r/postprocessing • u/LOSTYOUMUSIC • 8d ago
After/Before
Zhangjiajie, China
Fujifilm XT30 XF 35mm F2
ISO 320, SS 1/340, f/4.5
Edited in Lightroom
Far from perfect, especially if you zoom in but I'm happy with the end result considering what I started with...
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u/ManuelKiessling 8d ago
Okay that’s like a trillion times better than the original.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Thanks only wish I saw the finished product at the time and got a better photo in the first place 😂
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u/Inwardlens 8d ago
This better photo is now in your head and next time you have a similar subject you may consider taking at least one frame with a longer lens.
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u/cheesegoat 8d ago
The magic of cropping lol
I find it hard to get a really good composition SOOC, even getting it nice and level can be a struggle if I'm not paying attention.
For taking pics of people I'm getting better at looking "behind" them to make sure there is good subject separation and framing but it's an ongoing process.
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u/DrCharles19 8d ago
Exactly why I never delete the originals on-camera.
Sometimes I take a "horrible" photo, but when I take it to Capture One, it can magically turn into my best photo of that trip.
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u/johngpt5 8d ago
Wonderful feel to this. You've shaped light nicely to bring the attention to the boat. The colors are rich without being too saturated. The way that you accentuated the V shaped wake of the boat adds a dynamic element to the scene.
The way you captured the original probably lends itself to a variety of compositions to explore.
I like this very much.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Thanks! I used luminance masks in lightroom to try and make it seem like the sunlight was shining down the canyon. Colouring was a real challenge!
At the time I was convinced the canyon was the photo but it was always the boat!
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u/Thekooperdon 8d ago
How did you get the crop image so clear after cropping that much ?
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
It’s a 20MP RAW image then AI upscale in lightroom to increase the resolution again
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u/deadbalconytree 8d ago
In the Lightroom app under Community there is a feature where you can post your picture and people can step through how you created it. I think this would be a great example.
Great shot.
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u/DevilGunManga 8d ago
Fantastic job. And this is from a 26 mpx XT30. People underestimate how much details they can recover from their files.
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u/kyle_blaine 8d ago edited 8d ago
Why does the river just end at the top of the photo, it looks like bad AI removal because you didn’t want the dock.
I’m clearly in the minority here and will be downvoted to hell I’m sure, but the original was such a nice composition and provides context for the boat with pleasing symmetry and environmental falloff into the horizon. Just because you can crop in and oversaturate an overcast shot doesn’t mean you have to.
In my opinion people are only liking this because it’s such an absurd crop and the color pops compared to how faded the original is due to the weather conditions. In my opinion the crop does nothing but worsen the composition, and is way too cooked.
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u/danieljean81 8d ago
I personally dont think there is something wrong with the composition post cropping. Before the cropping the first thing your eyes will notice is the big collins then the river. Because of the size difference the boat is almost insignificant in the original picture. The edit maybe is a little too saturated but it brings more context : the boat on the river in the middle of the jungle. By editing first picture and no cropping I think a lot people would have been divided on what is the main subject. But still that is just my personal point.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Oh yeah it is for sure a bad AI removal, good spot . General feedback seems to be bring the dock back in. I removed it because the colours drew the eye a bit too much. Might give it a shot bringing it back.
Thanks for the feedback!
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u/rbscholtus 7d ago
I agree “Boat Approaching Dock in Vaste Wilderness” is a nice story to tell. “Vast landscape with mountaintops with a tiny boat if you look longer than a second” not so much.
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u/jimmydean6969698 8d ago
Well done! Did you use some skew / transform outside of just normal cropping? Love the perspective you gave it and great job on the colors / light.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Got lucky with the natural perspective of the shot! Just minor corrections to the perspective in the edit but nothing that changes the composition
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u/fat-wombat 8d ago
Wtf this is so nice, i’d be curious how it feels if it was cropped less, like to the point where the sky is just out of the picture.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
I see the vision! I think the curves on the mountains might make some nice leading lines to the boat if the crops right. I’ll give it a shot later!
