Life before Photoshop

“Maybe this belongs on the new gear thread. Got a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 (full version). Naturally, I started to see what's possible with some of my photography. There's lots to learn with PS CS2, but compared to PSP 9.0, there's a night and day difference. And I just opened the box.

BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER

”

“Can you photoshop our three asses onto Mt. Rushmore?


Please think this is funny.”

“Signed”

“Twinks”

“what did they look like before they were manipulated ?”

“Reminds me of spening the time to develop the skills, techniques and 'feel' of varying the f-stop, filters, shutter speed on an SLR film camera, as well as darkroom techniques. Guess its all gone from skill with a camera to manuplating a digital image on a computer.

(I still don't have a digital camera)”

“Nice Job... :-)

CS2?

Gees... I have Photoshop CS... what's new in CS2?

phydeux--
I love color photography, but have never had the opportunity to do color processing. I like using digital because of the opportunity to do what I couldn't with my pictures..

I do agree, however that you can't get exactly the same range of color as you can with regular film though--although with a little practice, you can come quite close by using photoshop... :-)

My own goal is to compose within the camera--vs. having to crop onscreen later... :-)”

“What digi cam did you use? I just got CS2, as well, and have noticed after some simple manipulation that my 2MP pics start to look a bit grainy. I may be looking to upgrade my camera so I can see some more improvement.”

“Hi pinkbubble,

What's different with CS2? Hmm... here goes.

Timesaving file handling with Adobe Bridge
Simplify file handling with Adobe Bridge, the next-generation File Browser, where you can process multiple camera raw images at once; resize, rate, and label thumbnails; quickly review images in Slideshow mode; search metadata; and more.

Multitasking
Take advantage of compact floating mode in Adobe Bridge to process images while simultaneously working in Photoshop CS2 or other CS2 applications.

Viewing options
Easily browse your Adobe Creative Suite and other graphics files in Adobe Bridge; present your images with features like Slideshow and Filmstrip mode; scale thumbnails to any size using a slider; and view and edit metadata.

Automated batch processing
Automatically process batches of images in Adobe Bridge to rename, convert format, adjust exposure, create a Web gallery or Adobe PDF Presentation, and more.

Rating and labeling
Quickly rate and label photos in Adobe Bridge so you can instantly bring up your best shots.

Sophisticated search
Easily find any image using sophisticated search capabilities in Adobe Bridge that let you specify a variety of parameters. Save searches as Collections that you can recall anytime.

32-bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) support
Create and edit 32-bit images, and combine multiple exposures into a single, 32-bit image with expanded range—from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights.

Shadow/Highlight correction
Quickly improve the contrast of over- or underexposed areas of an image, including CMYK images, while preserving the overall balance of the photo.

Revolutionary Vanishing Point
Achieve amazing results in a fraction of the time with the groundbreaking Vanishing Point, which lets you clone, paint, and paste elements that automatically match the perspective of the surrounding image area.

Image Warp
Easily create packaging mock-ups or other dimensional effects by wrapping an image around any shape or stretching, curling, and bending an image using Image Warp.

Spot Healing Brush
Effortlessly retouch photos—including 16-bit images—in a single click with the advanced power of the new Photoshop CS2 Spot Healing Brush.

One-click red-eye correction
Instantly neutralize red eyes with the one-click red-eye correction tool, which supports 16-bit images and lets you set pupil size and darkening level.

Optical lens correction
Easily correct common lens distortions, such as barrel and pincushion, and fix chromatic aberrations and vignetting.

Smart Sharpen
Easily counteract common image blurring with fine correction control based on the specific blur types: motion, lens, and Gaussian.

Camera raw workflow enhancements
Process an entire photo shoot in a fraction of the time by simultaneously adjusting color, curves, cropping, and more—and continue working in Photoshop! With support for a comprehensive range of digital cameras, Photoshop CS2 lets you automatically adjust settings, convert to Digital Negative (DNG) format, and apply nondestructive edits to batches of images.

Advanced noise reduction
Polish digital photos with advanced noise correction in high-ISO shooting plus JPEG artifact reduction.

Special effects filters
Achieve amazing results with more than 95 special effects filters. Easily preview and apply more than one filter at a time from the Filter Gallery.

This thing is a beast. It's going to be great fun mastering this thing.”

“Today I hiked about 5 miles to the top of Mt Waterman here in SoCal. Here are some photos that were uploaded and processed through CS2.

Some of this isn't fully satisfactory yet, but it won't be long. A couple of these images are a tad over-processed, but I'm exaggerating some of the shots to get a sense of how this thing works. Once I develop a work flow, I'll adjust my photography accordingly.

These images are quite vivid. And I'm using the Velvia Vision plug-in.








last edited: 6/26/05 11:43:12 PM”

“Hi mapsNmammals,

Still using my Nikon D100 with Nikkor ED lenses. This camera is getting a lot of trail wear!

Each of my images are between 17 and 20MB. When I down sample or resize them for viewing or placement where-ever, they're down to about 3.4MB. Then there's lots of stuff going on from there to get them down to between 180kb to 240kb all while maintaining image integrity.
last edited: 6/26/05 11:54:42 PM”

“Awesome James!
Call me in a week when you have mastered the program ;) I'll need some pointers.”

“When you get all caught up with the Photoshop bells and whistles,
here is a link to a digital blending tutorial...

Digital Blending

Lots of good tips at the Luminous Landscape site.”

“i do have a question about PS CS2. I got CS1. is it worth the upgrade???”

