Before
After
Before
After
It was a year ago that I began taking photographs of birds, and it’s been a wonderful adventure to learn about the birds and about photography. This past Christmas my kids bought me a copy of Photoshop, and it’s been sitting on my computer desk waiting for me ever since. Last night, we finally downloaded it on my laptop, and I’m now beginning to learn the process of post-editing my photos. The top two sets of photos are my first attempts.
The Blue Grosbeak is the very first attempt. From that endeavor, I learned that patience is going to be the key. Hmmm… that seems to be a central theme in these birding adventures! But anyway, if I try to change too much in one step, I end up just messing the picture up. I was a little more patient with the Red-Winged Blackbird, although right after I got to this point, I tried a little bit more and ended up smudging black ‘ink’ all over the green background. (Smiling ruefully!) Oh well, this endeavor will keep me busy for awhile!!
Flights of Wonder 
It will be interesting to read about your adventures with Photoshop, I thought that I was the lone hold-out that didn’t do any post-processing, and even I have begun to reconsider that.
Hi, there! I’m not sure how much or how often I want to post-process. I do know that I really like it when I take the time to really set up a shot, and get a great shot without any post processing. But I do want to know how to post-process. My plan right now is to take some photos that I wouldn’t otherwise use and just see what I can do with them to learn the features.
Welcome to the world of Photoshop post-processing. It really is great to set up a shot perfectly and have an image that requires minimum tweaking. Real life often intrudes, though, and it’s nice to be able to make some corrections after the fact. As you are finding, the process can be lengthy and laborious and incredibly time-consuming, but it is also fun to play with settings and see what you get. I have taken to shooting mostly in RAW format, which means that I end up doing something to almost all of my shots that I post. (JPG images already have some processing done in the camera, but I like to have a little more control over the settings).
Hmmm… now to find out the difference between raw and jpg, and how to do that, and what it means!! I truly am a novice! 😉
No problem. It’s one of the considerations when you shoot, especially with a DSLR and the subject can get complicated. Here is a link to one article that discusses the differences. http://digital-photography-school.com/raw-vs-jpeg/
Thanks, Mike!! I appreciate the info!
A great start to using your new found ‘toy’. 🙂
Thanks, Bob!
These are very nice, and I can see that your photography is going to make a big jump forward as you learn more about Photoshop. But I agree with Mike, nothing beats starting with a really good image that doesn’t need much tweaking.
I’m looking forward to learning these skills. Fortunately, my daughter-in-law is a very skilled photographer, and she gives me pointers every so often. I appreciate her input!