| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand |
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Posted on 11/04/21 1:08:52 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Well Mr Sinclair you have provoked a most interesting and instructive half hour! For various reasons, (Y Axis Waveform Scope being one of them), on the rare occasions I do photo post processing, I almost always use Affinity Photo. Because I use Photoshop almost entirely for compositing and very little for photo post processing I have neglected using the Shadows/Highlight filter. So I went on a study tour. It's really useful! This also led me to the even more interesting discovery that from Photoshop you can open not just RAW files but more or less any filetype in Camera Raw with its far more sophisticated image adjustments and apply it as a smart filter. Amazingly, after all these years, I hadn't realised this either. I have always held to the view that Photoshop is so complex that it quite simply isn't worth trying to learn all the tools, many of which you will hardly ever, if ever, need. I have always stuck to the idea that it is best to get really good at just the tools that suit your working method and needs and learn to be able to exploit a quite simple tool set to its absolute best. In this case that has caused me to miss out. As you observed last week, one never stops learning! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/04/21 1:10:58 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Michael I forgot to say I like the sand worm idea. Were you a reader of Herbert's Dune books when you were younger? I loved them! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/04/21 2:44:18 PM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1821 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
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Posted on 11/04/21 2:50:07 PM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1821 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Hmmm, Mr Macdonald how can I explain that "post editing" in Photoshop is the life blood that actually can make things more realistic. Pictures speak louder than words: making a myth that "the camera never lies". Ok here are two images of deepest Shropshire I took some years ago: the first is "authentic" in that it is what the camera saw without any adjustments. The second image is after Shadows and Highlights, Sharpening, and Topaz adjust (using the "mid-details" setting) were used. NB: by clicking on the last image you can really start to see the exquisite detail in the much-enlarged presentation. 
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Posted on 11/04/21 3:10:50 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
David, you have done a great job in record time on your entry and my request for some sunlight was very tongue-in-cheek. Disregard. Interesting that you prefer Affinity for some things.
I use Affinity all the time. It has far more tools than I need so I too stick to the ones I know give good results. I wouldn't go back to Photoshop now even if it were free. |
Posted on 11/04/21 3:31:30 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
That's impressive Michael. Don't misunderstand me. I am not against post processing per. se. Of course not. I've used it extensively in my job for years and years. I like to try and achieve close to what I intended, or what I saw, when I first pressed the shutter release. Surprisingly that can often require extensive post. The example you have posted is exactly how I think it is best used. In this particular case it is more in the nature of what I would call a rescue. What I really like to take reality and nudge it just a touch further down its 'natural' path to make it more dramatic. What I don't like is using post to 'style' an image to give it a 'look'. To take it somewhere it never was in the first place. Of course this is just my personal taste. Many might call it somewhat prejudiced and blinkered ............ which maybe it is. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/04/21 3:53:19 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3893 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Just one more 
_________________ Time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana. |
Posted on 11/04/21 5:55:40 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
What's Neuschwanstein doing with a French flag on top? Living dangerously Gordon ......... _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/04/21 6:03:35 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
I found Affinity a bit frustrating in certain terms for compositing and definitely prefer Photoshop for that. But for post processing images I prefer Affinity. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 12/04/21 10:44:59 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Affinity can be a bit clunky at times. It's still in beta I think. I am offered a (free) upgrade every couple of months and things are slowly getting better. It does everyting I want it to do and much more. What do you mean by compositing? |
Posted on 12/04/21 12:41:40 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5365 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Exactly the kind of stuff we do here. Inventing and assembling images from other images. As opposed to post processing - the finishing, fine tuning, or even transformation, of a single photograph. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 12/04/21 2:34:34 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Digging for Fish Bait
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Posted on 12/04/21 11:56:53 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3016 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Very nice Mariner... |
Posted on 12/04/21 11:59:05 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3016 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
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Posted on 13/04/21 00:46:23 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Thanks, Loyd. Perhaps it's a bit prosaic. 
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Posted on 14/04/21 03:39:50 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
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Posted on 15/04/21 04:25:32 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
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Posted on 15/04/21 05:53:53 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2157 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Not very excited about this weeks challenge, and I feel it shows in my entry. The Clam-Dig  Clam-dig_________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 15/04/21 08:32:58 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2921 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
You and loyd are on the same wavelength, Vibeke. Maybe on Friday Steve will publish a challenge aimed at you! |
Posted on 15/04/21 11:37:35 AM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1821 Reply |
Re: Challenge 852: Digging in the sand
Michael I like the last one: good lighting 
Vibeke, it might be prosaic, but again you have accomplished a very realistic entry: it looks very natural; moreover, I can't tell it's been photoshopped, so I'm sure the site owner will be of a similar opinion.  |
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