Hi All,
I have an image that is going to be published and it was shot very hastily at ISO 1250, f20, 1/160 on a very sunny day. I had been shooting in a very dark environment and didn't realize I hadn't changed my settings. It's not really soft but it has a weird look to it that I can't really explain. It does end up looking softish. The photo is of a sculpture. Perhaps I did focus on a curb instead of the sculpture. Either way I'm trying to figure out how to make it look better.
I'll attach a detail of it.
I appreciate your help.
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Well, I'm not sure how helpful this is! I brightened it and darkened the blown sky as much as possible (the sky should really be replaced), but there's too much digital noise, due to the ISO issue, for me to do much more. There are noise reduction programs, but they usually result in a loss of detail. Anyway, here's what I came up with for what it's worth:
I had a few minutes to spare, so I took the trouble to replace the blown-out sky. That alone makes a lot of difference.
But there's a few more things. The main problem here is actually flare, which gives a blue color cast in the shadows. Hard to put your finger on, but very disturbing. This is exaggerated by the high ISO, which tends to mess up the black point. In this case the black point is shifted towards purple.
So I did two things here: One, neutralized the black point and removed the blue/purple cast in the low end, and two, Increased local contrast here and there with a soft brush.
I didn't touch the noise, which may not be a big problem in print.
silvia1169 wrote
Could you elaborate on how you did these things.....
Here's neutralizing the black point, easier illustrated in the histogram than explaining:
It's easily done with a Levels layer, and this will surprisingly often remove unpleasant color casts and make the image "snap". If you have strong colors it may be masked by gamut clipping, but in that case you can select a neutral area to isolate.
silvia1169 wrote
Any ideas on how to conquer the noise? Is there a way to mask the noise reduction so as not to get rid of the detail?
This was done with the Topaz DeNoise AI plugin, see settings below. (I took the liberty of using D Fosse's version for this)
They have a free trial, which I think is fully functional.
Unfortunately this plugin will sharpen some detail, even with Enhance sharpness set to 0. Since the image seems to have been sharpened, this produces some ugly artifacts on the rocks on the right hand side.
I did the noise reduction on a copy of the background layer, and it would be possible to use a layer mask to reduce the artifacts.
Does the publisher need the full image? If the image is about the sculpture, then that loose crop is not really adding anything. In fact that building in the top right corner is a huge distraction. I bet that now I have pointed it out, you will have a problem trying to 'not' see it. The overall quality is not terrible IMO — I have seen way way worse quality images in magazines.
There are ways to cheat outlines. You could make a clipping path of the sculpture, for instance, and use it firm the edges by cloning inside and outside the resulting selection.
That would be a bit of work, but what II did below is let Photoshop select the sculpture with Select Subject.
Refine the selection and output to new layer with layer mask.
Give the mask a tiny blur (I used 1.5% Gaussian blur)
Harden up the layer mask with levels.
Ctrl click to harden the mask giving it sharp edges. You need to go as far as you can while retaining enough aa to prevent jaggies)
Ctrl click the layer mask to load as a selection
Then use the clone tool on a new layer inside and outside the select to give it the appearance of being very sharp.
https://forums.adobe.com/people/D+Fosse wrote
Trevor.Dennis wrote
If the image is about the sculpture, then that loose crop is not really adding anything. In fact that building in the top right corner is a huge distraction.
I'm not sure I agree. A bit of context is always good - unless of course it's a complete visual mess. But it's not here. In fact, I'd like to see the crop extended on the right, to include a little more.
I see what you are saying Dagg. The spatial relationship of the low socioeconomic structure, juxtaposed with the allusion of the whale woman and seahorse, is a reflection of the hopeless nature of the post-Trump macrocosm. The subtle assimilation of white marble into a dark backdrop is cleverly accomplished by the intentional use of deficient photographic technique creating a metaphorical resonance symbolic of an apocalyptic destiny.
I don't know why I didn't see it before matey. 
Trevor.Dennis wrote
I don't know why I didn't see it before matey.
I didn’t see that before, either, Trevor...
!!!
But I do see it now. 
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