but it was a really sunny day, lots of traffic, that stopped to see if I was alright! My wife was embarrased at my antics.

Just as well I don't live there.

LOL - that's what I like to see, dedication

For those who don't know it is St Peter and St Paul in Brno, where the mid day chimes strike at 11.00am.
Do you know why ?

I just had to google to find out, but I won't spoil it for anyone that knows without 'cheating' - it would be unfair of me to claim the prize - which by the way, is the possible photo your wife took of you laying down

The image is definitely improved by your PP work Robin.

In addition to the other advice, regarding the framing leaves; you can always "clone recompose" the situation, as I am demonstrating here:



First I got rid of the annoying (to me) dangly bits on left with a small clone brush.
Then I used a larger one (with a diameter about 5% picture height) to clone everything upwards.

The right side is not completed so you can see how it progresses.
Also, the sky shade is wrong where I have cloned, being lighter nearer the horizon, needs a bit of work to blend it better with the middle - having moved everything up, I might then suggest horizontally cloning the correct intensity over the incorrect intensity at same elevation, but vary the brush size, be careful of getting ghost spires and finish off with a blur - well that's how I'd do it, others may suggest their own favourite methods.

By the way, I went too far when moving the ones up on the left (and right), leave a bit more in shot.

Cheers,

[Donald]

Notwithstanding the very helpful and constructive comments made above, I'd just like to note that you did make a superb job of getting rid of all the wires.

[rawill]

Again many thanks for the feedback.

Yes Dave, Google is your friend.
great story about the chimes, I was really impressed with it when I discovered it.

Dave, fortunately for me, I had the only camera! A little Richo Capilo P&S!
So I can not give you the shot of me lying on the footpath, (with a jacket over my head and camera (to keep the sun out)!
I was trying to make the Cathedral look even bigger than it is, and trying to avoid some of the wires.

Some of the suggestions for improvement are "way above my head" at the moment. But I had a go with the dodge/burn tool last night. So much to learn!~!

Donald, thank you for the comment on getting rid of the lines.
I chose to do it to this photo as it appeared easier than in the other one I posted on here.

I used a combination of the GIMP and FastStone cloning tools.
FastStone is great for reinstalling straight edges.
So far I have not found the way to do that in GIMP.

[rawill]

In addition to the other advice, regarding the framing leaves; you can always "clone recompose" the situation, as I am demonstrating here:

First I got rid of the annoying (to me) dangly bits on left with a small clone brush.
Then I used a larger one (with a diameter about 5% picture height) to clone everything upwards.
be careful of getting ghost spires and finish off with a blur - well that's how I'd do it, others may suggest their own favourite methods.

By the way, I went too far when moving the ones up on the left (and right), leave a bit more in shot.

Cheers,

I like what you did to the photo, I am going to see if I can do it.

Yes to the dangly bits going!
I am still working on it, I will have a go at moving the branches/leaves with FastStone or Gimp.