If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Hatch1921

Hatch1921

Well-known member
Member's gallery
Hi all,

I wasn't sure where to place this post. There is a post processing forum but it's mostly questions about...you guessed it...post processing.

Since it's wildife...I figured this was as good as place as any.


I have tons of shots sitting collecting digital dust if you will... with the hopes some day our editing tools will allow us to correct the mistakes we made or in these cases, help clean up somewhat complex issues. (complex to me)

In the first shot you can see the doe is right in front of the buck, using the new generative fill tool in Photoshop I was able to remove her and it did a great job with the shape of his neck and fur. The other ladies were pretty simple / easily removed.

In the second image, the buck is actually standing and not bedded down. The weeds/brush were really deep. The sticks were super distracting and in the original shot I didn't frame it very well. I kept the shots from 2019 with the hopes I could do something with them later. It was a little tedious and in some instances, I could remove large sections of the sticks and other times, I had to remove small portions as GF didn't do such a great job. Composition wise, I was able to expand the top and right side of the image by several inches, this allowed me to move the buck off center and to crop in for what I think looks to be a much better composition. I was really impressed on how well GF was able to expand the image seamlessly and to match the fur so well.. it's something I couldn't do back in 2019. The rest is just normal processing.

Have you all gone back to old shots and reworked them since we have some new tools in PS and other applications? Post some of your before and after's.

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome of these two reworked shots. I'm going to have to dig into the archives to see what else I can salvage.

Let me know what you think.

Hatch

01
D850+300PF B&A Edit by hatch1921, on Flickr

02
Nikon D850+300PF+1.7xTC by hatch1921, on Flickr
 
Member's gallery
Hatch1921 said:
Hi all,

I wasn't sure where to place this post. There is a post processing forum but it's mostly questions about...you guessed it...post processing.

Since it's wildife...I figured this was as good as place as any.


I have tons of shots sitting collecting digital dust if you will... with the hopes some day our editing tools will allow us to correct the mistakes we made or in these cases, help clean up somewhat complex issues. (complex to me)

In the first shot you can see the doe is right in front of the buck, using the new generative fill tool in Photoshop I was able to remove her and it did a great job with the shape of his neck and fur. The other ladies were pretty simple / easily removed.

In the second image, the buck is actually standing and not bedded down. The weeds/brush were really deep. The sticks were super distracting and in the original shot I didn't frame it very well. I kept the shots from 2019 with the hopes I could do something with them later. It was a little tedious and in some instances, I could remove large sections of the sticks and other times, I had to remove small portions as GF didn't do such a great job. Composition wise, I was able to expand the top and right side of the image by several inches, this allowed me to move the buck off center and to crop in for what I think looks to be a much better composition. I was really impressed on how well GF was able to expand the image seamlessly and to match the fur so well.. it's something I couldn't do back in 2019. The rest is just normal processing.

Have you all gone back to old shots and reworked them since we have some new tools in PS and other applications? Post some of your before and after's.

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome of these two reworked shots. I'm going to have to dig into the archives to see what else I can salvage.

Let me know what you think.

Hatch

01
D850+300PF B&A Edit by hatch1921, on Flickr

02
Nikon D850+300PF+1.7xTC by hatch1921, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Yes. I’ve reworked a few. I‘ve recently run some through the new version of DXO.
 
Member's gallery
Charles Loy said:
Interesting and well done. What is GF ?
That first buck is an amazing critter - wow, look at that!
Click to expand...
GF=Generative Fill... I was being lazy as I didn't want to type over and over :)

He's pretty, I have a 24x36 of him on the wall in this scene.
6x4 Mule Deer by hatch1921, on Flickr

I need to go back and see if I can improve upon the image and a few others of him using some of the new tools. For instance, the black distracting stick behind him. :) How I missed that in the original edit... who knows.

Thanks for the comments, glad you like the shot.
Hatch
 
Member's gallery
Hatch1921 said:
Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...
Nice scene and great looking Buck!

FWIW, I'd take it a little easier on the contrast and perhaps the sharpening particularly in the face but also the fur looks like it was hit pretty hard with either contrast enhancement, sharpening or both. I'd probably work to pull up some shadow detail around the eyes and leave the overall contrast and sharpening on the face closer to the original shots.

Just my 2 cents on the processing but to my eyes you took it a bit too far.

Great job on the stick removal in that second shot especially around the nose and ear as those are bit tricky.
 
Member's gallery
DRwyoming said:
Nice scene and great looking Buck!

FWIW, I'd take it a little easier on the contrast and perhaps the sharpening particularly in the face but also the fur looks like it was hit pretty hard with either contrast enhancement, sharpening or both. I'd probably work to pull up some shadow detail around the eyes and leave the overall contrast and sharpening on the face closer to the original shots.

Just my 2 cents on the processing but to my eyes you took it a bit too far.

Great job on the stick removal in that second shot especially around the nose and ear as those are bit tricky.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback, Dave. Glad you liked the shots. I think I have the sharpening correct in the print size file, when I reduced them down I resampled using bicubic sharper and looking at the shots... they are a little too sharp. I don't apply global sharpening, typically, I'll use the sharpening tool set to 5-8% for the eyes and other areas of focus. I need to calibrate my monitor... it's been several months and I keep ignoring the reminders, might explain the contrast issues. :)

Thanks again.
Hatch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.