Photos & Films - The Second Step

The second crucial step of getting that perfect image occurs in the Editing Process. The numerous and growing software options for editing photos and films mean you can basically edit at the pixel level. That is at the smallest factor of a digital image.

Photo & Film Editing – The Second Step

Before And After

Editing Evolution

Video Of Processs

Editing People

The Third Level

Before Editing

Image as it came from the camera

Before And After

Use Slider To See The Image As It Was Before Editing (Slider At Bottom) And As It Is Now After Editing (Slider At Top)

Before And After

After Editing: Colors are brighter and more saturated, and The Depth of the picture verges on the three-dimensional. Distracting elements have been removed making the image more straightforward and clear.

In The Shadow Of Mt Aix -The presentation, sharp focus, and proximity of 4 bright red Indian paintbrush flowers grabs our attention. Some flowers are in the process of opening and others fully opened. Behind & semi-blurred we can see other purple flowers and many more Paintbrushes dotting the whole field of wildflowers. In the distance there is the slope of an off camera high-ground, covered with the semi obscured forest of pine trees. In the far distance, the rugged rocky heights of Mt Aix stands, with patches of snow in-between its unassailable peaks.

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After Editing

Different Possible Editing Techniques On One Image

Unedited Rough Original Photo

This is the image as it came from my Pentax K1000. Shot on black and white film stock, the camera was on a tripod and the camera was set for a long exposure in a dark room. The shot of the blossoms came out pretty well. The included background (A sheet of black construction paper), was fairly problematic. So a lot of editing needed to be done. This picture was taken in 1983

Pumkin Blossom – Black & White

Here we have largely removed the background through the use of selections, erasures, and infilling. With most of the background done away with the Majestic blossoms rests on a smooth black surface. - This version has rough lighting

Pumpkin Blossom – Black & White

In this version of the Pumpkin blossoms, the blossoms themselves have been lightened and are more fulsome, smooth & pregnant with light. It is essentially the same image as the previous one but how the light is shown upon them gives them a completely different character.

Pumpkin Blossom – Working Leather

As a base for this image and many of the colorful images seen here, I used the rough camera image as the base. It had more textural information that could be played with in creating other images. The image here, in my mind, is resting on a sheet of old Spanish leather.

Pumpkin Blossom – Coffee

Where the previous image in this series used the original image this one used the first black-and-white edited version. The same techniques used on Working Leather were used here.

Pumpkin Blossom Variations – Lava Flow

Again, through adjusting image settings, using layers, and applying filters, the highly complex coloring of this image was achieved. Even though having as the base source a black and white photo. The complexity of modern graphics programs means that you can really take any image into an untold number of places

Pumpkin Blossom Variations – Blood Red

Manipulating images at the pixel level has been a reality for some time. Creating different versions of your image is more or less pain-free. Most image programs use layers. You can build up an image "palette" in a graphics program and create a series of completely different outcomes by repositioning 'palette" items

Pumpkin Blossom Variations – Black and Orange

As I built these colorful variations of the Blossom Image I was experimenting with colors and textures that worked well. Often when one variation was in the process of being worked on or when it was done ... It would suggest something else for a new version

Pumpkin Blossom – Brown Yellow Background- Not On FA

Pumpkin Blossom - Brown Yellow Background

Pumpkin Blossom Variations – Black and Grey

This Blossom Series was to be called "Blossom End Rot" BER is a particularly nasty disease that affects squash-type plants. It leaves a very ugly black ulcer on the fruit. This Blossom version pushed me in that naming direction. The jet black, hard grey colors & seemly shrunken blossoms reeked of things gone bad.

The Cute Niece ...

Unedited Image

This is the unedited image as it came from the camera. Here she looks a little rough and probably has a cold. But when have such things ever kept a youngster down? We will give her some editing medicine in the next image and perk her up.

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Gets Cuter

Making The Picture Do Justice To The Subject

Here she looks fresh, vibrant, and very alive. The colors in the picture have been strengthened and made more coherent. The face and clothing of the young girl have been brightened and given more definition. Much of the background has been cropped out and the remaining background had a slight blur applied. The result puts most of the focus of the image completely on the child's face

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Indian Woman

What the mind can see the eye can create

In this raw image. It almost seems like she has some type of burn on her forehead, However, it may be part of the other decorations she has on her head. Either way, I am going to clean up the shot to make everything more blemish-free and ready to send off to a Bollywood casting agent.

