Highlighting the creative magic behind post-processed photos

Biggest week yet for ABFriday! 1 video and 6 photo galleries from 6 photographers. If you’d like to participate, guidelines are on the After-Before Friday Forum page. NOTE: For those viewing the post in the Reader, if the slideshows don’t load, please visit the original post.

Thanks so much to those of you who have submitted your photos in these first six weeks, as well as to those who have been supporters of the Forum along the way! ABFriday has certainly helped me learn about the possibilities post-processing offers, and I’m becoming more comfortable creating and sharing my work via video. Wondering how to make your own screen recordings? Mac users can use the pre-installed QuickTime platform; PC users aren’t so lucky, but I found a great program called My Screen Recorder 4 (note: it’s an instant download, though I had to pay $50 USD for it). WordPress offers a video storage upgrade, but I load mine directly to YouTube for no cost.

My submission: This week, I’m taking a photo from a recent post and showcasing basic post-processing steps, using adjustments in the Basics, Details, and Effects Panels.

I’ve also included the after and before images.

Square Shadows (After)

Square Shadows (Before)

Submitted by Benjamin Rowe — aperture64

Sun House (After) by Benjamin Rowe, aperture64

Sun House (Before) by Benjamin Rowe, aperture64

Ben says: The image was taken in a park near Lowicz in Poland. This was a green house that has been converted into a sun house for people to sunbathe in. I took the picture because the deck chairs and the pebbles reminded me of pictures in travel brochures of sunny Mediterranean beaches, yet it is contained in an old building.

I processed the image as a HDR because I wanted the brightness of the room and the exposure for the landscape outside. I used Lightroom, Photomatix and Photoshop to edit this shot.

Submitted by Karen Chengelis — KCinAZ

kcinaz-after-oil-plant

Oil Plant (Before) by Karen Chengelis, KC in AZ

Karen says: This picture was taken with an iPhone as Gus and I were exploring the area between Galveston and Houston TX.  We wanted to create a picture of an industrial sort to put in a special frame at our cabin.  I’ve been working on this in my spare time since the trip which was in May of 2013.  Here is what’s been done to the picture from what I remember.  I’ve posted an earlier work in progress in Feb 2014 but not shown a before and after.  This version has had much more work done on it.  It is almost finished and then will be ready to print.  It is going into a custom frame that was created from the rear window of an early model car.

1. Duplicate the image and flip it so that it becomes much wider.
2. Remove the electrical lines in the center as they were no longer in perspective.
3. Change to sepia and bumped up browns.
4. Create a dark cloudy background.  This caused a lot of work because of pixilation.  Here is where the time consuming work was done to remove any remaining pixilation between the original image and the background.
5. Turn on the lights everywhere in the new image.  If I remember right first I used the small brush to color with yellow, then another star small brush tool to create illusion of flickering.
6. Used the burn tool to deepen some of the shadows on the structures.

[Note: I encourage readers to visit Karen’s February post about this photo.]

Submitted by Robin Kent — PhotographybyKent

Medici Fountain (After) by Robin Kent, PhotographybyKent

Medici Fountain (Before) by Robin Kent, PhotographybyKent

Robin says: This image is a detail of the Medici Fountain, located in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. The fountain, in desperate need of a major clean-up and repair, nevertheless is a popular stop for tourists. When there is nice weather, many locals take advantage of the well-shaded chairs and benches along the long rectangular pool which is not shown in the tightly cropped “After” image. For me, the neglected state of the structure with its moss-covered stones seemed to enhance the horrific theme of the central group of statues.

The weather, bright and sunny, was not in my favor and I had time only for a few quick shots. But I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see if the original image could be infused with the darker mood I saw in the sculpture. I made some adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw, then moved into Photoshop CC for the final steps. I’m not entirely satisfied with the results, and would be interested in feedback from readers of this post.

 Submitted by Emilio Pasquale — Photos By Emilio

(After) Emilio Pasquale, Photos by Emilio

(Before) Emilio Pasquale, Photos by Emilio

Emilio says: “It was a dark and stormy night….” Actually, it was an overcast but warm afternoon in Encinitas, California. My wife and I were driving around a neighborhood two blocks up from the beach when we came upon this sight. The “boats” have never been to sea but were built in the late 1920’s using timber salvaged from a local bathhouse and a hotel. The Preservation Association purchased the houses in 2008 and currently rent both out as private dwellings. Shot with a Canon EOS Rebel T2i, all post processing was accomplished using Lightroom 5.4.

 Submitted by Jaime Perez — My Photolanguage

(After) Jaime Perez, My Photolanguage

(Before) Jaime Perez, My Photolanguage

Jaime says: This week, I converted last week’s photo into B&W, using Photoshop.

 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!