Tonight's PAD was a quick snapshot of my new bride. She graciously posed for me (impatiently actually) before heading out for dinner with the girls. To say that my original raw capture was bad, is to be kind. Impatient models don't have time for you to figure out white balance and spot metering...and so I was left with this to work with:
Way too dark at ISO 1600 means horrible noise as a result of increasing exposure in my RAW converter (Capture One). Well after a while in PS doing some touch-up work, I was left with this as my intended post for the day:
So that is pretty ordinary. Since I had some extra time, I decided to play around and try to ruin the image. I did an OK job of it using the Nik Color Efex "Old Photo" filter and a couple of scratch brushes. I don't particularly love the result, but at least it's a little less predictable.
After about 20 minutes, I decided I didn't like this ruined version and decided to go with a sepia version....
After another 20 minutes I decided that the photo looked too digital, so I redid it in B&W and added some grain. At this point, I decided it was time for bed.
You definitely chose the best final processing. What a transformation, eh. Is the "adding grain" a PS menu item? I'll have to go look and do some experimenting myself. Thanks for taking us through your steps.
Posted by: Craig Persel | August 14, 2007 at 07:32 AM
Craig,
I'm going from memory here but here is how you add grain to a photo in PS. Go to Filters>Texture>Grain. From there I use the "enlarged grain" and often mild settings of between 10-30 intensity and 2-8 contrast. It's easy to play around with before you apply it. This filter works somewhat slowly if you have a large file.
Thanks for the feedback.
Chuck
Posted by: Chuck | August 14, 2007 at 09:14 AM
Thanks!
Posted by: Craig Persel | August 14, 2007 at 07:42 PM
Although I like the last one, I reallllly love the 2nd to last one. Too digital looking? is that a technical term I can't quite figure out? lol
At any rate, it turned out very nicely..
Posted by: jude | August 19, 2007 at 12:24 AM
Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and saw a photo posted in my Pbase PAD gallery. I must not be dead, just on hiatus. Oh well, back to blogging about photography. Next up...feedback from a pro.
Posted by: Tory Burch | August 23, 2011 at 11:41 PM
Ah well your comment! I did you good!
Posted by: Microsoft Office | February 16, 2012 at 09:40 PM