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Thread: Need some help with editing photos.

  1. #1
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    Need some help with editing photos.

    Finally got a decent camera (Rebel SL1) a few months ago. It takes good pictures but I realize what makes or breaks a picture is post processing.


    I'm a super noob at this. I have GIMP and I am overwhelmed/lost. Treat me like I'm 5 years old.


    Trying to make this image pop:

    http://i.imgur.com/iwlqZqu.jpg




    Everything I do to it makes it look weird and unnatural.

  2. #2
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    Increase exposure. Select the plane itself and then increase the exposure and clarity (and possibly vibrance/saturation) on it.

    Lightroom would handle this much easier - I'll try it when I get home to see what I can come up with.

    - - - Updated - - -

    My version

    1. Bumped exposure up
    2. Increased brightness of shadows
    3. Added a gradient from the top to add some "evening light" (yellow/purpose color slider)
    4. Straightened the horizon
    5. Bumped saturation up a bit
    6. Bumped clarity up a bit

    CropDuster by Jo_Da_Cu, on Flickr

  3. #3
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    That looks a lot better than what I could come up with. Now just to figure out how to do that stuff in GIMP...


    Thanks for the advice.

  4. #4
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    Honestly? Just get Lightroom. It's fast, easy, intuitive, etc, etc - way easier than Gimp or Photoshop. I understand "free" being very attractive but if you can't use it, it's not worth what you paid...

    I spent 90 seconds to get that picture like that, and that was so I could try a few different things and see what I liked best. If I knew what I wanted, it'd be done in less than 30 seconds.

  5. #5
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    I'd love to have Lightroom and Pshop but the price....

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Volf View Post
    I'd love to have Lightroom and Pshop but the price....
    $10/mo?

    https://creative.adobe.com/plans/photography

    - - - Updated - - -

    here's my quick attempt
    http://imgur.com/VWu5TDS

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  7. #7
    MauiM3Mania's Avatar
    MauiM3Mania is offline Observer/Master Skeptic Moderator
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    The quality of your images will improve significantly if instead of JPGs, you were to shoot RAW. You will have much more control after the fact.
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    nathancarter is offline Stretch Haters Club #1 BMW CCA Member
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    I'm also an enthusiastic proponent of Lightroom. I believe it can still be had for around $99, and it will do almost everything you need for both editing and organizing/managing your photos.

    Quote Originally Posted by MauiM3Mania View Post
    The quality of your images will improve significantly if instead of JPGs, you were to shoot RAW. You will have much more control after the fact.
    Agreed. The downside of raw is that they MUST be processed/converted before they can be used or shared; you can't just pop them right out of the camera and share them. But you have MUCH more flexibility and latitude in terms of editing, and fixing errors. And digital management programs such as Lightroom make the converting practically transparent - you don't HAVE to do a bunch of heavy-duty edits; just add them to your library and publish straight from there.

    Here's a thread showing a sample of what can be done with raw converters:
    http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=684360

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by nathancarter View Post
    Agreed. The downside of raw is that they MUST be processed/converted before they can be used or shared; you can't just pop them right out of the camera and share them. But you have MUCH more flexibility and latitude in terms of editing, and fixing errors. And digital management programs such as Lightroom make the converting practically transparent - you don't HAVE to do a bunch of heavy-duty edits; just add them to your library and publish straight from there.

    Here's a thread showing a sample of what can be done with raw converters:
    http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=684360
    You can use free programs like Picasa/Google+ Photos that recognize RAW files and share them from there without doing anything special and share them as easily as if they were JPEG's. This is what I used to do till i got Lightroom and Photoshop but the only reason I got those programs is I wanted to do more adjustments than Picasa would allow not because I needed a way to convert my files.
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by MauiM3Mania View Post
    The quality of your images will improve significantly if instead of JPGs, you were to shoot RAW. You will have much more control after the fact.
    I do shoot in RAW. One of the very few things I have learned so far.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by nathancarter View Post
    Here's a thread showing a sample of what can be done with raw converters:
    http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=684360
    Everything done in that thread was done in LR?

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    LR has deals this time of the year, keep an eye out and you can find it cheap! Also, if you have a friend/family who is a student, or military (i think you are actually, right?), you can get it stupid cheap also.

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    nathancarter is offline Stretch Haters Club #1 BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Volf View Post
    Everything done in that thread was done in LR?

    Yes. Well, mostly Lightroom, though there are probably some posts where people used different raw converters such as Capture One or DPP.

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    Ofcourse, Photoshop is main tool for editing, but Lightroom is pretty cool so far, so you can give it a try


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    I bought LR6 about 2 months ago. I think it was in fact $99, and I opted out of the $10/mo thing they do. I really like it.


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    i am using lightshoot. Free, easy to use and amazing with options. I did all photos on my own website for kancelarijske stolice, you can check them if u like too see what I am talking about

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    If i'm not mistaking, darktable is not bad and free too. Check it out

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    Looks interesting even without editing. Maybe a bit dark though

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kapitonov View Post
    If i'm not mistaking, darktable is not bad and free too. Check it out
    +1 to darktable, been using it for a while, completely satisfied

  21. #21
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    I would recommend Lightroom or Snapseed.

  22. #22
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    Lightroom will be good, but with questions like these, your better to ask on photo forums or blogs. I often read fixthephoto.com blog. There you can find a blog excellent guides, as well as services that can do it for you. In general, there you will find any kind of help on this issue.
    Last edited by bimmerfaje; 05-29-2019 at 06:41 PM.

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