I took some photos last week of a beautiful backlit wildflower. That was the quick and easy part. I am currently taking a photoshop class, so I have been busy editing everything. When I took the photo, I had split toning in mind. Sonel hosts a weekly split toning challenge and the theme this week was flowers. Here is my final image:
The “problem” with Photoshop is that you could muck around with a photo pretty much forever. I put problem in quotes because I am quite aware that is a user induced problem; the Photoshop program is also happy to sit idle on your machine.
But back to this image. I liked the photos I had taken of this flower, but I was wondering if I could get a more detailed result by creating an HDR image. So, I tried it and here is the result:
It is pretty, but I was really looking to bring out some detail in the center of the flower, so I considered this a partial success. I then shifted my focus back to split toning. I opened this HDR image in Bridge and converted it to greyscale. Then I looked at my split toning options. I decided to make the highlights red and the shadows yellow. I still was not completely happy with the center of the flower. So, I opened my photo as a smart object in Photoshop. Once I had done that, in the layers panel I clicked the make copy via smart object option. I did this because I knew that I could then take my copy back into Camera Raw, adjust the exposure for the center of the flower, and then go back into Photoshop. Then I made a mask and keep the center only of that version for my final version. Once I had the flower looking the way I wanted, I cropped and sharpened the image.
That’s a lot of editing for a flower. More than I really was thinking when I took the photo. How about you, have you ever gone overboard with your editing? What do you think of my final images? do you prefer one over the other? questions about my editing? Your comments are welcome below.
I like the first one.
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Thanks, that’s my favorite too.
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Best to have an idea of how you would like it to turn out and then process accordingly. Otherwise you’ll go mad with all the available options in photoshop.
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I agree, sometimes I think it’s best to proceed with blinders on.
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I totally agree with photoshop…you could spend hours on just one photo and not even realize it☺
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🙂 So, you know exactly what I am talking about here!
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Well done!!
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Thanks 🙂
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PJB I’ve found the realms of Photoshop are …. infinite …
Sometimes I get totally side tracked .. absorbed .. faff about … then in the end prefer the original !
But I do love to have the option 😉
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I agree, I have found myself sometimes at the end of the journey right back where I started. That’s when you have to pull out the out the old, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey” saying 🙂
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Wow PJB! I really love both of them. The one is just more beautiful than the other. Really! 😀
Great shot as well hon and I love how you explained everything. Great job! Thanks for taking part and for sharing. 😀 *big hugs*
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Thank you so much for setting the challenge 🙂
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You are very welcome Amy. 😀 *hugs*
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🙂
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Reblogged this on Sonel's Corner Split-Toning Photo Challenge.
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Pingback: Split-Toning Weekly Photo Challenge : Boats | Sonel's Corner Split-Toning Photo Challenge
I really like the first image.
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Thanks!
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Both are fantastic but I’m partial to the second. The colors are so pretty. I’m having f stop trouble, I thought I had that conquered but after looking at my pictures from today, I have a ways to go yet.
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Thank you. It is an image that I will probably work with some more. I guess the color version is just not quite what I had in mind, so I’ll probably try again. F-stop settings can change an image in pretty powerful ways, and sometimes it can be a bit tough to really get what you are after. It’s all part of the challenge of photography 🙂
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Yes, I spend way too much time in Photoshop. Currently I’m taking a class and learning tricks of editing in Camera Raw, which I like a lot.
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Wow, really a whole class in Camera Raw? that sounds interesting.
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I have the same kind of problems with photo imaging. It’s hard to know when to stop. I like both your images – the top one is the strongest I think.
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Thanks, it can be quite tough to know when to call it quits 🙂
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