Images Of Autumn

[daltoned]

Would welcome any edits on this image and how it might be improved and how done,

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/daltone_bucket/ETD_2636.jpg

photo as shot, straight from camera , only resized for photobucket.

Many Thanks

[coffee]

Here is my go at it.

first I created 3 images from the original with different exposures to merge in HDR. Then I did some noise reduction. Adjusted vibrance, saturation, levels. I then applied the Orton Affect and adjusted the opacity of the new layers. I also readjusted the levels and lowed the saturation. And finally I painted in some highlights and shadows to bring some new light on the trees, and created a more obvious walking path into the woods. I also wanted to crop this image but lost a lot of detail trying this so I didn't.

[kinetic]

Nice work on this one Joseph, I like how you have brought the path into play and how it now leads you in to the shot.
Nice shot Eddie and I am sure you will agree nicely enhanced by Joseph.

[daltoned]

What can I say, thank you Joseph for your time and the result is just amazing. It brings rich colour and life to the image, thanks also for explaining the processes used. As Mark has added "Nice Work".

Regards
Eddie

[mvandenburg]

Wow! Joseph, your PP skills are amazing! I also tried to do something with this just for practice, but with my limited skills and not having the full image I could not get a good quality with the crop I wanted and gave up.

What were the different exposure levels you used? I would really like to try HDR but have yet to get to it.

[coffee]

HI Mike, and thanks for the nice remarks. I'm not exactly sure what exposure levels the images were to tell you the truth. I took the original and exposed it to a more proper level, then made 2 other copies. I would guess the other two were probably close to +/-2 stops or so. That's seems to be what most people use when merging to HDR. I'm still new at HDR also and have a lot to learn, but it's fun and rewarding when it comes together well. Take care and thanks again.

[Pat]

Hi Eddie.
The steps I went through with the first one are:

Increased the light and saturation.
Selected the blue sky areas in the trees and filled them with the native photoshop grass pattern.
Cloned out the bright patch in the leaves on the left side.
Darkened the whole image a bit.
Applied a golden glow to the center light spot with an overlay blend mode.
Applied a fancy 3 pixel black border.


The second was the same as the first with an additional application of Alien Skin's Snap Art in Oil Paint mode. Blend set to multiply and opacity reduced to 68% to bring back some detail.

[daltoned]

Thanks Pat for taking time to edit my image. The art version is interesting and something I've never done. Have to admit, that with your edit and that of Joseph and the details listed, I have a lot to learn in the area of postprocessing.
Kind Regards

[Pat]

You're welcome, Eddie. Thank you for posting it.
One thing to keep in mind with pp is that' as far as I'm concerned, there are really only three or four basic skills you need aquire (and they're easy) to improve a photograph. These would entail adjustments to colour saturation, sharpness, contrast, and cropping. The rest is candy. Fun, but not entirely necessary.
Also, if you have photoshop, for me there is quite a bit in the program that I never use. And there is often a number of different ways you can go about to achieve the same or a similar result. It is a steep learning curve, but the basics (what you need to know to improve photos) are fairly easy.
And I should mention that Alien Sin Snap Art is a Photoshop plugin.

[daltoned]

Thanks Pat, I have been using Elements6 for awhile now and have just downloaded the trial version Elements 8 which has some useful features, so will probably purchase the full licence. Have taken note of the four basics you mentioned and will stay focused (no pun intended) on these 4 PP's.

Regards

[DoctorJazz]

Just to throw in another edit......this is my attempt to emphasize the path
by tweaking contrast, clarity, detail, and color saturation in Lightroom2 and
then using some painting affects on the trees above to add a dreamy quality.
You can decide if it is a good or bad dream!

[daltoned]

Thanks Doctor Jazz, another interesting edit on my image. It appears to be on the lines of the orton effect which makes for a very soft feathery image, again thanks to all for the different edits and processes used.

Regards

[DoctorJazz]

Eddie,

I edited my edit.....not sure if you saw the final post.
Just adjusted contrast and brightness a bit.

[daltoned]

Yes, thanks Dr.Jazz for taking time to Edit the image. Some very interesting edits, again Thanks to all for the different edits.

[Padenjason]

Very nice. I like it!

[jomanros]

Here are my 4 versions of your "Images of Autumn"...:)

[jomanros]

This Orton Effect is wonderful! Nice work Joseph!:)

[StephenK]

And there is often a number of different ways you can go about to achieve the same or a similar result.

Pat is correct Eddie :^) I've been doing most all my edits lately almost strictly through the use of channels created masks! I'm down to using almost no tools
for the time being... Just masks and blending modes for over 85 percent of the work... Right now I'm doing this strictly to
familiarize myself with the process.

You may want to look seriously into springing for photoshop since Elements doesn't allow for Channels access... for me, these
channels are quickly becoming the holy grail of quick and yet intensely effective edits!

With your photo as an example. I grabbed the red channel and used it as a mask for a Hue and Saturation layer.
After inverting the red channels mask I upped the saturation to +73 and that was it!

Using the red channels mask allowed for a deep and effective edit in a way that the "straight" use of adjustment layers have a hard time duplicating.

I'm posting both the finished image and a copy of my layers work flow to demonstrate how basic this is.

I also added a 50% gray layer set to overlay for some selective dodging and burning (this is about the only way I dodge and burn anymore!)

[solo1]

another version