Every day I come across few photos here in 365 site that blow me away and I wish I could ask that person how he/she took that picture and how he/she processed it. I know there is a lot of people out there that prefer not to share how they achieved
certain photo/effect, but if you don't mind sharing, I would love to hear
1. lens you used (we can see camera, settings and time info in Exif)
2. what lighting equipment you used, in any
3. what software you used to processed the photo
4. actions/presets/how you did it
5. and before and after picture (you can add before picture and link to the after picture in your project)
Not sure what would be the best way (I'm open to suggestions), but just to get this going ...
Upload one photo, maybe your most viewed or faved in last week (or last month) or anything you like to share and tag 3 people you follow, so if they want they can join the thread, but are not obligated to.
We all are here to learn, so let's help each other grow and
share the secrets :-)
Here is mine:
Lens: Canon 50mm f1.8
Lighting: morning sun
Processing: Picture taken in RAW and converted into JPEG with Lightroom. Then uploaded to Pickmonkey and I used combination of effects - CrossProcess, Tranquil, Dusk and Intrepid) I usually just move those sliders up and down until I like what I see. If you would ask me to process it again, I don't think I would come up with the same result.
hey Suzana... i find that most photogs are happy to answer these questions... but like you, don't always recall exactly what they did...
other than conversion to b&w (which i just posted a thread asking about!) my processing is generally minimal, usually just tweaking light and colour... i don't think anyone would ever be interested in what i've done in that regard ;p but i will certainly watch this thread to see what others post because this stuff interests me hugely!
I used picmonkey and 'focal pixelate' ut reduced the focus to nothing. Then I used HDR - then repeated focal pixelate and HDR, with bigger pixels. It's great fun!
Here is the original http://365project.org/boogie/challenges/2012-05-29
Here is straight out of camera and edited. I always shoot raw. I try my hardest to get the look i want in camera. Im still learning off camera light and i should have used a reflector to bounce some fill in the right side of her face to soften the shadows or used a second light as a fill. I always start in litghtroom where i first do color correction then adjust the contrast and brightness and exposure and fill as needed. Usually add a tiny amount of vignette. I then take it into photoshop to do any touchups on skin which i keep to a min. and then i try a couple actions i have made to boost colors and contrast and to adjust colors to give it the look i want. Finally i sharpen using a the highpass filter and setting the layer to overlay. Sometimes i will use the unsharp mask filter then using a mask, mask out everything except the eyes and lips so i dont over sharpen the skin. I usually spend 5 to 10 min doing editing. Trying to get the best light in camera is what im working on now.
If you have Lightroom, why do you upload to picmonkey? You can find loads of free presets on the web and they give similar effects. In Lightroom they have the History, then you can know what you do with a photo and achieve it again and again.
Here's a quick google search I did: https://www.google.com/search?sugexp=chrome,mod=7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=free+lightroom+presets
Here are a few photos I used with Lightroom 4 presets (Like you, I shoot in raw, but I do all of my editing in LR)
This one is called Reno (I over use it!) It gives the photos a different look depending on exposure etc
I don't know which preset this one is, it might be the same as above actually
I have no secrets, except for minor crops or b/w type stuff mine is mostly sooc. Not a purist I just don't have the software or knowledge for more right now. However I have found everyone I have asked on here to be very friendly and open about sharing. @agima has posted several wonderful videos and before and after type shots for explanations and help.
@cfitzgerald Thanks Courtney! I just started with Lightroom this month, so I'm very new. I heard about presets for Lightroom available on internet, just didn't get chance to research them yet. I'm still faster with Pickmonkey at this point, but I will get there some day I hope :-) Love the Reno too! Big thanks for the link! Very much appreciate it ;-)
@zuzana Once you get into Lightroom you will LOVE it. The more I learn, the more I LOVE. It has changed my photography. When I look through my project, I can see the turning point for sure. Enjoy it!
@cfitzgerald I agree with Courtney. I was just googling for free presets and came across this site, which looks very usefull for LR user. Already saved in my favorite places. http://insidelightroom.com/?page_id=13
@bardejov Oh, thanks! I bookmarked so I can investigate on a day when I have less to do. Speaking of which, I MUST get off the computer!! Great discussion @zuzana!
