First Time - Suggestios?

[mikelp]

First time I am trying to post here. Clearly I need to learn a better way to create this post.

I would like suggestions on how I could have done a better / different job with this picture.


http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=10403&catid=member&imageuser=26127

http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=10394&catid=member&imageuser=26127

[Diana]

Hi Mike,

Very nice photo. The first thing I usually do with a new photo in Elements is to check the lighting histogram with the Levels adjustment dialog. From the menu Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels, or simply Ctrl-L for keyboard shortcut. If the histogram doesn't fill the whole window, drag the left and right sliders to where the black "mountains" start. Yours could use an adjustment to the highlights. Make sure the Preview box is checked so you can see the difference the adjustment makes before clicking OK.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1awJNFJwYnx9GxchscOY47B5viRSI0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1awJNFJwYnx9GxchscOY47B5viRSI0)

Diana

[Diana]

Another method I use if I find a photo just needs an extra boost:

Duplicate the Levels adjusted layer twice with Ctrl-J
On the top layer, change the blend mode to Soft Light
On the 2nd from top layer, change the blend mode to Screen
Then adjust the opacities of each of those two layers until it looks good to you.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1O5Z7uk7vM0smTMmjeUZ1DmlzCOJU_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1O5Z7uk7vM0smTMmjeUZ1DmlzCOJU)

After those adjustments, merge the top 3 layers. Ctrl-click on each of the top 3 layers, then press Ctrl-E to merge them if you wish to make further adjustments.

If you wish to adjust the color saturation a bit, make a duplicate of that layer with Ctrl-J. Press Ctrl-U to get the Adjust Hue/Saturation dialog. Increase the saturation a bit. At the top of the dialog, you can choose Master to affect all the colors, or adust saturation of individual colors.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1aIPonQ3Q30N3ILyWYIqt6pkq1MDZ_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1aIPonQ3Q30N3ILyWYIqt6pkq1MDZ)

Just a few of the many adjustments that may or may not help a particular photo.

Diana

[mikelp]

Great feedback. A better and easier than the what I did.

This is the kind of feeedback I had hoped for when I joined this forum.

Thank you

[Roln]

Hi Mike,

I clicked on your "My Pict" link and got a message saying that page is not available.
Curious if it's my problem or the link??

Maybe someone else could give it a try?

[Roln]

Mike,

I thot it might be my Firefox browser, so I tried IE....still don't get your gallery page.

[Diana]

The My Pict didn't work for me either, but the two links above do work.

Mike, here's a method many of us use to post examples of photos in a thread:

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30761

Diana

[Roln]

The My Pict didn't work for me either, but the two links above do work.

Diana

Same here, Diana, I browsed the gallery and found Mike's pictures and was able to click on his "view all pictures" link and it worked fine.
btw, he's been busy posting some really nice pictures!

[Diana]

btw, he's been busy posting some really nice pictures!

I agree, Roln.

Mike, I just enjoyed browsing your whole gallery.... good stuff.:)

Diana

[mikelp]

I don't know what happened to

my pict

but I have reattached the gallery address and I think it is working again. Please check and let me know.

[mikelp]

Question?

When you post a picture to Pixentral for " before and after" do you normally use the small gallery resolution or a larger resolution?

[emkayess65]

Hi, 700 or 800 on the longest side seems to be best for Pixentral.
The idea is to get the whole picture on screen.
If you have to scroll it is too big.
hth
mks