Out and About.

[D upton-Hackett.]

Nice day so this happened......

 

[gandolfi]

A nice day well spent, Derek.
Especially like the nice crisp colours in the 1st two pics.

Cheers,
Gandolfi.

 

[Lili]

Nice series, Derek, of a day obviously well spent!

 

[smokysun]

now that's the way life should be, as long as you're not in the stocks!

wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Thanks all am chuffed with your comments. still have a long way to go to reach your standards but watch this space.

Derek.

 

[pollobarca]

Derek, nice colours on the first 2. Like the Ducking stool and see from your flickr upload that the stream is only 6inches deep... Would this mean that all the witches get burnt regardless?

 

[Don Ellis]

Nice day so this happened......

Hi Derek... quite and day...and that first photo is dazzling.

If I may make a constructive observation, your fourth photo has no black point -- the five ladies notwithstanding -- so it looks washed out.

I don't know what image editing software you're using, but if it has a black eyedropper somewhere, click on the back leg of the bench under the woman with the reddish dress -- the small bit between her dress and the woman's leg next to her.

You should see a dramatic difference and the ladies will look even better.

Cheers,
Don

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Derek, nice colours on the first 2. Like the Ducking stool and see from your flickr upload that the stream is only 6inches deep... Would this mean that all the witches get burnt regardless?

Pollobarca.

Apparently the stream was deeper 100yrs ago. Guess it's down to settlement and ducking going out of fashion.

Derek.

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Hi Derek...
If I may make a constructive observation, your fourth photo has no black point -- the five ladies notwithstanding -- so it looks washed out.

I don't know what image editing software you're using, but if it has a black eyedropper somewhere, click on the back leg of the bench under the woman with the reddish dress -- the small bit between her dress and the woman's leg next to her.



Cheers,
Don

Don.

I was not happy with the shot and not knowing how to make the required adjustments, so will check to see if elements 6 has the above and give a try.

I always value criticism of my photos helps me improve thank you.

Derek.

 

[Don Ellis]

Don.

I was not happy with the shot and not knowing how to make the required adjustments, so will check to see if elements 6 has the above and give a try.

I always value criticism of my photos helps me improve thank you.

Derek.

Hi Derek,

Glad my comments were taken in the spirit they were meant.

I would be surprised if Elements 6 did not have the eyedroppers. I don't have the program, but if you have Curves or Levels, click on that and look for three eyedroppers near the bottom of a dialog box. You use them to set Black, Neutral and White points. Click on the black eyedropper and then click on the darkest area in the photo. Do the same for white if you need to. And the middle eyedropper is to click on something that should be light to medium gray -- that often removes color casts in photos, as well.

Before you do any of that, check your eyedropper settings. Click on the eyedropper tool and make sure it's set for 5x5, rather than Point Sample.

All this assumes those things are available.

One last thing... it can be very difficult to tell blacks and whites by eye. If you really want to know the blackest or whitest point, use Threshhold... it should pop up with a 128 value (middle of the range between black and white). Reset the value first to 5 and see if any blacks appear. If not... raise this number (using your Up Arrow key) until a black spot appears. (I was at about 30 for your photo of the five women.) Either memorize that spot or put a marker (Shft-LeftClick)... get out of Threshhold and then use the eyedropper technique.

You can do the same for white point with Threshhold... just type in 250 instead of 5... and if nothing white appears use your Down Arrow to go to 249, 248, etc., until white appears. Then you know what to set as a white point.

Why do I think all this is going to sound like gibberish?

Ah, well, give it a try if you can.

Cheers,
Don

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Thank you Don.
Have found the eyedroppers in Curves or Levels,Will Print and keep your post for reference if i may.

Derek.

 

[Don Ellis]

Thank you Don.
Have found the eyedroppers in Curves or Levels,Will Print and keep your post for reference if i may.
Derek.

Hi Derek... you're quite welcome... glad you found the eyedroppers. I've never used Elements but I've read very good things about it, so I'm not surprised that it has this function.

I'm a pretty lazy Photoshop guy. I always try Auto-Contrast first and see if I like it. Then I try Auto-Tone and Auto-Color to see if any of that's interesting. (You can always Ctrl-Z to get rid of it... and Ctrl-Z multiple times switches you back and forth between the change and the original so you can really decide).

Don't know if Elements has Auto-Contrast but you might look. In Photoshop it's under Image, Auto-Contrast (Alt-Ctrl-Shft-L).

Cheers,
Don

P.S. I see you've already touched up the girls to good effect. :thumbs:

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Cheers Don.
Elements has all the auto options But i like to try new ways in Full Edit, there is a little undo arrow that does just what is says.

I enjoy our chats even if they benefit only me.

Regards Derek.

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

OK after taking Don's Helpful advice and this is the best i can make this poor washed out original.
Again will appreciate any helpful criticism.

Derek.

 

[pollobarca]

Derek,looks like Don's advice works.

paul

 

[Don Ellis]

OK after taking Don's Helpful advice and this is the best i can make this poor washed out original.
Again will appreciate any helpful criticism.
Derek.

Brilliant, Derek... ya done good.

Does Elements feature a Shadow/Highlight adjustment? If so, type 5 or 10 in Highlight... it will add some texture to that white T-shirt and those white pants. Then you can give it up because you're there!

Cheers (wild cheers),
Don

 

[D upton-Hackett.]

Yup. done that it only made a slight diff in the ladies cardigan as you visaed Don so hardly worth uploading.
Have learnt a valuable lesson of which am humbly grateful.

Derek.

 

[Don Ellis]

Yup. done that it only made a slight diff in the ladies cardigan as you visaed Don so hardly worth uploading.
Have learnt a valuable lesson of which am humbly grateful.
Derek.

Yes, often the effect is quite subtle... if you're doing it right. In Photoshop, the default for Shadows/Highlights is 50% Shadows, 0% Highlights. Looks awful unless you're into forensic photography and need to see what's lurking in the shadows.

I reset the default to 0% for both... and have found that as little as 1, 2 or 3% for Shadows works quite well. For Highlights, I will try 5, 10 and 20% (in extreme cases).

I mention all this so you don't think that 30 or 40% is needed every time. But you probably figured that out.

Cheers,
Don