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wilfredo

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There was a recent thread on this forum debating whether anyone actually learned or improved their photography from participation here. Ansel Adams once said that the exposure of a photograph was akin to a musical score and that the print was the performance. No two photographers will ever print things the same. No two musicians will ever perform the same score the equally. In post processing we bring our pictures to life. I'm including here three pictures taken by me. I have done no post-processing and invite anyone who would like to, to take any one of these images and come up with their own interpretation. Feel free to crop, turn into B&W, dodge, burn, and be as creative as you like. Please post your interpretation for some discussion. This will not be a test of your skills level, just a chance to try different interpretations and have some fun. And maybe some of us will learn something.

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo

Benitez-Rivera Photography

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Wilfredo -

 

What an interesting idea. All 3 looked good but for the fun of it I decided to have a go at #2. As it was it looked terrific to me, but in ACDSee I let the auto exposure kick in and saw that there was a lot more life, even though the auto exposure overdid it. I then cancelled the auto exposure, instead increasing both the shadow slider and highlight slider a bit. That seemed, in comparison to the unedited file, to remove veils. Then I did just a touch of sharpening. I've found that regardless of the digital source (M8, DMR, D2, C-Lux, FZ20, Nikon D50, D40, scanned film or prints) that the vast majority of photos can benefit from at least a little post processing. I've included an untouched copy directly below it to make comparisons easier.

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Wilfredo,

Thanks for the fun thread. For some real fun, perhaps you can make available the DNGs.

Well done Stuart.

 

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Stuart,

 

You really brought that image to life! The location is the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Some who are new to photography are under the mistaken notion that post processing is anathema. The term "manipulation" has gained a negative reputation but where would Ansel Adams be if he hadn't manipulated?

 

Wilfredo

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I guess I should jump in too. Here's one interpretation of the third shot. I obviously did some cropping, some sharpening, and worked with the Levels until I got the desired range of tones.

I also added a border.

 

The man in the photo is Ian, I call him Captain. He's a Vietnamese POW who has a chunk of his head missing from a war injury, hence the hat. He loves to stare at the sky when his picture is being taken. He comes by my church almost daily. We laugh a lot together. Great guy.

 

BTW IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE AN UNPROCESSED FILE FOR EXPERIMENTATION AND PLAY, PLEASE DO.

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo

Benitez-Rivera Photography

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Here's yet another interpretation of the Captain. It's a work in progress...

 

Cheers.

Wilfredo+

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Wilfredo,

 

nice idea :)

 

Here's my attempt.

 

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Guest WPalank

Wilfredo,

Great idea!

I love the character of your friend's face. Give him my best.

Cheers,

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Very nice idea! Now that you mention Adams... why not in B&W?

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Nice work John, William, and Lotwouda! Nice to see a B&W interpretation.

 

 

William:

 

I don't recognize the artistic filters you used here so this is an opportunity for me to learn something. Can you explain how you achieved these results? Software involved? It really looks like something done with a brush. Excellent.

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo

Benitez-Rivera Photography

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Hello Wilfredo,

 

nice picture....;)

 

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Jan

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Excellent idea Wilfredo !

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Guest WPalank

William:

 

I don't recognize the artistic filters you used here so this is an opportunity for me to learn something. Can you explain how you achieved these results? Software involved? It really looks like something done with a brush. Excellent.[/url]

 

Wilfedo,

Thank you. No filters, believe it or not about 90% done within ACR (Camera Raw). There has been a lot of talk recently in other photographic Forums on how to achieve the Dave Hill Photo look.

Scott Kelby recently posted a tutorial on his blog on how he gets close using this method atPhotoshop Insider

It's about three quarters of the way down the page entitled "Getting that gritty look...." But you need CS3 or Lightroom. I've included an image at the bottom as to what your control tabs should look like (many of them pushed all the way to the right at 100). Then in PS I just burned some of the darker areas of the skin and dodged the lighter areas, added some more contrast and sharpening.

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Wilfredo,

 

Fun idea. Thank you. I have learned from all of you. I am throwing my hat into the ring just for the enjoyment of the process.

 

Al

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Boy, this is really getting creative. I truly like the B&W version of the portrait done by Jan.

I'm going to experiment with William's technique. It looks like we are turning a new page on the Leica User Forum experimenting with new and creative interpretations. Why put limits on art? Nice crop job above. Interesting play on colors and saturation by P. Olivier.

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo+

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Guest carolina

here are my interpretations- Carolina

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