Congratulations Kayaker72---Assignment #65: "Before and After"

[Kayaker72]

On behalf of conropl, I would like to present the finalists for Assignment #65: Before and After.

The topics as described by conropl:

For this assignment I would like to see Before and After shots. The After shots should demonstrate a technique or process that transformed a plain dull shot into something extraordinary. This can be the first shot was dull so you changed the lighting, composition, or concept to really make it come to life; or perhaps you extended the exposure time to create a completely different effect than you expected or started out with; or perhaps the post processing really brought it to life (B&W, HDR, etc.). You are free to interpret as you wish, and the after effect can be done in camera or in post processing.

Knowing you folks, I am pretty sure I can learn a thing or two with this assignment, and I thank you in advance.:)

The Finalists:

A lot of good entries and I do not quite feel right about leaving some really good shots out. But I had to choose, so here are my picks:

jerrytech1 (brownnnBW) - I like the B&W processing, but the crop and cloning helped a lot as well. The "after" has a totally different feel to it.
Before:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2940/14343936375_1d0b13a7bf_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nRwqxR)

After:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5037/14157279629_2c35f2c2e1_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nz2L16)


dd0725 (Digitally Painted Cardinal with Canvas Texture) - Denise had a lot of really good examples, but the cardinal "after" version took a rather ordinary shot with a bird that was to small to do anything with it (or that is what I would have thought) and transformed it to something that could easily hang on a wall. I was amazed at what Denise could do with what I thought was a throw away shot. Denise - you make my post processing look like child's play.

Before:
http://community.the-digital-picture.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2217&d=1402011415 (http://community.the-digital-picture.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2217&d=1402011415)


After:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/14354695334_7397b250c7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nStyP9)

M_Six (Pseudo HDR) - This went from a tourists snap shot to a nice travel landscape. The shot looks so much better with the people removed, the perspective & crop adjusted, and the water looks so much better. The overall feel is much improved.

Before:
http://bimmermail.com/banda/baths08-sm-b4.jpg

After:
http://bimmermail.com/banda/baths08-sm.jpg

Kayaker72 (Horseshoe Bend) - I was amazed at what you pulled out of the shadows in this one... and at the same time, you managed to tame the highlights that were a little blow around the sun. This was an eye opener for me at how far you can go in post processing. Great finished image.

Before:

http://community.the-digital-picture.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2238&d=1404090392

After:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14352188359_8c2b2cbe63_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nSfHzr)


Good luck!

[Busted Knuckles]

I vote for Denise - she has had some very interesting production improvements :)

[jerrytech1]

Before:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2940/14343936375_1d0b13a7bf_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nRwqxR)brown (https://flic.kr/p/nRwqxR) by jerrytech1 (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

After: Cropped, removed leash and added Topaz BW Filterhttps://farm6.staticflickr.com/5037/14157279629_2c35f2c2e1_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nz2L16)brownnnBW (https://flic.kr/p/nz2L16)
by jerrytech1 (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[Jayson]

This is not my entry. It may not be the best photo, but it shows good before and after. First is SOC. Second I processed in LR using Curves and bringing out a little color, then moved to PS and used LAB color effect.
http://www.alderimages.com/img/s10/v102/p782738641-4.jpg

http://www.alderimages.com/img/s8/v81/p1597432198-4.jpg (http://www.alderimages.com/landscape/e5f36e186)

There are a couple landscapes so I may look for a portrait to enter.

[ddt0725]

I vote for Denise - she has had some very interesting production improvements :) lol! Thanks for the vote! Guess I will have to find one to enter to make the vote legit ...once I ever figure out how to add photos from the new flickr!

[DavidEccleston]

re: new flickr...

On the strip of meaningless icons, click on the box with the arrow coming out of it (sharing).
Click BBCode.
Click the size dropdown and pick a good size. I still use 800, since it's an option, even though the forum is slightly wider now.
Copy the generated snippet of code and paste into a reply.
Once here, if you want to preview what it looks like, after putting in your BBCode, hit the 'Go Advanced' button, you'll see your image.
If you need to edit, after editing click preview post and you'll see the new version.

[conropl]

...once I ever figure out how to add photos from the new flickr!



When you are viewing a picture in flickr, there is a string on thumb nails to the right of the picture, and right below that is a series of symbols (and below those are the comments on your photos).
One of those symbols under the thumb nails is a box with an arrow pointing up through the upper right corner . That symbol is for sharing... click on it.
Then click "BBCode" under all the social media sites symbols.
Now pick the size.
Copy and paste the code.


Edit: Opps... looks like David beat me to it while I was typing (I am a slow typer)

[ddt0725]

Thank you , David & Pat! I thought that was what I tried earlier this morning but I was getting an error message. I will try again ...obviously, I was doing something wrong.

[ddt0725]

Ok, here is one I did not too long ago. I just started learning how to paint digitally and this is one of the first one's that I attempted to practice on. Since I had just started learning how to use a Wacom tablet and digitally paint, I was pretty pleased with the result.

Off-duty K9 officer (and fellow Packer fan) ...

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/14345532311_7004281832_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nREAXZ)Before & After Digital Painting (https://flic.kr/p/nREAXZ) by Denise Trocio (D Trocio Photography) (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[ddt0725]

Ok, so I love this assignment topic!

