HAP & PSP ~ Ouch!

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Folks:
They say, "There's no fool like an old fool." Must be some merit to that statement, otherwise why would someone run afoul of the HAP ? PSP (Photo Shop Police) at the same time? Let me confess what I did. It was 7 am, beautiful sunny day with sun behind me when I took some photos of a Gambel's Quail peeking up over the roof about 16' away making calls to the gals in the neighborhood. I opened this photo in ACDsee Photo Manager 10 ($50)because it's crop opens with a Rule of Thirds grid (Only other program I know that has it open with crop is Lightroom2 ($300). While in ACDsee I resized it. Saved it as a PSD file. Nothing else. Photo #1, warts and all, has not an iota of enhancement, nada!

Olympus E-520, Zuiko 70-300 ED
Aperture Priority F/5.6, 1/400s
200 ISO
0.00ev
Auto WB
600 mm focal length, Hand Held

[Gus Hallgren]

I then opened Photo #1 in Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 ($49 Upgrade, $79 Full, both with free goodies} After opening in X2, all I did was click "Adjust>One Step Photo Fix," then saved it as "Photo_2.PSD".

[Gus Hallgren]

Then I clicked "Image>Picture Frame" where I had 88 Picture Frames to choose from (More free Picture Frames & Picture Tubes for registering X2)Chose one. Now in Layers showing "Picture Frames" and "Background" ~ I selected Picture Frame layer, clicked "Effects>Photo Effects>Sepia toning." Being familiar with CS3 I saved it as a PSD file so it would open in CS3 with Layers preserved. I then opened Photo #3 in CS3, selected "Background" Layer, opened "Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask," gave in minimum sharpening of 125/0.4/0 . . . Saved it. Then clicked "File>Save For web & Devices", adjusted quality under 200 kb and saved as a jpg. . . . A lot of talk, but very little actual work. . . . Uncle Gus aka Windy.
BTW: X2 is a terrific program many improvements over PS in many options. EG: When cloning, Source is right mouse click only, and shows as actual size you are using, all undo's under Edit is "Undo Clone", for every undo, not "Step back." Want any info, just holler gush@cox.net

[Gus Cobos]

Uncle Gus,
Hehehe...:p:D I'm going to put a good word in for you with the H.A.P...:) After looking at this image several times, I must say that I like it...Its bold, up close and in your face. Even though the angle of capture is steep; and the birds head should be looking down, I forgive you...:p:D I like the s-curve that is formed along the neck going down the body. The bird is properly placed, and balanced in frame. You have good sharp details and good color rendition. The baby blue sky makes him pop...Congratulations...I like it...good show Uncle Gus...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[Harold Davis]

uncle gus, you are a wealth of knowledge!! and a great tutor!! like the treatment. pretty cool. your bird seems to have a bluish cast to it. i think it might benefit from at least desaturating that blue sky! thanks for the info. often wondered if paint shop pro was worth investigating!!

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Harold:

Thanks for your C&C, you always hit the nail on the head. Took #2 in to CS3 (See that CS4 is near to being released) and desaturated blue about -90.

Paint Shop Pro has been the tool of Stationery fans for years, and they have been doing amazing things with it. X2 has same coloring scheme as Lightroom2, and with learning panel turned on, every tool has complete instructions how to use it. When Corel bought it from Jasc four versions ago they have handed their knowledge down to Paint Shop Pro, and X2 is amazing. Many of PS's tools are improved in X2. There are tons of tutorials on the web, and many will blow your mind. :D

Best regards

Uncle Gus

[Alfred Forns]

Good threat !!! I like the suggestions and fixes. Good to note to look at over saturation in certain colors. Blues at times look electric !!!

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Guys:

Went back & took a different tack to reduce Blue cast. This time in H&S used Master to desat about -30, then added a couple of points of dark on Brightness slider, Then Curves, in Preset down arrow, chose Linear Contrast, clicked on bottom point, tapped down arrow a couple of taps to slightly darken it, then OK. Clicked Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask, used tiny amount 25/0.2/0 clicked OK and reduced size below 200 KB & saved as jpg. I think it removed most of blue cast?? . . . Uncle Gus

[Amy DeStefanis]

I was gonna say - where are the BC police (Blue Cast). That seems to be a common theme these days....

The last post looks a little dingy to me. I like the previous one better. I do like the capture, and because of the close proximity, the head angle turns out to add interest..... :)

Amy D.

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi Amy;
The BC police are in British Columbia where I was born 84 years ago :D At that time the RCMP!!
I like your BCP to add to HAP & company . . . My choice of redo is the same as yours!!

Keep smiling

Uncle Gus :)

[Amy DeStefanis]

Hi Amy;
The BC police are in British Columbia where I was born 84 years ago :D At that time the RCMP!!
I like your BCP to add to HAP & company . . . My choice of redo is the same as yours!!

Keep smiling

Uncle Gus :)

Does that mean we have a nickname for the BCP? If we say "Mounties", we can really confuse people! ("Why do these Mounties care so much about blue cast???").

:)