@boogie So you did that in pikmonkey...focal pixilate? I may have asked that when you first posted it in ETSOOI, but not sure. That is a neat effect and figured out how to get something similar in GIMP but where is this option in pikmonkey? THANKS!
@cfitzgerald Now I see you were saying up there you shoot in RAW. I google and see plenty of articles about WHY to do it,but I have a stupid question...HOW do you do it? Is it a camera setting when you are looking at your menu? I think I saw it there but was not ready to worry over it at the time. I do think I am going to get LR, so maybe need to try RAW.... But not sure HOW. :0)
Here's one I spent a lot of time processing to get it to look old without just pressing the "old photo" effect. I'll copy the explanation in the next comment box.
This a view of the Bushkill taken in black and white for starters. I then "warmed up" the temperature and increased the saturation. That darkened the picture somewhat, but I wanted it a bit darker so that the effects didn't wash out the picture. I then "posterized" the picture which separated the tones from white to gray to black. I then added a red tint, which acted like I had placed a red filter over my camera lens. I really liked what these steps did to the trees, but now the sky looked really washed out. So I added the "Peeling Paint" effect as an overlay. This kept the effect visible only on the sky and not on the trees. But it wasn't quite enough, so I then added a texture of parchment on top of that (also in overlay mode). By now the picture had really taken on the life of an old photo to me (the kind where the photographer had to stand under a covering while he shot the picture). I added a light brown vignette around the edge and a border frame in brown and cream and the "experiment" was complete. So there you have it- a picture of what the Bushkill might have looked like in 1840!
@espyetta I believe you have a T2i??? I have a t1i, so I am guessing the directions are SIMILAR if not exactly the same. When you press the menu button, one of your option screens there should be a "Quality" option and you can change it from there. While you are learning, you can shoot in both RAW and Jpeg (but it does eat up your memory card space). Once you get the hang of RAW, you will LOVE how much control you have on the post processing side. You do need software that supports it, otherwise you can't tell a big difference, other than you images look dull. Oh, and the days of not having to any tweaking are over, but in a good way. I have a hard time shooting in jpeg now that I've shot in RAW for over 18 months.
Yes, LR is wonderful! You can download a 30 day free trial to make sure it is the software for you. I love it. The more I learn, the more I love!
@cfitzgerald Thank you for the tips and info! I thought I'd seen it on my camera...yes, I have a T2i. :0) I like how you can shoot in both just in case....that is why I never tried it...I had no clue about it and did not want to miss a bunch of shots by screwing it up! LOL! Thanks again!
I'm always willing to share my editing on ANY of my images, just ask and I'll tell. So my most popular pic this week, although the ISO was too high for my liking.
square vase from ikea, soda water,
home made light box (behind the vase),
angle poise lamp on front for more light (it was getting dark!) camera on work surface in front of vase, cherries (of course)
settings- sports and multi shoot, which is why the ISO was so high.
I set the focus in manual.
Post shutter, tweak of levels in RAW processing, crop.
Clone (remove excess bubbles) in PSE.
Down side, the actual image was quite small so I plan to try again in full manual mode, and check other settings. : D
@Zuzana, great thread and thanks for sharing. I have watched your stuff for a while and noted what I thought was a style developing with your photos. Looking through the daily photos I can sometimes pick whose they are before looking at them in detail. from a style or finish that I think they have. I like what you do with yours and appreciate you sharing how you do them.
I only shoot in RAW, then I do basic edits in LR...this I upped the exposure a wee bit, added a little fill light to take away the shadow on her face and brightened slightly. Then I take it into PS and do any fine editing. I cloned out the taps as I did not like the one coming out of her head and found them distracting.
I usually like to find a natural light source, if inside a window or door and I only shoot with my 50mm or 85mm prime lens wide open at a f/1.8 to 2.2. I do not ever use my on board flash (I can't wait to get a speedlight tho :) )
I still have a lot to learn but that is what I do :)
All of these have descriptions of the lighting that was used, but feel free to ask against any of the images and I would be more than happy to let you in on my little secrets...
