6 replies to this topic

[DaveT]

Someone had posted a photo on ULocal (TV station photo-sharing) requesting identification of a large bird that she thought was some sort of hawk. The photo was of poor quality with really no color showing other than a white patch on the underside of each wing. She had no luck with identification until finally someone did some photo manipulation to bring out color and it was easily identifiable as a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. She posted the modified photo, and I couldn't believe how the original photo with no discernable colors could have been transformed to the reds, browns, and blacks in the final result. My question is, what kind of software allows you to do this, and what specific feature within it allows you to bring out dramatic colors from what seemed to be a 2 tone original. I know basic photo editing like adjusting brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc., but just don't understand how you bring out colors from nothing. It certainly isn't done to that degree by adjusting brightness.

Also, does anyone have recommendations on good free photo editing software? Right now I use Paint Shop Pro 6 which I have had for many years. I also have Olympus Master 2, PMB, IrfanView, and Gimp 2, but haven't been that impressed with them. If you have a recommendation, can you give me some specifics on the features you use for your photo editing? Are there any good tutorials out there on photo editing? Thanks.

[Joejr14]

Has nothing to do with brightness, so to say.

It depends on how bad the image is to begin with. A horribly over-exposed or under-exposed image is helpless---you simply cannot recover any detail or information from black or white. However, when something is not totally over and under-exposed it is possible to get quite a bit of information out (for id purposes....not to salvage a picture for printing).

I use Lightroom and Photoshop (but you're looking at $1000+ for both pieces of software)...if you get them legally. I won't comment any further on that subject....

Lightroom and Photoshop allow you to adjust exposure (not brightness), add fill light, and recover some of the blown highlights. The problem with changing brightness is that you're just adding or taking away light, whereas lightroom and photoshop allow you to control each aspect of it individually.

As for what programs to use...I don't have any helpful advice other than Lightroom and Photoshop. Both programs allow you a free month or trial, so in theory you could delete and re-download every month.

[canon eos]

If you are familiar with using PaintShopPro you may consider upgrading or buying the newest version. And Photoshop Elements is another capable software. Either can be had for under $100. and most of your editing needs can be met with either. Photoshop/CS as Joe mentioned, is very expensive, and an awful lot of what it contains one would likely never need; it's the price you pay for the gold/industry standard!
To achieve results like you witnessed also involves a learning curve.

As for 'free', the software you have is often used, with various results, but going up to either of these ~$100 options is probably a better bet.
Tutorials............Google will bring up many. Many which are free and very good.

[MarjorieB]

I've been taking pictures and selling them for almost three years now, and I have excellent results with Photoshop Elements. I was able to improve my pictures by editing right away, yet it is a powerful program and I still have things to learn. There are only one or two techniques that I've heard other photographers talk about that I haven't been able to do or invent a "close enough" technique, and those are all fairly advanced tricks. A friend of mine recommends GIMP; it seems to be more of a paintshop program, but it looks like you can do a lot, and has the advantage that it is f-r-e-e FREE! My kind of price. :-)

It sounds to me like you want to find the saturation level and boost it a couple of notches. Saturation is the amount of "colored ink"--if you have low saturation, everything looks like black and white withh a little color washed over it; if saturation is normal, the colors are more intense, like a color ink drawing, and if you go really overboard, it can be downright garish, like neon paint.

[LauraC]

I like Nik Color EFX Pro as a plug in for Photoshop Elements (PE) for two filters that I use a lot for bird photos. One is polarization that helps fix some blown out and all aqua looking skies. The other is tonal contrast that adds detail to bird feathers. I use the selection tool in PE and only apply the tonal contrast filter to the bird. Also for water bird photos, if there is no reflection in the water, I prefer to add a chop to the water so I may also apply the tonal contrast to the water. I'd show you a before and after image but I tend to ditch my before photos.

[DaveT]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to go with Photoshop Elements after seeing some of the things that can be done with it. I'll add the plug in that you suggest Laura.

[LindyFish]

Sounds like it is resolved, but I agree.....PS Elements is great