Originally Posted by
Morkel Erasmus
This does look better, Steve.
I would be careful of just sticking to a "recipe" for each and every shot. The BIGGEST learning curve in post-processing (and we are all continuously learning), is to be able to recognise WHAT the image needs, and then WHEN to fit it into the workflow so it has the optimal effect. I like using filters, but more often than not the filters do more to an image than what is necessary...now you go and stack a bunch of filter "recipes" on each other and it can only be a roadmap for a processing holocaust. I am sorry if this sounds strong - but as you yourself has said you want to grow in this area and "tame this beast", you will have to let go of some of the "recipes" you picked up along the way. Obviously not all of them are bad...it's just applying them in moderation, and IMHO learning to achieve the same result in PS without having an automated action do it for you is the best way to learn how to handle your pixels. Sorry for the rant. Just giving it to you straight up. :w3
(BTW I love Nik filters and plugins. Do I use them on each and every image? Hardly :Whoa!:)