whatta save...before and after

cdonovan

Before...a shot at a show last fall, beautiful beautiful mare, but my want for the ears up and disregard for the settings made this happen:rolleyes I have been taking a photoshop course, learning some new stuff and saved it...
It's shot at a 1600ISO I think I did pretty good...what about you guys!?!?
C&C please!:D


and after

DavidTO

I think that if you're looking for advice on how to save that shot, you should post it in Finishing School, so you can get help from ALL of the PS experts, not just the Nature and Wildlife ones.

Dick on Aruba

Good work, the "after" pic is just great but a bit too dark for my taste.

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

ShepsMom

I never thought of using such high ISO, what is the purpose, can you explain? I might try it if i knew what it would do . Horsy is a little dark. Good try and keep on snapping!!

cdonovan

I use a high iso because of the lighting conditions in the arena where I work.

Conditions include Horrid fluorescent lights, and open sides that so nicely include harsh back light...the one way that's the "best" angle for shooting has a lovely set of bleachers behind

High ISO is because under the cover of the arena roof it's really dark a high iso is used in lower light conditions...really did you not know why to use a higher iso, or did you question why I would need to use the higher iso....I am a little confused at your question


David, maybe I wasn't clear, this is the after of the before, I wasn't looking for help on how to save the photo in it's original state, I learned some new stuff and applied it to a picture that I should probably have thrown in my recycle bin, but just couldn't bring myself to do it!

Thanks Dick I find it dark too, but was blowing out details and really showing the grain when I tried to lighten it!

: I was kind of happy with my results guys!!

Zanotti

ShepsMom

cdonovan wrote:

I use a high iso because of the lighting conditions in the arena where I work.

Conditions include Horrid fluorescent lights, and open sides that so nicely include harsh back light...the one way that's the "best" angle for shooting has a lovely set of bleachers behind

High ISO is because under the cover of the arena roof it's really dark a high iso is used in lower light conditions...really did you not know why to use a higher iso, or did you question why I would need to use the higher iso....I am a little confused at your question
: I was kind of happy with my results guys!!

No pouting!! :nono I was wondering in your case about high ISO, i know that it needs bump in low light, i was just saying that i've never used it that high. We do come here with good pictures and bad pictures. We're not trying to be mean It's your prespective and preferences on how you see your own work. I post pictures that i don't consider good at all, and i don't expect everyone like them, and i'm greatful for any critique i can get, bad or good, that's the only way i can learn. So, cheer up and post some more!!

CookieS

I shoot a horse show in a covered arena, i always have to shoot on ISO 1600 as no flash is wanted when the kids are jumping poines I do NOT want to spook them . i think its a nice save, I think if you ran a denoise program first and then did some paint with light to lighten lights and darkend you blacks or even a duplicate layer with soft blur and soft light mode, reduce opacity , it could even be improved upon, be :"richer in depth" . buts thats in later photoshop courses I think you did a great job at the back ground change .

DavidTO

cdonovan wrote:

David, maybe I wasn't clear, this is the after of the before, I wasn't looking for help on how to save the photo in it's original state, I learned some new stuff and applied it to a picture that I should probably have thrown in my recycle bin, but just couldn't bring myself to do it!

I'm saying you missed the mark in your processing, but there is still hope for that shot, and you can get a lot of really good help in Finishing School to make that shot very nice.

cdonovan

DavidTO wrote:

I'm saying you missed the mark in your processing, but there is still hope for that shot, and you can get a lot of really good help in Finishing School to make that shot very nice.

:cry Sorry was a tad emotional I think and flew right off the handle!
Very Sorry to come across like a b$*%^


Here's my second attempt, I'll return to the other and see what I can do lighten up...me and the photo!!!



Here's the after!

ShepsMom

I like these 2 shots. Both color and B&W, the lighting seems much better and clearer, not grainy at all. On the first, horse just pops out with nice DOF. And the last one very soft and clear. Great job!!

cdonovan

Thank you Sheps Mom!:D

sskoutas

I guess I'm going to go against the majority here and say that I like both of your "after" images as you have originally posted them. I will also say that I do tend to prefer a darker image sometimes, and I'm a huge fan on B&W's that have a lot of black.

That said I think there's certainly enough detail in your first image to lighten it with no ill effects using a simple levels layer. Furthermore, the "tweaked" image that results, IMHO, looks fantastic in sepia. I did all of this on my end with your image just to see what it would look like... it's pretty cool.

Bottom line, I like both images and respect your choices in post-processing.

cdonovan

sskoutas wrote:

I guess I'm going to go against the majority here and say that I like both of your "after" images as you have originally posted them. I will also say that I do tend to prefer a darker image sometimes, and I'm a huge fan on B&W's that have a lot of black.

That said I think there's certainly enough detail in your first image to lighten it with no ill effects using a simple levels layer. Furthermore, the "tweaked" image that results, IMHO, looks fantastic in sepia. I did all of this on my end with your image just to see what it would look like... it's pretty cool.

Bottom line, I like both images and respect your choices in post-processing.

Well thank you I appreciate your comments, and would be interested in seeing your take on that photo. I haven't had a chance to get back to it yet, but certainly will when time allows!
My Course instructor was quite pleased with it, so that was certainly most important to me!!!

sskoutas

cdonovan wrote:

Well thank you I appreciate your comments, and would be interested in seeing your take on that photo. I haven't had a chance to get back to it yet, but certainly will when time allows!
My Course instructor was quite pleased with it, so that was certainly most important to me!!!

Well, based on the tweaks I mentioned above, here's what I came up with. If you want it removed, just say the word!