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Photo processing

The first photo here is straight out of the camera.  As you can see it is underexposed and needs some work.  The second photo is the finished piece of art.  At least I think it is art, anyways! :)

 

I use Photoshop Elements 4.0 to process my photos.  It isn't the most robust program that you can use, but it is more complicated than the free software out in cyberland (i.e. Picasa).  There is a learning curve, but there are so many forums on the web that you can jump some of those hurdles by just asking questions.

 

My basic process:  Lighten the photo in curves, add a soft light layer/adjust opacity to taste, add a color burn layer/adjust opacity to taste, unsharp mask, tilt photo and crop. 

 

Editing a photo is akin to making a time-worn recipe.  You know all the steps and just make adjustments to bring out the flavors you want that day.
COMMENTS
Mthorne said at 11:39 a.m. on Nov 30, 2006:
Thanks for the tips - great tabblo!!
StacyCK said at 10:24 p.m. on Nov 30, 2006:
Glad to help!
Marcif said at 8:04 p.m. on Jan 20, 2007:
A wonderful photo made perfect and magical! Thanks for sharing your technique.
Engelgrafik said at 12:28 a.m. on Feb 13, 2007:
StacyCK, I really like your style. I have a few questions: 1) I really like the way your photos appear a tiny bit overexposed...it's a really nice effect. Do you intend this? It's a great style. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's your monitor or my monitor or what. But I like it. 2) have you thought about adjusting exposure compensation in your camera so you don't have to do so much editing in Photoshop? I used to like Photoshop but now I try to avoid it and spend more time photographing! heheh.
Engelgrafik said at 12:29 a.m. on Feb 13, 2007:
BTW, nice Tabblo... it's nice to see the process one takes in creating the end result.
StacyCK said at 9:42 a.m. on Feb 13, 2007:
Jeff, first off Thanks! You've got a great style, too.

To answer your questions...I didn't intend my photos to be underexposed, it has more been just learning my camera. My LCD screen on my D50 has a habit of showing the picture properly exposed but then I load it on my computer and it is underexposed...so off to Photoshop I go!

My pictures lately have required minimal tweaking in Photoshop (generally just a defog and bump in curves)...I still like to bump up the exposure a little without producing hot spots. I guess I just like that brighter look! :)

I am trying to keep my time on the computer to a minimum,too...I do still like to play with effects sometimes though...if I'm bored.
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