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Picture Ready For Framing

Here the blemishes from the women’s forehead have been removed and other smaller roughness made smoother. The red at the hairline has largely been sponged away. The image of the women has been sharpened and given other enhancements. The background has been blurred enhancing the focus on the Indian woman. Colors have been subtly saturated and darkened. She is now ready to send the headshot image off to Bollywood casting agents

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Focus On Color

Nice …. But Interesting?

A wedding scene with the Bride and her Maid of Honor. Perhaps a rehearsal as there appear to be workmen in the background finishing the settings.

There are three subjects in this image. We will de-emphasize two subjects and bring the third subject to the forefront.

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Time To Toss The Flowers

Focus On Flowers

Here I have desaturated the whole image except for the bunch of flowers. This makes the flowers the first thing your eyes engage in when viewing the image.

This technique can be used to make a statement or bring some part of your image to centrality.

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Learning To Ride A Bike Original Photo

So the picture on the left was shot some 62 years ago on a color camera. Why the picture turned out to be heavily masked in red is up for speculation. Consumer color photography at the time was only 30 years old. Was the development process at the time not robust enough for long-term storage? Was it stored incorrectly? There were several red-toned pictures like this. The first thing we will do is get rid of the red mask

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Learning To Ride A Bike - Black and White

All the colors in evidence have been desaturated out leaving a straight, quite attractive, black-and-white photo. The regular editing processes were deployed after the color was gone. I got rid of image noise (very fine pixelation that is not very visible. It is like dusting an image at the pixel level). Black and white levels were adjusted and the image was given some sharpening. In the next photo, I will manipulate this black-and-white photo to make it to become something completely different

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Learning To Ride A Bike

Artistic Representation

I ran the black-and-white picture through some filters adjusting them to the point where I was satisfied with what I had.

The character of the picture is very different. Half etching/half oil paint. You can change any picture using these and thousands of other permutations using modern graphics software

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Woman At Table Unedited

Unedited

In the next three pictures, I will be cutting out the women in white and red from one picture and posting her in another. The purpose was to create a coupon for a bowl of soup at a fancy hotel in Oregon. The original picture has an almost angelic look to it with the lighting and facial expression

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Woman excised from Image At Table

Editing

Here the woman has been excised from the original picture. She is floating away in pixel ether ready to be cast down into her next photo situation

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Woman At Timberline Lodge

Edited

Finally destination at a hotel table saying grace before devouring an excellent Thai chicken soup. (The best this side of the Cascades). Of course, many adjustments and enhancements had to be made for the final image to be believable

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Girl Playing a Mandolin Unedited

Unedited

For one Christmas I decided that I would plant my relative’s faces on to other pictures.

This old-time picture of the very young mandolin player would provide the canvas for implanting the head of my youngest niece

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Niece Playing a Mandolin Edited

Edited

So here is my niece's face has been pushed, prodded, and molded to replace the original face

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Eng Tay Image

Unedited Eng Artwork

So onto this Eng Tay painting, I will superimpose the face images of this man, his wife, and their youngest child

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Ken Christine and Nick Edited

Edited Artist Eng

Here we have the faces of the man, his wife, and my nephew in place, in my version of the Eng Tay art piece. It took a great deal of manipulation to get them to seem like they belonged in the painting

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Woman With Elderly Man -Unedited

Unedited

Here in the original picture is my dad on his 100th birthday. He is sitting next to a friend from Germany. I will give the image a bit of an artistic flair

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Young Woman and Elderly Man -Edited

Edited

So aside from regular editing the picute was pushed through an editing filter with various settings.

I came up with many versions but liked this one the best.

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Couple at Fair - Unedited

Unedited

Here the couple are being rickshawed around the Oregon County Fair

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Couple at Fair - Edited

Edited

I pushed the original picture through a filter or two and came up with this almost stain glass look for the image

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At The Fireplace - Unedited

Unedited

So I did a lot to clean up and enhance this original picture before turning it over to the the graphic filters. It is a picture that was taken in 1961. In general, I made the colors more saturated

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At The Fireplace - Edited

Edited

I like how this turned out. A rather vibrant fiery Christmas image

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Artworks Out Of Two Or More Combined Photos

Below I am exploring combining digital camera images of 2 or more into unique artworks. Before combining, or at the same time, the images are processed through various digital manipulations to achieve different colors, textural, and layered outcomes. This sometimes can gel quickly but more often requires experimentation. Trying one thing after another to find your way to the image you are shooting for. Usually, you know when you have reached that place. But you often have a long trail of abandoned digital palettes in your wake.

Click the icons on each image to pop out the images that were used to recreate the overall final result