“i must be the only one here who hasnt used some form of photoshop. i'm jealous !

my girlfriend says she has to have it for grad school
in august so we're finally biting the bullet and getting the new CS2. the good news is we get in
for under $400 due to the student discount. i never
thought $400 for software would be called a 'bargain'. im glad i dont have to upgrade my mac as well.”

“Looks good James! I'm still using PS7. The new version is a bit out of my league right now.”

“Looks good James! I'm still using PS7. The new version is a bit out of my league right now.”
Hikin Mike
12:06:31 PM
6/27/05
ignore this user

I'm still using PS6”

“Damn...I was hoping that the camera you were using was a higher quality p&s. I would dearly love to have a digital SLR, but I'm not gonna haul one into the woods with me unless photography was my goal. I'm just not that good at it for it to be worthwhile. My dad's got one of the lower-priced digital rebels. He took my wedding photos with it, and he's learning photoshop so he can do all of the processing, too.

I wish my wife's camera wasn't such a pain. It's a Sony somethingorother 3.2mp p&s. I can't get a sharp image out of it no matter what auto settings I try....even if I use a tripod, something moves a tiny bit and I get blurrrrrrrrrryyyyyy. Maybe the answer is in the manual settings...or maybe the camera is just crap.”

“Tekdude-- Do you shoot in Raw or Tiff mode?
I usually shoot in Raw Mode... I have so many pictures, I've filled up hard drives in 2 computers (over 12,000 pictures and counting on my Nikon D100.)

With volume comes the problem of storing and processing...LOL

I, too am wondering if I should upgrade to CS2? How much is the upgrade? (I got it with an educator's discount as well). My problem-- I'm still trying to learn all of the bells and whistles from CS1.... LOL”

“I like the originals better, especially in regards to the sky and the colors of the chaparral... it looks fake to me.”

“pinkbubble- (such a cool name>

I shoot in both RAW and JPEG fine modes. And that's alot of photos I've accumulated. Same with me in terms of numbers. Probably close 10,000 sitting on this external drive. And I'm impressed you have a Nikon D100! Another Nikonian. =_ Ah, the feeling of belonging again among Canon kids. LOL.

hmmm.. CS2 is $599.00 plus change for tax. I never had CS1 to evaluate if the upgrade is worth it or not. Although, I tried Elements 3.0 and couldn't really get from it what CS2 promised. I'm largely coming off of PSP9.0.

Part of the fun is the experience of learning and not just the new outcomes this thing brings to your photos. It's all just part of the craft of photography and mountain exploration.”

“Same here, BearCrossing. I exaggerated those images to get a feeling of what's possible. The idea behind moving to CS2 is to up image quality and correction by way of exposure, focus, DoF, color balance and all that. I'm not in the camp of making a scene something that it's not.

Although, I'm not adverse to using a warming filter, a polarizer, or ND filter either. Now, instead of having to worry about that being mounted on the Nikon, I can attempt to apply it to an image in post-processing.

For example, with my 12mm-24mm Nikkor lense, I can not mount more than one filter without serious image distortion below 18mm. This includes a UV filter. So! I can use one filter of choice (usually a circular polarizer), apply exposure compensation (the +/- range functions on the D100), then adjust with filters and plugins in CS2 after the fact.

So there it is. It's like making music. Visual music. =)
last edited: 6/29/05 12:04:41 AM”

“BTW, CS2 has series 81 and 85 warming filters. How cool is that!”

“tekdude...

Thanks--I'm glad you like my screen name. :-)

I resisted getting a Digital camera until I could get the computer and software to support it.... AND, i didn't see any point in getting a point and shoot-- The quality just isn't anywhere near the same ast that of a regular SLR....

I decided to get the Nikon D100 because I had a Nikon N80 and except for being heavier, the controls are all in the same place and they both can share the same lenses... :-)

The only thing I don't like about using the D100 is that I tend to get a lot "lazier" about making sure the settings are right-- At first I started using the P (Program) mode... But after doing some reading and talking to others online, I now use the M mode almost exclusively-- I really don't care for the settings for pictures in P mode... :-)

What I love about photoshop is that in essence it is my "color darkroom"-- Most photos I just do a slight sharpening of the images and then color corrections and lighting corrections if needed.... My brother-in-law loves to "add a sunny blue sky" and that kind of thing... I'm not into that kind of thing at all...

However, I do sometimes fool around with filters and change colors when doing "digital manipulations"---those images are intended to BE altered images vs. just being a photographic image...(My intent is to make the manips obvious to the viewer.)

But in general, I stay with just trying to do what a film photographer would do with a color lab.... :-)
It is, nice, however to be able to change DoF when the lens cannot due to the location, etc... ;-)

I agree-- for me, it's a tool, not the end product... :-)

I have had some of my photos enlarged to 16x20... The result is quite nice (I take it to a local pro-photo processor) and to the casual observer, you cannot tell whether it is a digital or film image--the grain was quite fine in quality-- and it's printed on photographic paper, so the color is really nice! ;-)”

“Ugh, they didn't have a copy of photoshop installed on my box at my new job. So I have to go through the procurement process to get it. So here I am downloading all these open source applications so I can get work done.

~Cue dramatic music~
In a world without Photoshop one man struggles to meet deadlines and deliver best in class design solutions armed only with a second rate image editor.
~bombastic music swells~
~sudden silence~
The GiMP.

Yes the GiMP.
What a #&%!$ing turd. The thing only has one upside.....it's free. After fighting it for three days I'd rather sell my bodily fluids to pay for Photoshop than use GiMP.

{/rant}”

“How much are bodily fluids worth? Hmmmmmmm. Didn't know there was money in that.”

“~snort~”

“i think it depends which ones nem.... some are more 'valuable' than others. ;)”