Highlighting the creative magic behind post-processed photos

Four weeks from today, After-Before Friday will reach it’s half-year mark, and to celebrate, we have a very special post planned!  Wondering what it is? Make sure to visit next week, as it will be revealed. In the meantime, if you wish to join in the Forum, guidelines are on the After-Before Friday Forum page. As always, thanks to all for this week’s wonderful after-before galleries!

My submission: The photo I’m showcasing this week is one I shot last March while on a college visit road trip into the northeastern United States with my daughter. While visiting the University of Vermont, we were told that Lake Champlain had actually frozen over enough to walk on. We spent quite a few hours walking on water, and I took many photos of the sunset (sadly, none of which turned out well at all). This one of the Spirit of Ethan Allen, however, was one I could rescue with a bit of post-processing. Looking at my metadata, I see my exposure was set to “pattern” and the camera did it’s job of rendering the scene in varying shades of gray.  Today, I set my camera to spot metering, expose on midtones, and check my highlights (well, at least I try to expose on midtones – I’m still developing my eye for neutral tones). In the meantime, I will always have Lightroom to help me along!

Spirit of Ethan Allen (After), Stacy Fischer, Visual Venturing

Spirit of Ethan Allen (Before), Stacy Fischer, Visual Venturing

Submitted by Robin Kent — PhotographybyKent

Giverny (After), Robin Kent, PhotographybyKent

Giverny (Before), Robin Kent, PhotographybyKent

Robin says: My submission for this week’s Forum was taken a few years ago in Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France. It was a cloudy day which can be really helpful for photographing flowers and, as usual, the gardens were crowded with visitors so the best strategy was to search for individual blooms. This little fellow was seemingly calling out for a portrait so I gave it a try. The “Before” image is the original RAW file with no adjustments. The “After” image was adjusted in Adobe Camera Raw and only one final step was taken in Photoshop. The details can be seen at my post here.

Submitted by Loré Dombaj — Snow’s Fissures and Fractures

(After), Loré Dombaj, Snow's Fissures and Fractures

(Before), Loré Dombaj, Snow's Fissures and Fractures

Loré says: Crop – done. Rotate – done. Remove few spots – done. Send photos to Stacy – done. (For more elaborate post and silly account of me lying on the ground taking the photo and my dog lying right beside me check my blog.)

Submitted by Jaime Perez — My Photolanguage

(After), Jaime Perez, My Photolanguage

(Before), Jaime Perez, My Photolanguage

Jaime says:  My photo for this ABFriday Week 22 is also from my recent stop in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. It is a monument to the Spanish Jesuit and missionary priest Pedro Claver who, due to his life and work, during Spanish colony times, became the patron saint of slaves.

Simple changes in edition, with a particular intent which I’d like to see if it makes sense through the audience appreciation.

Submitted by Janice Meyers Foreman — jmeyersforeman photography

(After), Janice Meyers Foreman, jmeyersforeman photography

(Before), Janice Meyers Foreman, jmeyersforeman photography

Visit Janice’s blog post for details on her post-processing.

Submitted by Benjamin Rowe — aperture64

(After) Benjamin Rowe, Aperture 64

(Before), Benjamin Rowe, Aperture 64

Ben says: Last week I went to The Light Move Festival in my city of Lodz. The festival is great fun and there were a lot of photo opportunities and this is one of them. Taken from freedom square looking down the main street of the city.

 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!