Welcome to the 17th week of Shoot and Edit: Part 2. Click HERE for all the details and upcoming prompts/themes (also including previous editing tutorials).
This week's theme or prompt was to show us one "Growth" SOOC shot (this was just a suggestion, you can show us any SOOC shot). Hopefully you linked up with Jill's blog earlier this week.
Each Thursday, I will take my SOOC shot and provide some basic editing tips (I will try to keep it basic and work my way up). You can then try these tips on your own photos and link up here - linky will now open EARLY on Thursdays and be open THROUGH SUNDAY. If you'd prefer, can simply share your own edit and show us what you did to achieve the look. We want this challenge to be a learning experience, so feel free to teach us something new too! Also, it does not matter what editing program you use. Although I tend to work within Adobe CS5 (Photoshop), Photoshop Elements and Adobe Camera Raw...it does not mean that you have to use the exact same program. I hope you'll be able to take the concepts and apply them in the program you feel most comfortable using.
Once again, here is my SOOC shot:
I tried really hard this week to teach a new lesson this week...maybe talk about gradient maps or something of that nature. However, when I started working with the image, it really needed little more than a few subtle processing adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).
Considering what we learned in last week's lesson, I opened my photo in ACR and started working within the tabs (advanced feature for ACR attached to CS5) to make adjustments - no presets, just using my eye to adjust the image to my liking. I did not make screen shots of my edit this week - mostly because this is a review of last week. Again, if you missed last week's lesson, CLICK HERE. Here's my ACR edit:
If you're working in Photoshop Elements, you may not have the same advanced features that I have...but, you can still go into Elements and work with your curves and levels to get a nice clean edit!
Like I mentioned earlier, once I opened the image in Photoshop, I was really hoping to do something different for the sake of the tutorial. At this point in the game though, I think we're all finding that nothing beats a clean processing. With that said, I made a few small enhancements beyond the ACR edit:
- Duplicate layer - Reduce Noise - Merge Layers
- Duplicate layer - High Pass Filter - Soft Light Blending Mode
- Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer - brightness (12)/contrast (6) - Merge Layers
- Duplicate Layer - Soft Light blending mode at 20% opacity
- Duplicate Layer - Screen blending mode at 20% opacity just on main focal point (using layer mask)
- Merge Layers - Watermark - Resize - Sharpen
I hope you all have a great Thursday and I look forward to seeing your edits!
40 comments:
Brilliant!! :) Thanks so much... I need to get that program. I just have Photoshop right now.
Beautiful edit Ashley! Love it!
What nice edits. I love them! You could make an entire book of your pretty flowers to keep them all in one spot. Gorgeous!
Simply beautiful, Ashley!
what a beautiful edit ashley! well done!
Looks great Ashley. I am loving this ACR. It makes editing sooo easy. I need to go back to the old tutorials to learn more. :)
that is a neat shot to begin with and the edit really brightened it up. Creative eye!
Love your theme this week!
Beautiful job! I want a macro lens *sigh*
Beautifully done, Ashley. Must get my act together and take some pictures this week. I missed linking up with y'all!
Very cool!
Sometimes clean and simple is the best! :D
Like how bright it is now, the middle really stand out.
Wow! Stunning :)
OK, so I actually USED ACR this week, only I wasn't so brave as to do it Preset free. Baby steps :) You are a macro shot goddess, you know that? Beautiful edits. See, you're making me all learn stuff and stuff :P
Love this edit, really makes it stand out and pop!!
My favorite is the ACR. Very nice job.
That looks great. I need to look back at your previous lessons :)
I saw your comment and wanted to comment back :) I discovered this morning that if I open a RAW file or a JPEG I already opened in ACR, then ACR will automatically open even if I'm in CS4...BUT if I try to open a new JPEG (not previously opened in ACR) then I have to use Adobe Bridge. The only annoying thing is once a JPEG is opened in ACR, it keeps trying to open it in ACR even if I want to see it in CS4. I ended up having to resave the image as a .psd before I could open it in CS4 after opening in ACR. Ah the things I learn!
Thank you so much for sharing all this wonderful information. I haven't had time to participate but in the near future I intend to revist all your posts & learn learn learn Thank you
wow!!! it's just stunning! nicely done!
What an amazing edit. Good job.
Just beautiful! I love the green!!
I learn so much from each of these posts - THANK you!
Wow!! Big difference and very nice!
Oh that's lovely Ashley. I'm not sure when I'm going to get doing a blog post and linking in my edit - my parents have arrived here and I haven't seen them for 11 months.
That is a beautiful shot. The lessons are a great idea...
Brilliant once again!
I love you edit. Very pretty. :)
Marla @ www.blueskiesphotoblog.com
I love this photo and your edit! I also love what you said about camping on my post. Haha! I don't think it would be too much better in a camper either.
I love how much your edit really makes the buds pop. The greens are vibrant without being over the top, and I love that about your style.
So pretty!! :D
Really beautiful edit!
beautiful shot and edits ashley.
Outstanding edit. Your Photoshop skill are amazing.
WOW, gorgeous!
Tiffany
Wonderful edit, Ashley!
As always,m thank you for sharing your steps. :)
You're right... I love a clean edit! And this one looks fantastic!
Great edit, Ashley!
Wow, what a great edit. I am hoping to revisit all of your past posts on edits and learn how to apply them to just PSE. Thanks for all the work you put into these posts.
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