Gritty street processing

[blinking81]

Heya,

Here's a shot I took quickly when walking to school this morning, my photography skills may not be that good yet, but i manage photoshop ok.

Before
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/389354727_5fd59c80e9.jpg

After
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/389354230_43b67dc232.jpg

Actually, looking at the shot now, it's a little too sharp. Oh well, you can see the idea.

Steps..
S-curve to darken shadows, and lighten highlights
Little bit of burning and dodging
Apply vignette
then i sharpened via high pass filter.

What i find intresting is that only a few seconds later jsut around the corner i took this next photo, which has got no post-processing on it. It just goes to show the results you can get by making sure you get the right settings when taking the picture.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/389354608_6102168248.jpg

What do you all think? any more questions about the process, just ask! :)

Eric

[rpaladino]

Hi,
The third photo is great. It has mood and depth.
Thanks for sharing.

[jiminyClickit]

blinking81

Save #3 under "Tips for Post-processing" as well. It has what you may have wanted in #2, more natural lighting. Except for that dark upper-right corner, #2 is good, even if a little overdone.

[wulf]

I think it would be an interesting challenge to go back to #1 and see if you can get it closer to #3 by refining the techniques you mention; #2 is (IMHO) an improvement on the original but, as Jiminy hinted, a little too extreme.

Wulf