Learning some Photoshop skills

[blakemcguire]

I've signed up for Photoshop CC recently and gotten a Wacom tablet (I'm also challenging myself not to use a mouse at all as I adjust to it)

Anyway, thought I'd post a before and after and see what you all think!

Before:


After:



C&C entirely welcome.

[FootLoose]

The 2nd version is much better, Blake. The vignette coupled with the 'spotlight' on the structure draw the viewer's attention to the subject very well.

[blakemcguire]

The 2nd version is much better, Blake. The vignette coupled with the 'spotlight' on the structure draw the viewer's attention to the subject very well.

The first was just what I got from Lightroom.
That's exactly what I was going for with the Photoshop edit, thanks!

[Rebel]

Very subtle changes but makes all the difference, good work.

[Dave Humphries]

Very competent improvement there Blake,

Well done, Dave

[pnodrog]

I certainly like the control that can be gained using photoshop and I do prefer your edit using it. However to be fair to lightroom I do not see anything that has been done that could not have been done with lightroom alone.

The important thing of course is you are learning photoshop and so long as you achieve the result you want it matters little how you did it.....

[Rob Ekins]

Nice subtle work, keep it up!

[bnnrcn]

Nice image, nice work

[Manfred M]

Blake - definitely an improvement. Are you working in Camera Raw as well as Photoshop?

You will find where Photoshop shines is when you start working specific parts of an image non-destructively, i.e. you can change your mind about and edit and fix it quickly. Virtually all of my edits involve adjustment layers, clipping masks and layer masks. This functionality simply blows the parametric editors like Lightroom right out of the water. I've become a real fan of the Content Aware tools and they can be real time savers as well.

I also use a Wacom tablet (a rather ancient one) and the learning curve is a bit frustrating when you first start, but once you get the hang of it you will wonder how people edit with a mouse.

Photoshop is extremely powerful but a word of warning; it takes a long time to master.

[JohnRostron]

Very subtle changes but makes all the difference, good work.

I agree with rebel. On my laptop, I could not see the changes until I flicked from one to the other in Lighbox. But it is a definite improvement.

John

[Rita]

I like the edit. Subtle yet uplifting for the image.

[MrB]

Blake, I like what you have done to enhance the scene. For me, the sky is rather strong - there is tonal variation there which, if reduced in brightness with a curves adjustment, would make it less intense and also reveal more of the cloud structure.

Cheers.
Philip

[IzzieK]

+1 to Manfred and Philip's comments and suggestions.