# The power of photoshop



## Ra1n (Oct 17, 2011)

Hey people, I am a newbie here so please play nice. Anyway, here is a photo that was heavily photoshoped by me. Do help me to see where I can improve. Cheers! 







Action figures used are from the movie Real Steel.


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## PhotoWrangler (Oct 17, 2011)

What part of the photo did you 'heavily photoshop', and what specifically are you requesting help on?


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## Ra1n (Oct 17, 2011)

I took a week to photoshop the colour and the blur in the background as you can see from the picture and I was wanting to ask you professionals where I can improve in the picture in photoshop (like colour temp, contrast ect.) Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## SteffJay (Oct 17, 2011)

did you blur the action figure too, or was it out of focus to begin with?

the punch in the photo is completely out of focus now.


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## Ra1n (Oct 17, 2011)

I did use photoshop to blur the picture but it was just a micro adjustment. Or it could be that the aperture was too small cos my settings was at f/4... Now that you found that fault, how should I sharpen that area in photoshop?


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## Bitter Jeweler (Oct 17, 2011)

You can't.


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## JAC526 (Oct 17, 2011)

The best advice I can give you is to get as much right as possible in camera.

By right I mean the following:

What are you trying to convey in your shot?

What is the subject.  IMHO in this shot the punch should be the subject.  If that is the case why blur it out?  It should be sharp.

The better the shot is straight out of camera the better it will be after post too.

Post can fix some things....but not others.


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## Ra1n (Oct 17, 2011)

Thanks guys, been a great help. Gonna redo the shot again. Just a question, for this situation, should I use manual focus or auto focus?


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## JAC526 (Oct 17, 2011)

Manual focus for sure.  If you have the time and a tripod you'll have a better chance at having everything sharp.


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## Derrel (Oct 17, 2011)

Unless this began as a photo of two Barbie dolls, I cannot understand how you managed to spend a week on Photoshopping this, and winding up with an out of focus shot of one robot kickin' another robot's a$$...I mean, you really spend "a week", as in seven days, on doing this?


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## Ra1n (Oct 17, 2011)

Derrel said:


> Unless this began as a photo of two Barbie dolls, I cannot understand how you managed to spend a week on Photoshopping this, and winding up with an out of focus shot of one robot kickin' another robot's a$$...I mean, you really spend "a week", as in seven days, on doing this?


 
Yep, 1 solid week on photoshop dude. I'm still a novice so, a week's already quite fast for me. My best shots took about one solid month on photoshop. This was just a random shot I took. C:


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## Destin (Oct 17, 2011)

Ra1n said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Unless this began as a photo of two Barbie dolls, I cannot understand how you managed to spend a week on Photoshopping this, and winding up with an out of focus shot of one robot kickin' another robot's a$$...I mean, you really spend "a week", as in seven days, on doing this?
> ...



Dude, what the heck did you change in this shot that took a WEEK? I see, maybe 10 minutes of color correction and a layer mask with a blur. MAYBE 10 minutes, and that's a BIG MAYBE


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## memento (Oct 17, 2011)

Ra1n said:


> My best shots took about one solid month on photoshop.


please post these!


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## 12sndsgood (Oct 17, 2011)

i also wonder what you spent so much time on. i have just started cs5 without ever knowing how to work in it at all. and i only see a few minutes worth of changes.  what did the origonal look like?


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## Compaq (Oct 17, 2011)

Yup, post the original for us to see, it'll be easier to help. Btw, I'd be interested in seeing your one month editing pic as well  Just curios, that's all. Perhaps it's better to ask how many minutes *effective editing*&#8203; that went into this pic?


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## ghache (Oct 17, 2011)

Derrel said:


> Unless this began as a photo of two Barbie dolls, I cannot understand how you managed to spend a week on Photoshopping this, and winding up with an out of focus shot of one robot kickin' another robot's a$$...I mean, you really spend "a week", as in seven days, on doing this?



Derrel, you took the words out of my mouth LOL. 1 week to do this. geeeeezzzzzzzzz


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## ghache (Oct 17, 2011)

Ra1n said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Unless this began as a photo of two Barbie dolls, I cannot understand how you managed to spend a week on Photoshopping this, and winding up with an out of focus shot of one robot kickin' another robot's a$$...I mean, you really spend "a week", as in seven days, on doing this?
> ...




good lord. a MONTH. i just hope the result is a bit more sick than the picture you just posted because even at 1 week, you probably lost 1 week worth of your life for nothing


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## dots (Oct 17, 2011)

I'm curious what you do that took a week. Care to tell?


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## mishele (Oct 17, 2011)

Sorry just tagging this thread!! I can't miss the picture that took a month!! :greenpbl:


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## MTVision (Oct 17, 2011)

Thats crazy! I'm a complete newbie and I've only had cs5 for a month or so - I've never spent a day/week/month on 1 image. WTH were you doing?


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## KmH (Oct 17, 2011)

The power of Photoshop. (FWIW: photoshop - is a verb, Photoshop - is proper noun)

This, and what it was made from below it:


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## psaracino (Oct 17, 2011)

Wow love what you did with the color, very nice to Studio 101


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## psaracino (Oct 17, 2011)

If it is taking so long to photoshop you do not how to use your software. There are tutorials on line on how to use your photoshop and how to use shortcuts, you just have to look up whatever software your using.


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## JimCoventry (Oct 17, 2011)

I know you're all gonna like this - Photohop is coming out with a sharpening program to sharpen blur. No BS.

Now all those amateurs can get their out of focus images sharpened to look normal. YUeuch.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Oct 17, 2011)

Adobe is following Topaz Labs' tail. InFocus was released last year.


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## Ra1n (Oct 18, 2011)

Photoshop + Lightroom. Taken this when I was on holiday. This is one month's worth of editing. 






And something I made out of photoshop.






Or something without any editing, just a B&W macro shot I took of a bottle cap.






Play nice and please comment? Also keep in mind that I'm 14.


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## pez (Oct 18, 2011)

A before/after or two, please- at one month per, how many can there be? Just sayin'...


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## Ra1n (Oct 18, 2011)

pez said:


> A before/after or two, please- at one month per, how many can there be? Just sayin'...


 
****! I deleted the originals!!! Ahhh!!!


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## pez (Oct 18, 2011)




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## Ra1n (Oct 18, 2011)

pez said:


>


 
Very funny pez, in fact, I forgot to laugh.


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## ghache (Oct 18, 2011)




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## jake337 (Oct 18, 2011)

I don't think it really takes you a month to edit.  Your like me. You edit then start over, edit then start over, edit then start over.  Taking long periods of time before your satisfied with what you did.


The power of photoshop?


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## EchoingWhisper (Oct 18, 2011)

Ra1n said:


> Photoshop + Lightroom. Taken this when I was on holiday. This is one month's worth of editing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Age is hardly a reason of your post processing speed.


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