Editing digital images

[CAPTAIN COORS]

How many of you would throw this image in the can on first sight?

If you are into Canon and have Digital Photo Professional, try converting the raw file of this image and check the box LINEAR and watch what happens! Here is the image processed in this manner.

So what do you think?

 

[ywen]

I assume you shot in raw and the original image was how it looked with the in-camera settings?

 

[CAPTAIN COORS]

Thats correct. The first image is just the way it cam out of camera. This third image is after some LR editing.

 

[ywen]

RAW imaage has a limited margin of error in the highlights. If you over expose an image, you can dial back the exposure in post and retrieve some details from the highlight...

 

[CAPTAIN COORS]

This image processed only in LR. It took some time but the results looks much the same with the one click in Digital Professional.

 

[Tucson T4R]

I do all my editing in LR. It has really saved some of my poorly captured images. Pretty amazing tool.

BTW, I think you photographed my hummer. Or maybe I photographed yours. :elkgrin:

 

[CAPTAIN COORS]

Hey there Brad, you must live close by. That is the same guy!

 

[Tucson T4R]

Just a sneaky look a like. Mine was taken at the Desert Museum's hummer Avery. He may have been locked up there for impersonations.:sombrero:

 

[john101477]

Not to be a smart A** here but in CS4 you could take and seperate the bird fromt he background and highlight specific parts of him without turning the background so dark... Be able to transition the Head of the bird from the background much smoother. LR is a great tool though. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new laptop and put LR on it while I am on the road, the desktop would still have CS4. Just easier to haul the laptop from place to place.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

the desktop would still have CS4. Just easier to haul the laptop from place to place.

Make the move to CS5. 10x better than CS4

I also agree that I'd isolate the bird with the lasso tool and pop it out from the background a bit. It's blending in too much right now.

A little sharpening with the Unsharp tool in Photoshop would really make the bird pop more.

If you've ever read Arthur Morris and his tutorials on Bird Photography (You should if you havent), he's always recommending that you overexpose your shots a touch. You wont loose too much by toning them down, but you'll lose alot of quality when trying to lighting them if you've underexposed the shot

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Quick 20 second edit of your image. Trying to lighten the bird without touching the background, making a little crop and sharpening the bird just a smidge

 

[CAPTAIN COORS]

Thanks for the tips guys.