Highlighting the creative magic behind post-processed photos
Today is ABFriday AND the reveal of February’s ABFriday One Photo Focus photo! What is One Photo Focus? It’s the first ABFriday of each month when all participants edit the same photo. Pretty cool, huh? Check out January’s 1PF (just made up this shorthand); it was a blast!
In a nutshell, here’s how it works:
- The photo to be edited is revealed in the ABF post two weeks in advance.
- If you’d like to join in, email me at visualventuring@gmail.com. I will send you links to the full-sized RAW and jpeg files. Download the one you wish.
- Email me your “after” image no later than midnight EST Wednesday, February 4, two days prior to the post.
A time zone converter and all the important submission details are on the After-Before Friday Forum page, as are the details for participating in “regular” ABFriday posts. Come along and join us in one or the other (or both) – we’re a pretty fun group!
Okay, where is the photo? Well, as with all good things, it comes at the end of this post. I mean, really, there are amazing galleries of after-before photos submitted this week for you to see! But first things first: Welcome to our newest ABF participant: Nancy Merrill (nancy merrill photography), and as always, welcome back to our regulars.
My submission: This week, I decided to post-process outside the box and create 2 stylized photos from one fairly bland photo of a sentry box (“guerite” in Spanish) on San Juan’s fortified wall. One takes a fine art approach; the other, well, think old-time horror movie. To do this, I relied on Nik Color Efex Pro 4. For those unfamiliar with the program, the video will walk you through the steps I took.
Submitted by Robin Kent — PhotographybyKent
Robin says: My submission this week was taken five years ago this week in West Virginia’s Blackwater Falls State Park. The stream is Shays Run, just below Elakala Falls. And if you think it looks cold, you are right.
Submitted by Katie Prior — Drawing with Light
Katie says: For this week’s ABFriday post, I have been playing about with some old prints I took quite a few years back. I scanned and edited them using Lightroom by cropping and cleaning up the image. This is not one for the purists!
Submitted by Sabina — Victim To Charm
Sabina says: This photo was taken from my car window as I was making a three-point turn–naturally, I wasn’t quite focused on the quality of light. I used Photoshop to transform it from dreadfully backlit to appropriately exposed, so now viewers can actually see one of Portland’s more iconic landmarks.
Submitted by Emilio Pasquale — Photos by Emilio
Emilio says: No, this is not a ride in Disneyland. This is a ride in Las Vegas Nevada. OK, it’s not a ride, it’s the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. But if given half a chance, they’ll take you for a ride!
Submitted by Nancy Merrill – nancy merrill photography
Nancy says: This image was taken in Nikon RAW (NEF) format, so I began by enhancing the image in the RAW converter in PhotoShop. I bumped up the exposure, contrast, whites, clarity, and vibrance and bumped down the shadows and blacks. Once the image was open in PhotoShop, I added additional contrast, created a layer that let me fade the color on the background and erased the foreground image with a soft brush it to let it come through. I then added a layer between the contrast and fade layers to sharpen the foreground image, including some minor adjustments on the shadows and some major ones on the highlights.
Submitted by Janice Meyers Foreman — jmeyersforeman photography
Janice says: I wanted to keep the post this week simple, most images featured on my blog have very little post processing, but the last few images featured on friday’s after-before have been the exception, so this week I am back to simple images!
Submitted by Loré Dombaj — Snow’s Fissures and Fractures
P.S. I just couldn’t resist, so I created another after, with a little sparkle of drama. I cropped the original ever so slightly, to make it more tight and then I went wild. Just a little bit.
Submitted by Mary Hone — Tales from the Backroad
Submitted by Benjamin Rowe — Aperture64
Ben says: This week one magnificent building now in disrepair.
Submitted by Amy — The World Is a Book
Amy says: This was captured with SS 1/2000 second. The duck flew up unexpectedly. Luckily, I had my camera set ahead of time. I wasn’t sure that I captured the action. When I open the file, I was okay with the result, considering it was the second time that I tried to capture the flying bird.
Finally, February’s One Photo Focus Photo!
Submitted by Manal Ali — A Single Shutter
A foggy BT Tower, London
Please click on the links of those who contributed this week, to read about their post-processing steps and/or to see what other treasures they have on their blogs. They’d love to have you visit!
So what do you think of the ABFriday forum?
Feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comment section. And don’t forget to view the guidelines if you want to participate. I’d love to have you onboard!
Visual Venturing 
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