Another Waterfall before and after

[Chri5]

I took this shot a while back and I was pretty happy with it but binnur recommended some software called Viveza so I gave it a re-edit. here is the before and after shots. What do you guys think?

1)Before


2)After. Personally I think it looks better.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, how did you apply the Viveza preset? Did you apply control points to specific areas of the composition?

[Chri5]

At first I tried to use it globally but it was to aggressive so I used control points. I still haven't quite got used to the sharpening as it is very aggressive. I like Viveza but it just feels a little too much like cheating for some reason.

[Stagecoach]

The 1st one pretty good, the 2nd is better due to the enhanced definition.

What I would say is that when scrolling between the two in the lyte box I prefer the slightly increased foreground brightness of the 1st but that's just me.

[Chri5]

The 1st one pretty good, the 2nd is better due to the enhanced definition.

What I would say is that when scrolling between the two in the lyte box I prefer the slightly increased foreground brightness of the 1st but that's just me.

I think maybe the first on is just a little bit to bright but maybe I can find a happy medium

[bnnrcn]

You are so quick Chris I like the image and your second edit is certainly better and looks good to me.

BTW why do you think Viveza is cheating ?

[Rebel]

Lovely image Chris, second image is better.

[Chri5]

why do you think Viveza is cheating ?

Thanks Binnur. That's a good question and a good question deserves an answer.

I think cheating was the wrong word choice. Its more like I feel that by using Viveza I am taking short cuts and by doing so then I am not actually learning how to make the adjustments manually in the digital dark room. I am letting the software do all the hard work for me. Don't get me wrong. Viveza is a fantastic piece of software and id recommend it to anyone but you see I am some what of a perfectionist and I suffer from a little OCD (CDO in alphabetical order) so for me If I don't learn how to edit my photos myself as opposed to letting software do it for me I feel like I have cheated myself out of valuable learning experiances. Again let me stress the fact that using Viveza is not cheating and I do highly recommend it. I am just a little weird when it comes to things like this but who knows I might change my mind as time passes.

[Chri5]

Thanks rebel. It was a dull day so that made it easier.

[Shadowman]

At first I tried to use it globally but it was to aggressive so I used control points. I still haven't quite got used to the sharpening as it is very aggressive. I like Viveza but it just feels a little too much like cheating for some reason.

I've also had limited success with sharpening, however I've viewed a few of the NIK tutorials and it seems that less is more, for instance rarely is it advised to move the output slider strength to more than 25%. Regarding Viveza, sure it feels like cheating but you get more out of the conversion when you post-process an image with two or more editing programs and then comparing the results. As you find out what the presets are doing for the image, you can try to duplicate the same procedure using Elements or Photoshop.

[bnnrcn]

Chris and John, there are no presets in Viveza and you do your edits on your own already. The only difference with Photoshop is that you don't have to make precise selections for your edits because the software has a different technology and you make your selective edits with the help of control points. I actually use both PS and Viveza for my different edit needs. For instance, the structure slider in Viveza is very good and I can't get the same effect in Photoshop. So when I need some structure in my image, I go to Viveza. But I love the selective color adjustment layer in Phtoshop and I don't bother myself trying to get the same effect in Viveza and I simply use Photoshop for that. IMO U point technology makes Viveza user friendly and that's why a lot of people prefer it to Photoshop.

Thanks Binnur. That's a good question and a good question deserves an answer.

I think cheating was the wrong word choice. Its more like I feel that by using Viveza I am taking short cuts and by doing so then I am not actually learning how to make the adjustments manually in the digital dark room. I am letting the software do all the hard work for me. Don't get me wrong. Viveza is a fantastic piece of software and id recommend it to anyone but you see I am some what of a perfectionist and I suffer from a little OCD (CDO in alphabetical order) so for me If I don't learn how to edit my photos myself as opposed to letting software do it for me I feel like I have cheated myself out of valuable learning experiances. Again let me stress the fact that using Viveza is not cheating and I do highly recommend it. I am just a little weird when it comes to things like this but who knows I might change my mind as time passes.

[Chri5]

I have read both arguments from binnur and John and I am starting to be convinced. maybe ill just hang on to Viveza after all. I jusy really want to learn how to do most of my work on the day and in camera by controlling ISO, Fstops, shutter speed and the likes. If I can achieve a better image on location then it minimises edit time which in turn free me up so I can spend more time taking photos. Thanks again. It has been a very interesting thread.