BEFORE:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3902/14370025983_bd9d34647a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nTQ95F)
IMG_9289_Before Editing (https://flic.kr/p/nTQ95F) by Denise Trocio (D Trocio Photography) (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

AFTER:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3826/14311030473_ef98542d69_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nNBLLH)
Ahoy, Mates! (https://flic.kr/p/nNBLLH) by Denise Trocio (D Trocio Photography) (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[Joel Eade]

I have to give this a shot although I don't have the artistic flare of Denise....

BEFORE
http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio.com/img/s6/v140/p322543876-5.jpg

AFTER
http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio.com/img/s12/v175/p359519693-5.jpg

[ddt0725]

Fantastic before shot, Joel and the after is such a wonderful transformation!

Here is a shot I took of a cardinal from my bedroom window on a very dark and dreary morning. I couldn't pass it up since it was rare to get a clear shot ...

2217

and after a lot of tweaking, digital painting and applying a canvas texture...

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/14354695334_7397b250c7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nStyP9)
Digitally Painted Cardinal with Canvas Texture (https://flic.kr/p/nStyP9) by Denise Trocio (D Trocio Photography) (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[Busted Knuckles]

HA! Told you i told you i would vote for denise :)

[ddt0725]

There are some pretty terrific entries already and there are three weeks left for many, many more entries from other members! Only thing I might win at is taking the best messed up BEFORE shot! LOL! I hope I'm not giving the impression that all my originals are this bad ...I just don't believe in throwing anything away that has the slightest hint of possibility!

[Joel Eade]

I agree....I don't think I can keep up but I tried one more tonight:

BEFORE
http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v26/p401238590-5.jpg

AFTER
http://joeleadephotography.zenfolio.com/img/s6/v150/p617405827-5.jpg

[ddt0725]

That beats anything I have ever done ...Fantastic, Joel!!

[Busted Knuckles]

Just having fun ;) you are right there is a pretty good crop of photographers that post to this website, I just wish I could join them

[Poik]

Really good entries so far. I have one I think will be great for this assignment that I took last week! I need to make sure I have permission to post the photo online first though.

[Jayson]

Since most of the entries are landscape and I don't think mine compares to some of the others, I am going to try a different before and after. This photo is a combination of 7 different focus points on this ugly guy. My creative post processing is focus stacking.

Before:

http://www.alderimages.com/img/s6/v143/p8477487-5.jpg

After:

http://www.alderimages.com/img/s6/v137/p681424965-5.jpg (http://www.alderimages.com/macro/e289db845)

[DSLR_Newbie]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3926/14441611925_a83b072678_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/o1a364)Before (https://flic.kr/p/o1a364) by DSLR Newbie (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3908/14438117411_0f2109e1b1_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nZR8hP)After (https://flic.kr/p/nZR8hP) by DSLR Newbie (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[Poik]

Ok, so I needed a cover photo for my master's thesis report. It needed to look good both in color and black and white for printing purposes. I wanted the photo to really capture the reader's attention, with focus on the vehicle and not the background, so I shot at f2.8. I also wanted the photo to show the behavior of the vehicle, so the vertical trees in the background really give a good reference to the roll angle of the body to show the vehicle is cornering. Basically I just took the saturation of the green and yellow channels to -100. I usually try to never do any local adjustments, but I did in this photo because the ramp in the background was distracting.

Before:
http://www.eric-o.com/flickr/cover-original.jpg

After:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3905/14257403600_7f32099899_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nHSVns)Magic Tires (https://flic.kr/p/nHSVns) by Poik242 (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[M_Six]

Pseudo-HDR (HDR from one shot), perspective corrections, some cropping, removal of people and signs.

Before

http://bimmermail.com/banda/baths08-sm-b4.jpg

After

http://bimmermail.com/banda/baths08-sm.jpg

[Kayaker72]

Last weekend to enter!

[neuroanatomist]

A rather uninspiring shot of Boston Light on a hot afternoon at 4 pm...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7423/9819295435_df9c2e1f69_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_brain/9819295435/in/set-72157636287412603/lightbox/)

...made a little more interesting:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/9819295725_189095dd40_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_brain/9819295725/in/set-72157636287412603/lightbox/)

Thanks for looking!

[Kayaker72]

This Horseshoe Bend just outside of Page, Arizona.

Taken with a Canon 5DIII and a Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 UMC 1/40th, ISO 100. I believe the aperture was f/8.

I tried taking multiple exposures to combine in post. But, I liked the end results of modifying a single image the best (so far).

Before:

2238


After:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14352188359_8c2b2cbe63_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nSfHzr)Small-8114 (https://flic.kr/p/nSfHzr) by kayaker72 (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

Thanks for viewing...Brant

[conropl]

I am glad this is not a weekly assignment... I do not have to pick a winner. I just have to narrow it down to five or so (which is going to be hard enough), but you all have to choose a winner out of all the excellent examples. :)

Keep them coming.

Edit: Opps... I see the entry period has ended (June 29th). I will try to figure out who the finalist will be. This is not going to be easy.

Brant - Sorry I did not wait for your "official" announcement of the end of the assignment. I hope you do not mind.

Pat

[Kayaker72]

No problem.....I should have said something on Monday......

[Kayaker72]

Congratulations to the finalists...the poll is now open!

[Kayaker72]

Voting ends Sunday!

[conropl]

It looks like Brant is to humble to announce his own win. So I will.:)

Congratulation Brant (Kayaker72). Well done and a good example of what you can pull out of the shadows of a RAW file.

Pat

[Kayaker72]

;-). Probably more shocked than anything else.

But thanks.

[M_Six]

Well done, Brant. Great shot.