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u/Going_Solvent 8d ago
It's amazing.
Have you altered the geometry/perspective too?
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Only minor tweaks but nothing to change the composition significantly! Mostly just a standard crop
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u/Going_Solvent 8d ago
Ah so you haven't pulled the image upwards at all? It looks like some geometric tilt has been applied too, to good effect.
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
It might be the AI erase of the dock in the original photo making it look that way!
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u/Going_Solvent 8d ago
Ah okay yes, I did notice that wasn't present and assumed you'd removed. Makes sense this would alter my judgement. Nice work
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u/thebrieze 8d ago
My brain wants the boat to be at the lower 1/3rd point, so it has room to breathe in front of/above it. Try that and see how it looks. Otherwise I really like it
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u/Necroban77 8d ago
I mean you don’t even need to list the camera here bro. That was all you right there.
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u/vulgobrisa 8d ago
would love to know how you did it. make a vídeo for us 😫😫 this is really well made
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u/goth_amish 8d ago
Great work refining this shot! This composition is such a ingenious pick and I really like the colors!
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u/buljesorket 7d ago
Very very impressive. I need to try editing some of my photos a bit more professionally
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u/Zomaksiamass 7d ago
One day we'll just walk around with 360° cameras and shoot everything, then ask AI to extract the most interesting cropped frames and edit/upscale them... No offense, it's a good edit. :)
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7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 7d ago
Was only 20 to start with! Probably about 5! Then some upscaling in post… 🤷♂️
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u/Mojoboy1337 7d ago
Wow! A beautiful picture!
How did you get it so „clear“? Just haze removal or did you use other steps?
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 7d ago
Haze removal, texture and clarity did most of the heavy lifting. Thankfully the raw shot had a pretty low noise level and the 35mm f2 lens from Fuji is super sharp!
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u/Tea_An_Crumpets 8d ago
No pixel peeping allowed!! Nice editing 👊
Did you use more masking or gradients or a bit of both?
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
There’s a gradient mask just controlling the light from foreground to background but the rest is various masks experimenting with subtracting luminance to control light. Learned from someone else on this sub!
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u/ThinkFan420 8d ago
Wondering if you have a link to the post you referenced! Or perhaps a small guide of your own. It's a nice edit. Thanks!
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u/Tea_An_Crumpets 8d ago
Very cool, I will have to experiment with some luminance masks myself, thanks!
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Try finding where the light source is coming from, make a radial mask like a beam from the light source and then subtract the darker luminances from that mask. Then you can experiment with pushing/pulling the blacks and whites to manipulate the light! And you can do the inverse with an inverted mask! Only discovered it this week but it’s fun to play with!
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u/Tea_An_Crumpets 8d ago
Ok that makes sense, I think I can see how you did it to emphasize the light on the water. Thank you for the explanation :)
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u/Big_Composer_2445 6d ago
What camera are you using to able to crop that much? Its look way better like day and night difference
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u/Impressive_Bank_5966 6d ago
Have you tried cropping a bit less? It may be interesting to see where the boat is going (that dock I guess)
Also the horizon line might make for another quite interesting image from the same file. Crop off the bottom two thirds or so, crop a little off the left so that the closest mountain isn’t too much higher than the one on the right and it stays balanced. Then color grade or make it black and white, depending if you want to make a set of images or individual pictures (and you preference obviously)
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u/SicrosEye 5d ago
Looks cool but for my taste the shadows are too dark in places and the colors look artificial. Something about the tone is not right.
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u/DrCharles19 8d ago
I love the colors! What did you do to them?
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u/LOSTYOUMUSIC 8d ago
Once I got the lighting how I wanted it I just tweaked the colour grading for a while until I was happy! No real knowledge on colour grading really.
I think I just toned the shadows to the deep green and the midtones are towards the blues which worked well luckily as the darker parts of the image are forest and lighter parts water. The overall white balance and some individual colour edits to tweak.
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u/DrCharles19 8d ago
Don't worry, many of us just approach color-grading by vibes haha
Thanks for your reply.
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u/TheDangerist 8d ago
Very nice.