First Edit - Ideas?

[Abokiniec]

Well I decided to buy Aperture 2 for my Macbook Pro 13", got it 2 weeks ago, can someone tell me if this edit has too much in it or too little? Or improvements?

I've also added a master copy for those who would like to edit it themselves to show me an example of how it could look professionally.

I also hope this is the correct forum for this, if not, please direct me to the correct one.

Edited Version -

Original Version -

 

[leighonigar]

The blue is certainly too much, and there is some jarring sharpening, but, the original image is simply not that good. I would keep experimenting with further images if I were you. It's always a good idea to 'walk away' and then come back to an image. It's sometimes interesting how perspective changes. Often it's clear that you have then gone too far.

 

[MattSepeta]

When it comes to "editing"

You cant polish a turd. Not saying that the original is a "turd", but it just simply is not worth working on.

Before you dive into post work, get it right in the camera!

That aside, the blues are too much, and the background is in sharper focus than the subject...

 

[Doylem]

Yup... you don't need post-production so much as pre-production: getting it more-or-less right 'in the camera'. Focus, composition, not getting your own shadow in shot... all the basic stuff.

 

[Abokiniec]

Thank's for the constructive replys guys,

I've gathered that the image is simply not good enough to even bother editing, so like leighonigar has said, I'll walk away and experiment with other photos, and perhaps return to this overdone image in the future.

I'll try getting it right in the camera as well, is there any good tutorials on how to use a camera professionally? I own a Canon S1 IS, would that be any good for starting out? Or should i upgrade?

 

[wheelhot]

Get it right in camera = less time time photoshopping/post-processing = more time capturing more stuffs = more fun!

 

[Doylem]

Thank's for the constructive replys guys,

I've gathered that the image is simply not good enough to even bother editing, so like leighonigar has said, I'll walk away and experiment with other photos, and perhaps return to this overdone image in the future.

I'll try getting it right in the camera as well, is there any good tutorials on how to use a camera professionally? I own a Canon S1 IS, would that be any good for starting out? Or should i upgrade?

I find it strange that people will happily spend time staring at a computer screen, trying to make a pic look OK... but not to spend a similar amount of time trying to organise the elements of a pic while they have the camera to their eye. This is the moment that all the best decisions are made.

There are tutorials all over the web, and books in your local library. And you can simply shoot more pix... trying to relate what you saw when you pressed the shutter to what you're seeing when you look at your pic in Aperture...

 

[leighonigar]

Thank's for the constructive replys guys,

I've gathered that the image is simply not good enough to even bother editing, so like leighonigar has said, I'll walk away and experiment with other photos, and perhaps return to this overdone image in the future.

I'll try getting it right in the camera as well, is there any good tutorials on how to use a camera professionally? I own a Canon S1 IS, would that be any good for starting out? Or should i upgrade?

One thing I didn't ask is - what did you want from this photograph? Why did you take it?

The S1 IS is fine. Use it.

 

[Abokiniec]

What did you want from this photograph?
I basically wanted to restore the color to it

Why did you take it?
Hobby

 

[Chappers]

I think I have to agree totally with Doylem - you need to think about your pre-production.

Software can rescue things - I did a bit with yours - it still needs work though.

Still probably a better crop etc

Good luck

 

[kallisti]

Since you are clearly just starting out, I would recommend checking out this site:

Ken Rockwell

Ken is somewhat controversial (understatement of the day!). Mostly though he gives good advice as long as you don't take it as gospel. He can be biased. He is sometimes wrong. But for someone just beginning, it's a good starting point.

There are many other resources out there ranging from books, to web sites, to DVD tutorials. Like many things, it's often best to get your feet wet first, get a feel for things, and then assess where you are at and where you want to go.

Most important thing by far is to take pictures and try to figure out what worked and what didn't. Then take more pictures. And more pictures. And then more pictures. You get the idea.

 

[soLoredd]

This is strictly opinion of the shot but as soon as I saw the subject's eyes (or, lack thereof), there's no reason to edit the shot. Just from my experiences shooting and reading and looking at other portrait shots, the eyes should be the most focal part of the picture. Because your subject is looking directly into the sun, he has to squint.

As doylem said, pre-production is more important. And to be honest, I suffered from the same thing you are: as soon as I bought Aperture I thought I'd try to "fix" all of my shots with PP. Not the case. I soon realized my technique was just plain garbage!

 

[chocolaterabbit]

What did you want from this photograph?
I basically wanted to restore the color to it

Why did you take it?
Hobby

No, he meant what did you want from this particular photo.
Did you take this photo to show to friends? Or to sell? Who's the audience?
Did you want to make the guy look hardcore? or gentle?
You should ask yourself questions like these before you take the photo. Don't give yourself vague answers like "oh it looked cool."

 

[NightGeometry]

I did a creative photography course, and we did practically no 'technical' stuff. The very first thing, and something we came back to again and again, was 'why did you take that shot?'

It was not something I had really ever thought of before, and my first answer was similar to Abokiniec 'hobby', 'I could', 'I was there'. It took quite a while to get the point of 'why'. The follow on related question was 'why are you showing me this picture?' What do you want the viewer to feel? And of course the famous Ansel Adams quote "There are always two people in the every picture, the photographer and the viewer".

I'm not sure my photography got any better, but once I started to get those points, I got a lot more interested not only in my own photo's, but also in other peoples. As with all things, sometimes it doesn't matter, sometimes it is just a picture of a friend, and sometimes the answer is still 'just because i was there'. But those pictures tend to stay in my Aperture library now.

So, now when if I show someone a photo I have taken and someone asks 'what is that, why did you take it', I tend to have a narrative, and that tends to make pretty much any picture more interesting. It also makes me appreciate work from people like Egglestone - "Why did he take that picture, why am I seeing it, what does the photographer want me to feel?"

You can of course end up applying this to anything, and someone read a lot more into something than is there.

So... I like this picture, I like the four shadows, who does the shadow on the right belong to? I like the two people in the background - they look like they are talking, but the one walking is dismissing the other. I don't find the main subject that interesting as a portrait, but I see lots going on...

Sorry for going on a bit. The editing - the blue of the sky seems to have become too broken up, but if that were fixed I think it would be a lot better.

But hey - I'm just a random stranger, what do I know?

 

[Sir SpemzR]

Had a swing at it (photoshop)

before u take the time to edit a picture, take the time to realize if the picture
is worth working on.

Personally i dont think the tilted camera is a good idea, i feel every pictures needs to have a solid horizontal horizon

 

[toxic]

Since you are clearly just starting out, I would recommend checking out this site:

Ken Rockwell

Ken is somewhat controversial (understatement of the day!). Mostly though he gives good advice as long as you don't take it as gospel. He can be biased. He is sometimes wrong. But for someone just beginning, it's a good starting point.

I wouldn't bother. yes, he has some useful tips thrown somewhere in there...but most of it is simply garbage, and you have to know something about photography to know what's accurate and what isn't. so what's the point?


anyways, the image has to look remotely worthwhile straight-out-of-camera to be worth processing...and that doesn't. the composition is poor, and the intended subject is out-of-focus, so the viewer gets nothing out of looking at it.