I find most willing to share their "secrets". If asked I will always say what I did post. I shoot in RAW and use Lightroom 4 99% of the time and occasionally head into PS5. I have some presets but rarely use them preferring my own tweaks. I tend to stay pretty true to the original photo but like to play a little too.
Great thread you thought of, Zuzana! And thanks for tagging:) only i can't do "before&after" as i have only 1 album, but some day maybe:) its very interesting for me to learn and see what others do. Like someone mentioned "view exif and you will know"-this is not quite correct, for a number of reasons...Firstly, learning exif doesn't mean you'll get the same as other conditions in real life vary. Secondly, for ex. my exif is deleted when i edit, and thirdly, it doesn't tell about editing))))
What i prefer to do, is using natural light (sometimes i don't take a shot if the natural light is not that i want, and i wait for it to change)), i like small F number, i like backlighting...
As for editing, i'm not a master of it. I'm a big fan of lightroom-edited shots, but i dont have it and i dont know how to use it, just dreaming that someday i'll master it)))) Also, to my shame, i don't know any of PS...)))) so i edit only in some very simple programs, online or offline. Presets- usually i add light, or change Bw and make a shot "warmer".
I act the same as you - just press and look, until i'm satisfied))))
Btw, your original in the example shot is great by itself, even without any editing!!)))
As you suggested, tagging my followings for them to share their experience, knowledge and secrets of what they do))) : @anden @dlaudner @juliakan
1. D90, 50mm 1.8, ISO 200, 1/2000, f/2.5
2. natural light only
3. Photoshop CS5
4. Shot in RAW. Opened in Photoshop. Duplicate layer from background. Adjust levels and curves (most important step for me). Duplicate layer from background. Patch tool for slight under-eye shadow, spot healing brush and healing brush tool to clean up skin a little.
Duplicate layer from background. Dodge tool at 5%, range - midtones on the iris to brighten it up a little. Burn tool at 5%, range - midtones on the lips to deepen the red lipstick and unify the colour.
Then I created a hue/saturation adjustment layer, and my setting were Hue 23, Saturation 50, check colourise. Changed the opacity of the layer to 20%. Created a new black and white adjustment layer. Used auto for the settings. Changed the opacity of the layer to 35%.
Also sharpened the image slightly. Created a duplicate layer of background. Change layer type to 'Overlay'. Then choose Filters > Other > High Pass > 2.0 pixels.
Simple as that!
I'm really not a big fan of doing too much editing. I like to use natural light in my photos and I feel the quality can be lost when over-processed.
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
other than conversion to b&w (which i just posted a thread asking about!) my processing is generally minimal, usually just tweaking light and colour... i don't think anyone would ever be interested in what i've done in that regard ;p but i will certainly watch this thread to see what others post because this stuff interests me hugely!
I used picmonkey and 'focal pixelate' ut reduced the focus to nothing. Then I used HDR - then repeated focal pixelate and HDR, with bigger pixels. It's great fun!
Here is the original
Here is straight out of camera and edited. I always shoot raw. I try my hardest to get the look i want in camera. Im still learning off camera light and i should have used a reflector to bounce some fill in the right side of her face to soften the shadows or used a second light as a fill. I always start in litghtroom where i first do color correction then adjust the contrast and brightness and exposure and fill as needed. Usually add a tiny amount of vignette. I then take it into photoshop to do any touchups on skin which i keep to a min. and then i try a couple actions i have made to boost colors and contrast and to adjust colors to give it the look i want. Finally i sharpen using a the highpass filter and setting the layer to overlay. Sometimes i will use the unsharp mask filter then using a mask, mask out everything except the eyes and lips so i dont over sharpen the skin. I usually spend 5 to 10 min doing editing. Trying to get the best light in camera is what im working on now.
