RAW edits

[RazorBlade]

Hi all!

Just started experimenting with RAW files - so please, advice/critique/flames welcomed!

Original JPEG from the camera (JPEG+RAW):

http://aquatic-photography.com/gallery/files/2/1/9/TankEdit0.jpg


RAW Edited #1:

http://aquatic-photography.com/gallery/files/2/1/9/TankEdit1.jpg


RAW Edited #2:

http://aquatic-photography.com/gallery/files/2/1/9/TankEdit2.jpg


Camera: NikonD70, WB set to AUTO, tank lighting, no flash. ISO800.
Software: Adobe PhotoShop 6.0

P.S. It's a new tank setup, so the water is pretty cloudy. Oh, and it's going to be one of those 'unnatural' Malawi setups. :) :P

[Schnauzer]

RazorBlade,
I have been using RAW since I got my 20D . I have PSCS but most of the time I use RawShooter essentials to convert to JPEG . It is so easy . You can watch a slide show of your images to pick or delete the ones you want . I particularly like the appearance feature with 7 choices . You can hold over each one and see which one looks the closest to the real thing and then click on that one . I convert to JPEG and deposit them into PSCS with one click . Best of all it free at least for now .

http://www.pixmantec.com/index2.html

[Peligrin]

I like the color of the third version.

[hir0]

i'd say you've done a pretty good color correction. the only thing i might try, since you have exposure comp +-2 is underexposing it a little. the sand looks a bit hot. i'd also recommend getting a front shot, not at and angle, and cropping out the borders.

[RazorBlade]

Thanks for all the comments! I'll try the software out - sounds easier to manage than converting in PS6.0

the only thing i might try, since you have exposure comp +-2 is underexposing it a little. the sand looks a bit hot. i'd also recommend getting a front shot, not at and angle, and cropping out the borders.

Yeah, I would try that. Um, but you do mean that I should so some custom masking and stuff right? If I should do an entire photo -ve exposure adjustment, the coral decor and fishes would be underexposed. Probably you can advise me on this please! :)

On the angle - well, I had a reflection on the glass. I'll try to get a good frontal one later. Thanks for the tip! :)

[paradise]

i'd also recommend getting a front shot, not at and angle, and cropping out the borders.

Agree, Or you can do what I have done, and fix it with Polygonal Lasso / Transform / Distort.

http://aquatic-photography.com/pics/razorblade.jpg

[Peligrin]

:wow: Now that's impressive!

[paradise]

actually quite a simple thing to do :)

[Schnauzer]

Ed ,

Exactly how did you do that ? I found the polygonal lasso but after I had boxed in the area I couldn't get rid of it , it followed me everywhere . Never got to try to find transform / distort .

[RazorBlade]

Nice word Ed - I agree, it's a pretty simple thing to do.

Anyway, anybody got pointers on 'how to correctly expose the sand, while mainting exposure of the other things' hir0 suggested? :)

[Ibn]

I think that has to do with masking...someone else chime in here. Have seen it in action, but never attempted it myself.

[hir0]

Ed ,

Exactly how did you do that ? I found the polygonal lasso but after I had boxed in the area I couldn't get rid of it , it followed me everywhere . Never got to try to find transform / distort .
you can also use the crop tool, then click "perspective", then move the sides to the edges of the glass. Alan did a step by step on this a while back.

[jmwilder]

Anyway, anybody got pointers on 'how to correctly expose the sand, while mainting exposure of the other things' hir0 suggested? :)
I've had problems similar to this when photographing, say, a black statue against a cloudy sky. Because the dynamic range of the camera is exceeded, I end up losing either the detail in the clouds or that in the statue. The solution is to take two exposures, correctly exposing the sky in one and the foreground in the other. One can then use a layer mask in photoshop to blend the appropriately exposed regions of the two exposures together. (Taking a photo in RAW offers some limited ability to do this with a single exposure, provided the highlights aren't blown when correctly exposing for the foreground.)

Here's a tutorial:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml

I haven't had much success doing this. I will say that it is considerably easier when foreground and background are clearly delineated. Having a leafless tree in the foreground with thousands of branches - read, pockets of overexposed whites - makes this more difficult.

[RazorBlade]

Thanks for the tip jmwilder! I'll give it a shot soon! :)

[hir0]

one thing that i do (and this does not always work depending on the lighting) is expose for highlights, and recover shadows in photoshop. if you have the raw file you have +-2 exposure compensation, and you can convert the raw file twice and then try and blend them as well if the compensation is enough for shadows and highlights.

[RazorBlade]

Thanks for the tip hir0 - I'm gonna try it out, and see if I can get the hang of it.

P.S. Or course, I'm also gonna try to shoot some photos with flash at full, 1/2 & 1/4 power and see that I can do with the exposure. :)