Trying Some Photo Manip

[unforth]

So I got my hands on a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, as it seems to be decent software for doing this kind of thing, and I was able to get it at no cost. Win. So I thought I'd try to see what I can do with a picture - I went with the the pic of the sunset over the Thames.


Here's the original:


Manip 1: Exposure to -2.76; Fill Light to 83


Manip 2: Recovery to 100; Contrast to 62; Clarity to 100


Manip 3: Recovery to 100; Vibrance to 86; Saturation to -21


Manip 4: Exposure to -.67, Recovery to 100; Brightness to 79; Contrast to 41; Clarity to 100; Vibrance to 33; Saturation to 38


Manip 5: Recovery to 100; Fill Light to 21; Blacks to 6; Brightness to 18; Contrast to 18; Clarity to 100; Green Hue to 88; Aqua hue to 36; Blue hue to 40


Manip 6: Exposure to -2.19; Recovery to 32; Brightness 93; Contrast -4; Clarity 100; Vibrance 14; Saturation 17; Yellow Hue 14; Green Hue 60; Blue Hue 19; Yellow Saturation 81; Green Saturation 55; Aqua Saturation 40; Blue Saturation 43


Manip 7: Recovery to 100; Brightness 36; Contrast -21; Clarity 100; Green Hue 71; Blue Hue 14; Yellow Saturation 31; Green Saturation 76; Aqua Saturation 14; Blue Saturation 17; Red Primary Hue 100; Red Primary Saturation 40; Green Primary Hue: 100; Green Primary Saturation 69; Blue Primary Hue -21; Blue Primary Saturation 33


So, I'm going to stop there. Obviously, there's a lot of things I can do to a picture. I think that pretty much all of the manips look at least a little better (more crisp, less washed out) than the original. That said, I would love to market my photos as unmanipulated. All in all, I imagine this post makes it clear that I have no clue what I'm doing...

So I'm taking a look at all of these. I like the ones that draw out the green of the tree leaves, and that increase the saturation of the blue of the sky and the yellow gold of the sunset. I like the crispness of the clouds in Manip 2, and I like that all of the manips bring out sun rays while reducing the saturation of the sun. Looking at all of them, I think my favorites are Manip 2 and Manip 7. Manip 5 is not bad either. I kept worrying that I was making them too dark, but looking at the progression, I think that actually I ended up making most of them too bright.

Since the idea was to do a few manips and print them all, I was thinking that I'd try printing out the original, Manip 2, and Manip 5. I think these two manips look the most natural while emphasizing different elements of the photo.

But...I could really, really use some input. :)

Comments

[unforth.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent point, and not one I'd really considered. I could kind of sense that my attachment to "unmanipulated" was silly, but couldn't put my finger on why - I think you've nailed in on the head. I can't count the number of times I've been frustrated by my inability to get the camera to accurately reflect the colors I see in front of me. :)