Here's a quick google search I did: https://www.google.com/search?sugexp=chrome,mod=7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=free+lightroom+presets
Here are a few photos I used with Lightroom 4 presets (Like you, I shoot in raw, but I do all of my editing in LR)
This one is called Reno (I over use it!) It gives the photos a different look depending on exposure etc
I don't know which preset this one is, it might be the same as above actually
@agima has posted several wonderful videos and before and after type shots for explanations and help.
http://insidelightroom.com/?page_id=13
Here's one I spent a lot of time processing to get it to look old without just pressing the "old photo" effect. I'll copy the explanation in the next comment box.
Yes, LR is wonderful! You can download a 30 day free trial to make sure it is the software for you. I love it. The more I learn, the more I love!
Have fun if you choose to try either route!
square vase from ikea, soda water,
home made light box (behind the vase),
angle poise lamp on front for more light (it was getting dark!) camera on work surface in front of vase, cherries (of course)
settings- sports and multi shoot, which is why the ISO was so high.
I set the focus in manual.
Post shutter, tweak of levels in RAW processing, crop.
Clone (remove excess bubbles) in PSE.
Down side, the actual image was quite small so I plan to try again in full manual mode, and check other settings. : D
Thank you for sharing your "secrets" :)
This is my setup:
As you can see, I used no tripod, external flash, laser or something like that. I just used the internal flash, my paper bin and a few books :D
I use Lightroom 4, Nik Software, and Picmonkey for mine. For anyone into Lightroom, heres a link to some free presets thats I sometimes use.
http://www.presetsheaven.com/2010/12/08/28-free-lightroom-presets-from-chris/
I only shoot in RAW, then I do basic edits in LR...this I upped the exposure a wee bit, added a little fill light to take away the shadow on her face and brightened slightly. Then I take it into PS and do any fine editing. I cloned out the taps as I did not like the one coming out of her head and found them distracting.
I usually like to find a natural light source, if inside a window or door and I only shoot with my 50mm or 85mm prime lens wide open at a f/1.8 to 2.2. I do not ever use my on board flash (I can't wait to get a speedlight tho :) )
I still have a lot to learn but that is what I do :)
@zuzana thanks for the tag :)
Where do I start???? Have a look at some of my previous posts:
All of these have descriptions of the lighting that was used, but feel free to ask against any of the images and I would be more than happy to let you in on my little secrets...
What i prefer to do, is using natural light (sometimes i don't take a shot if the natural light is not that i want, and i wait for it to change)), i like small F number, i like backlighting...
As for editing, i'm not a master of it. I'm a big fan of lightroom-edited shots, but i dont have it and i dont know how to use it, just dreaming that someday i'll master it)))) Also, to my shame, i don't know any of PS...)))) so i edit only in some very simple programs, online or offline. Presets- usually i add light, or change Bw and make a shot "warmer".
I act the same as you - just press and look, until i'm satisfied))))
Btw, your original in the example shot is great by itself, even without any editing!!)))
As you suggested, tagging my followings for them to share their experience, knowledge and secrets of what they do))) :
@anden
@dlaudner
@juliakan
1. D90, 50mm 1.8, ISO 200, 1/2000, f/2.5
2. natural light only
3. Photoshop CS5
4. Shot in RAW. Opened in Photoshop. Duplicate layer from background. Adjust levels and curves (most important step for me). Duplicate layer from background. Patch tool for slight under-eye shadow, spot healing brush and healing brush tool to clean up skin a little.
Duplicate layer from background. Dodge tool at 5%, range - midtones on the iris to brighten it up a little. Burn tool at 5%, range - midtones on the lips to deepen the red lipstick and unify the colour.
Then I created a hue/saturation adjustment layer, and my setting were Hue 23, Saturation 50, check colourise. Changed the opacity of the layer to 20%. Created a new black and white adjustment layer. Used auto for the settings. Changed the opacity of the layer to 35%.
Also sharpened the image slightly. Created a duplicate layer of background. Change layer type to 'Overlay'. Then choose Filters > Other > High Pass > 2.0 pixels.
Simple as that!
I'm really not a big fan of doing too much editing. I like to use natural light in my photos and I feel the quality can be lost when over-processed.