Assignment: Optimize This Image

[Gus Cobos]

Assignment: Optimize This Image

Title: “Manhattan Skyline”

This image is straight out of the camera with zero enhancements; green as green can be… Use what post processing steps you feel that is needed to enhance the original. Please briefly explain the steps taken to bring the image up to standards.

The idea and main purpose to this fun exercise is to not only to hone and sharpen our post processing skills and abilities; but also to get into the habit of touching up with a few minor steps only. By doing this day in and day out, it will force us to be more conscious and aware; to compose at least 80 to 90 percent at the time of capture (in camera), before we squeeze the shutter release button. The more aware we become, the more we will be able to paint and create our compositions in camera; and the less post processing we will need…

[Jackie Schuknecht]

This picture was problematic as the steeple (Empire State Building? was smack in the middle of the photo so I left it)

My approach.
Straightening using center building .75 CW rotation (using the vertical marquee tool)
Then a crop
Colour correction using Blur/average/levels/ gray dropper
Noise reduction to the sky
Didn't sharpen as I thought it would increase the noise.

Would have used one shot AF to compose the original shot with the steeple to the left as I found the right hand side more interesting with the river.

[Harold Davis]

slightly cropped to offset the center building, straightened the horizon, corrected distortion, darkened the upper right corner, ran a reverse gradient on the bottom to lighten and add some contrast for sharpening to minimize noise. added just a bit of saturation. not sure it looks as good as jackie's. she did a pretty good job!!!:)

[Harold Davis]

well, i guess i messed it up more than it was. i like what jackie did!! nice one!

[Kerry Perkins]

I went for a slightly warmer color temp and brought up the near-blacks a bit to bring out the buildings. Used a slight CW rotation based on the skyline, then some perspective adjustments to bring the center building back up straight. Used Noise Ninja and very slight Gaussian blur on the sky. Hand-touched the sharpening halo around the center spire.

[Ian McHenry]

Here is my take.
1.Crop, 2.Straighten, 3.Noise Ninja, 4.Levels, 5.Color Variations, 6.Noiseware. 7. Slight sharpen.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[denise ippolito]

I did a crop rotation and cropped so the tower was off-set a little did a surface blur on BG and selectively sharpened some buildings-added some saturation and changed the temp to a little warmer-cloned out some of the clouds and cleaned up halo around top spire- Hope it looks okay- After seeing it posted I should have smoothed out BG better and sharpened the buildings more esp. the LL

[Alfred Forns]

Great thread I was waiting on the different crops ... Ian's was very interesting and one had not even considered !!!

I like this type post a lot !!! Will put one when I get home tonight !!!

[Gus Cobos]

I'm very pleased with the results. Many different possibilities and points of view...keep them coming...don't be shy. all of you are doing well.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Dragged the tower to the left using content aware. It was really bugging me:)

[Gus Cobos]

You hit it on the nose Jackie, well done...:):cool:
What else can be enhanced here? look hard...

[Ian McHenry]

Just like to add I really like Jackie's composition and depth of colour.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I tried to lighten up the blacks and bring out the lights more.

[Gus Cobos]

Good Jackie,
Now you have to go back and fix the vertical window columns on the building to the left of the frame; you made them blurry and wavy for some reason. Look at the original and your first repost, which were intact...:):cool: