We have had a lot of crummy winter weather here. I’m ready for Spring, but while I’m waiting I have been taking photos of the snow. Droplets is the theme at Sonel’s Photo-Editing Challenge this week, so I was working with this photo this morning:
ISO 160 50mm 0ev f/5 1/500
I took this photo back in December and at that time used Photomatix to make it into an HDR image. The great thing about HDR photography, is the detail it brings out. This can also be it’s downfall. In the image above, I really wanted all the detail of the berries, but the background was cluttered. Bringing more attention to the berries also accentuated all the details in the background which detracted from the photograph. So, once I had created my HDR version, I opened it in Photoshop and duplicated the layer. To the newly created layer, I added a black and white adjustment layer. Because I wanted the berry to still have it’s color, I used the mask that came with the layer, and painted black over where I wanted the color back in the image.
I still wasn’t crazy about the result, the black and white was too flat and cold. So, I put my layer that had some color still in it on top of the black and white adjustment and changed the blending mode to luminosity. Here is a screen shot of what my layers panel looks like for this image:
A screenshot of the layers panel.
This last step warmed up the image just a bit, which I think it needed.
So, another day of snow, ice, and rain here. Hope it is nicer where you are! What do you think of my edited photo? Your comments are welcome below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
Love the ice around it 🙂 I keep forgetting to do the challenge, wonder if I can just use my iPad apps like I do for my photos hmmm..
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Thanks. I think this photo challenge is pretty open to any kind of editing as long as you are willing to talk about your process, which for someone like me is perfect because sometimes it is hard to get me to stop talking about my process 🙂
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Interesting! I don’t have Photoshop so I can’t do these effects. I need to experiment more!
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If you are looking for a free editing program to give a try, maybe consider GIMP, http://www.gimp.org 🙂
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Great! I’ll check it out!
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🙂
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Love your photo, Amy. Stay warm. 🙂
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Thanks and I am trying 🙂
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Love that splash of red amidst the snow. Lovely.
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Thanks, I was really interested in bringing out that red and the details in the berries 🙂
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Awesome capture and wonderful processing!
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Thanks 🙂
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Such a beautiful shot Amy, though I would have loved to see what the original looked like before you edited it. 😉
Thanks for taking part and for sharing. 😀
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I know, sorry about that! I went to write this up after I finished my editing and found that I had not saved any of the original images. I couldn’t believe that, I “always” save at least one original, usually in a RAW format. Bad practice on my part. I did like the edit though, so I went ahead and published the post.
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Now that was so naughty of you, but no problem. I will cancel the contract with the assassin then. LOL!
Thanks for your lovely entry. 😀
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Whew… that was a close one 🙂 Sorry to bend the rules of your challenge a bit, but I liked the photo enough to go ahead and do that. You weren’t the only one to call me out on it, which is actually kind of nice, just renforces the idea that I should have good workflow practices, even when it seems no one is watching 🙂
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Whahahaha! No problem at all hon and don’t worry about it and I am glad you did because it’s an excellent shot and edit. Glad to know I am not the only one and I am sure from now on you will remember to save the original. LOL! It sure does takes up lot of space on the hard drive to do it that way but I’ve learned from my mistakes as well. What I always do is to create a folder in the one that I am working on and call it ‘Resized’ or ‘Edited’ and then I save it there and leave the originals right where it is and of course, after a while I do DVD backups and put the ones on DVD on another drive that I call Storeage. Lots of work, but worth it. 😀
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Yes, I do have a system, all I have to do now is use it all the time 🙂 Usually in a case like this, I took a bunch of shots, so I do tend to get rid of a lot. So, after I edit a photo like this, I go back and save the RAW version, and throw away any other versions that I didn’t like. That way, I have an edited version but also an original that I could revisit if I want too. I store all my photos in Aperture and also on an external hard drive. It is a few steps worth of work, but I agree with you, it is worth it:)
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Us and our systems. LOL! Makes more work but it’s organized and definitely worth the effort. 😀
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I’ve got a system for everything 🙂
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hehe. So glad to hear I am not the only one. 😀
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🙂
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Fabulous image; just beautiful. It makes me think of February days in England and long walks in the Chilterns.
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Excellent, that was just the type of feeling I was trying to evoke with this image, so thanks for saying so 🙂
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This is very nice.
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Thanks 🙂
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Frozen in time – a burst of red in an icy winter. Beautiful, Amy.
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Yes, and ice we have in abundance this winter 🙂 This is just an attempt to actually appreciate that 🙂
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I think you did well with it but would have like to see the shot you started with for comparison! Here’s to spring 🙂
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Tina, you are right to call me out on that, and would you believe that I deleted the original? I know, bad practice on my part, and I almost never do that 🙂
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well when I first looked real quick like at the berries, I saw a heart! Maybe I just had V-day on the brain – but I am glad that you added the red color back in – and like the soft green in the back leaf – it works so well with that deep red. 🙂
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Yes, as I was editing this, there was a version without the green added in and that just looked a bit odd 🙂
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You did a good job with the red foreground and some some soft green in the background.
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Thanks 🙂
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