Canon 20D

Photo: A different look at my Big Dipper image thanks to a cropping suggestion from Andy Beal.

What can I say, there may not be such a think as a “finished” image. After a great tip from Andy in yesterday’s Before and After post, I went back into the darkroom and spun this image out of Photoshop.  Many thanks to Andy for not only identifying the potential for a new look for the original image, but also for taking the time to leave a comment.

Moving Heaven and Earth

Okay, maybe just heaven.

My first attempt at this cropped version was a little off.  If you check the original image, you’ll notice that the right-most star in the Big Dipper constellation was actually captured to the right of the two chairs in the foreground. Now look at this image again.

Bet you wouldn’t have noticed it if I didn’t point it out, eh?

It was pretty easy to do, actually, by just duplicating the layer, moving it to the left and adding a gradient mask to blend it in.

Why Stop There?

I’m leaving this image as-is for now, since I like the simplicity of the scene and they well recognized Big Dipper – which was the reason I shot the scene in the first place.

At some point, I could take it a step further, and instead of the Big Dipper, I could swap it out for this image of the Milky Way I shot on Maui last September. The possibilities – like the universe in this case – truly are endless.

– Kris

The previous two editions in my Before and After series have featured the use of the Topaz Adjust plug-in for Photoshop.  Sometimes that extra creative step isn’t needed, and the following images demonstrate.  Many times it’s just a few minor tweaks in Adobe Camera Raw that will do the trick.

The Before Image

Most people will recognize that as the Big Dipper constellation, which I captured here over the waters of Sturgeon Bay in Sept. ‘08. It’s a neat little shot, but I wasn’t happy with the orange tint. Also, I had took a few liberties when I cropped this image initially, so I thought there might be something worth bringing back into it on the redux.

The After Image

I took a few different approaches to redoing this image. What I ultimately ended up with was processing the RAW image twice – known as mutli-RAW processing – to preserve some of the darkness in the sky while adjusting some of the foreground elements.

By processing the elements of the scene independently on separately layers and applying the changes using a gradient mask, I essentially keep the best of both worlds and have an image more to my liking with relatively little extra effort.

Thoughts?

For one, I definitely like the detail on the right with it’s color more in check and not gushing orange hues.  However, each time I look at that after image, I still think to myself, “is the foreground too bright?”. Since I save checkpoints at each step in my workflow, it wouldn’t be that difficult to go back and just darken the chairs on the pier just a tad.

Well, what do you think?

Photo: A colorful Maui Sunset over the island of Lanai as seen from Maui’s west coast in Ka’anapali.

One of my favorite sunsets from Maui – and there are many to choose from.

No two sunsets on the islands are ever the same, so when you see the colors and clouds like this, you can’t help but grab a camera and try to capture it forever. You never know if you’ll see one like it again!

– Kris

Photo: Live music featured aboard a sunset cocktail cruise with the Pacific Whale Foundation.

One of my shots from our 2nd Maui visit back in ‘07 while out on the water. With all the great views of the shoreline, the resorts, mountains and other boats on the water, not to mention the islands of Molokai and Lanai at sunset, there was more than enough to shoot if you could handle your viewfinder along with the motion of the ocean.

I broke away from photographing the gorgeous vistas back towards shore to frame this candid while the musician was playing. While I wasn’t happy with the placement of the microphone in front of his face – you did notice that, didn’t you – it wasn’t my place to ask him to move it.

The running joke here is that if I had moved to my right any further for this shot, I would have been doing underwater photography instead.

Time for a new installment in my Before and After series. For this week, it is another pair of adjustments made in Adobe Camera Raw and Topaz Adjust.

The Before Image

This image was taken at D.T. Fleming Beach in September ‘07, in the early afternoon. I really liked the composition, with the symmetry between the water and the clouds above. The rocks add a nice touch in the foreground, although the horizon is off and the colors are a little dull.

The After Image

A little color saturation, straightening the horizon, and a little cropping (notice the difference in the rocks) in ACR set this one up for Topaz Adjust. I chose the Photo Pop preset in Topaz Adjust to help achieve the look you see here.

Another Old Photo Saved

I like to think the next time I’m at D.T. Fleming Beach with my camera gear to find a scene like this, I would have learned enough in the last 2 1/2 years to get it better in-camera first. I also like to think I’ll be back to Maui sooner than later.

Until that next 9 hour plan ride to that beautiful island in the Pacific, I will continue pushing my post production skills and working on new tools and techniques to create these “new” images, while at the same time reliving the great memories of capturing the originals.

Stay tuned for another edition of Before and After next week as more of my early works get a new look on the digital life.

– Kris