Image Processing ⇒ birdsnack

[PietFrancke]

went back to an old favorite and put a different spin on it..

today's work below bringing out more light and detail. I think I overdid it, you can't ever tell till you put them next to each other - LOL

[minniev]

I like the new version. It's a more peaceful, mellow image, but at the same time has more detail and expression in the face. Whiskers are SO important to cats, it seems worthwhile to emphasize the detail.

[PietFrancke]

thanks Paula, further play... trying to paint atmosphere around her.

[PietFrancke]

and going one more level, I tried to reduce the contrast in the background, which moves birdsnack closer to us...

[PietFrancke]

and going one more level in... Now I am messing with curves. I used the eye dropper on the curves adjustment layer to select white. (I had pushed F8 to see the info). I did not pick pure white (255,255,255), but something that was very close. Then did the same for black (I picked something that was close to black, but not quite. And then I picked the middle eye dropper and selected something close to 128,128,128 (from the window).

I'm not sure how all this works, but an orange type cast went away and the resulting image appears stronger/crisper.

[Matt Quinn]

Piet, I vote for #3. Great fix on the eye. And the texture on the fur is very tactile. As for the info on the PS steps, it's Greek to me. Well, I know Greek, so it's Russian. Or Chinese. But thanks anyway.

I watched an Adobe intro video on PS, thinking that is the best and most sensible place for me to start. Like touring a NORAD control room. I will repeat it several times, and then several times more. Then go on to something specific. I'll keep you, Frank and Minnie posted. Thanks for your mini-tut and help. I have not given up. Matt

[PietFrancke]

Piet, I vote for #3. Great fix on the eye. And the texture on the fur is very tactile. As for the info on the PS steps, it's Greek to me. Well, I know Greek, so it's Russian. Or Chinese. But thanks anyway.

I watched an Adobe intro video on PS, thinking that is the best and most sensible place for me to start. Like touring a NORAD control room. I will repeat it several times, and then several times more. Then go on to something specific. I'll keep you, Frank and Minnie posted. Thanks for your mini-tut and help. I have not given up. Matt

LOL - thank you for the feedback, Number three has the most atmosphere, which perhaps makes the image work better than the detail present in the later versions. Mood Matters!

Edit - and Yes, like a mission control center. Do not be overwhelmed, just try little things, next thing you know it starts clicking.

[St3v3M]

Wow, I thought I liked the first until I saw the second. Isn't it amazing what a little light will do! S-

[Charles Haacker]

I opened all 5 in tabs as I customarily do. The 4 reworks are each different, all (so far as I am concerned) equally good, all exciting. I could not pick a single one as "better" than any other except from the original, which actually looks pretty good until you see what can be done with it. None look oversharpened, which is a common fault. This is why I so often dig back in the archives and rework old stuff; the tools and the skills get better over time. It's also a reason I have archives. I think that with the massive but relatively inexpensive drives we have today (I have a 4-TB that cost $100 bucks) there's no reason not to keep stuff. In my case all my older stuff is jpegs anyway so they are not huge files, yet so long as they are not overexposed they respond well to PP in Lightroom or Photoshop or both.