Results from a Retouching Contest

rdlugosz

Hi folks -

I recently participated in a Photoshop retouching "contest" on the "CameraPorn" blog (which is just a clever name... it's work safe!). Anyway, I thought people would be interested in seeing the detailed blog post I made on how I took an image from here:


To Here:


Anyway, links to both my process and the page where you can see/vote on 16 other approaches to retouching this photograph can be found on my blog: Photoshop Retouching Contest

Hopefully ppl find this to be interesting and helpful!!

saurora

Oh the powers of Photoshop!!! Some pretty diverse interpretations on one shot! Interesting link. I enjoyed seeing the variety in the group. I don't have time to read all this morning but will check it out later. I definitely preferred your version.

rdlugosz

saurora wrote:

Oh the powers of Photoshop!!! Some pretty diverse interpretations on one shot! Interesting link. I enjoyed seeing the variety in the group. I don't have time to read all this morning but will check it out later. I definitely preferred your version.

Thanks! Though I'm biased, I tend to prefer mine as well - I think it's got the right balance between a believable scene and something that can only exist in your imagination. A lot of the other takes on the scene either ended up being too harsh, too unreal, or too... well, just "too".

That said, everyone has their own vision & preferences - just my opinion based on what I tend to like.

gman33

That is AWESOME...will have to check out the link...thanks

Rock151

Very cool..Thanks for sharing

chuckinsocal

Very very nice!

I mentioned this once in jest, but I wonder if it would be cool if DGrin had a Photoshop Challenge of the Week or Month thing going.

Someone could post a photo, define the challenge, and those so inclined could have a go at it and post the results along with their story on how and why they did what they did.

I'm not a big fan of scoring or voting because, unfortunately, in my experience with such things, some people get hurt feelings, aren't mature enough to handle it well, and conflicts develop.

But, it might be something fun and educational to do.

Just a thought.

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

ChrisKraftPhoto

Chuck; I think that's a great idea. Remember the days of Photoshop battles? Those were fun!

Maybe not even have voting. Just a thread (maybe one a week) where others can fool around, share and just have fun PS' photos.

Anyone else interested in this?

rdlugosz

I think that's a cool idea and I'd likely participate when I've got time to do so.

Regarding "voting", I am not the biggest fan of it either. However, I can understand why people set it up that way - from a blogger or forum owner's perspective it's a great way to increase comments & involvement, which in turn increases readership, which in turn increases revenue.

It's not all about the benjamins, but that's a big part of it.

In general, I think the problem with "voting" is that everyone has their own tastes & there's not enough definition around what exactly you're trying to accomplish. Take this contest for example - my interpretation is more or less realistic yet very dramatic. However, other approaches are obviously heavily "digital" and not at all like a "real world scene"; still dramatic but in a different way... That doesn't make either one right or wrong, but certainly *different*.

You're trying to evaluate what's best: an apple or an orange?

ChrisKraftPhoto

I'd vote for 'orange'

BTW; nice job on the photo from up top.

rdlugosz

PSDude wrote:

I'd vote for 'orange'

BTW; nice job on the photo from up top.

To each his own, but I'd have to disagree. The apple is clearly the superior fruit in that you don't have a tough skin & segments inside to deal with. You can just pick up the apple and get to chowin'.

...hm, but I do really like those grapefruits though - but only if you sprinkle a little sugar on top!