First attempt at editing

[mikergj]

I found a link on hear about giving your pics a bit of a punch, If I remember right some one was complaining that his pics came out better on his compact compared to his dslr. Any way, I found a link that explained levels & curves ,so I have had a little go. I am using Gimp as I am a complete beginner and its free.

Here is one of the first pics I took with new camera.

And here is the edited version, I think it looks loads better, but would appreciate some of your views. Have I over done it or is there any thing else I can do with this. With the curves tool the link I read said to move the straight line to a slight s shape, so that is all I have basically done. And moved the levels into the centre slightly.

Thanks for looking

 

[Ady N]

There's giving them a punch and there's thwacking the living daylights out of them.................:thumbsdown:

 

[mikergj]

I must say Ady thats bought a smile to my face, I guess I have over done it then. I wont go so mad next time, think I need to go to opticians. Thanks for the comment.

 

[birdy961]

Certainly too much

Have given it a quick tweak in DPP as thats all i have with me
With the large file there is plenty of scope for more

 

[chphoto]

There's giving them a punch and there's thwacking the living daylights out of them.................:thumbsdown:

Nice one for the words of encouragement, jeez.

mikergj, ignore ady. For a first effort it's not all that bad! My first edits were appalling! As long as you're happy with the result that's the main thing! You don't just get amazing at editing overnight, I've gone through multiple phases of different editing styles to arrive at one I'm comfortable with but I do still have a lot to learn (especially as I'm starting to use flash guns more with my photos!)

The s-shaped curves graph is a good one to go with, just take it in easy steps and you'll begin to learn how much of an effect certain graph shapes have on images. It'll all become second nature and you'll begin to do it without thinking! Don't set out with a goal for how you want each image to look, just go with the flow, play with adjustments and have fun.

Oh, and welcome to the world of sitting in front of the computer for hours editing photos!

 

[DOTTYROSS]

Here, Here, sound advice Chris has given here. I have been in the same position and still learning. Little is often enough, and I have been given some excellent advise here on TP.

A nice shot Mike with a lead in from the curve of the waterway. Well done.

 

[mikergj]

I can see what you have done there Robin, the canal water looks a lot more natural than in what I had done, thanks for that, and thank you Chris for the words of encouragement. I will get there in the end.

 

[Ady N]

Nice one for the words of encouragement, jeez.

Sense of humour police!
The edited posted pic by Birdy gives the OP an idea of a well adjusted edit of the original which he posted up before I did and reflected my comment, glib as it was but accurate.
'As long as you like it' is not the most constructive of comments either if we are offering critque on posts.

 

[Undercrank]

Nice shot Mike!



You’re definitely on the right path here. Worth working at. Curves are very important in controlling how an image looks and where.

I’d just add to the advice above, and Robin’s useful edit, that if you overdo that S shape it will make colours severe and rob the highlights of significant detail. (Then you’ll lose even more detail if you get a print made.) Digital still cameras don’t handle highlights well so we need to keep that in mind.

I’ve done an edit myself.

I brought the curve back slightly before making a slight S. Then I pulled the contrast histogram back to the left because there was too much of a gap there giving everything a misty look. Next I lifted saturation, but not much because the curve had done that too.

I then warmed the image a little by lifting the reds about 7% and the yellows very slightly. I also put your original image in a layer below my edit and carefully rubbed out that very bright area on the water so your shot showed through. Cheating!

There’s so much we can do in image-editing software but really, if we stick with the powerful tools and use them subtly we will soon be getting excellent results.

Sam

 

[arad85]

Another thing to consider is how good/well calibrated your monitor is. Without a good calibration, you could be way off what you get on a print and might not be seeing what you are doing (or not) to the image.

 

[mikergj]

Thank you for your comments , Andy and Sam, I have taken all that on board. In fact thank you all, some thing learnt and glad I posted.

Cheers Mike