You'll get to see a "bonus shot" today. You see, this is one of those shots I spent more time editing than I did shooting. The shooting part was done in the time it took to pour two cups, but the editing took so long my tea got cold. I don't mind though, hot or cold, it's fine either way to me.Anyway, as you can see, there's a load of stuff I fixed in port-ed. The big obvious stuff are the pesky shadows and irritating bluish color drift, but there are also some less apparent things like selective sharpening and blurring, selective color manipulation and loads of other small enhancements to make things more appealing. I was working with nine adjustment layers and eight ordinary ones before I was done. Phew!
So today was kind of the opposite of yesterday, which was all about the setup. Funny how photography can be so different day to day. The important thing is that I'm happy with the end result.
I hope you like it too :)
Looks like liquid silver (costly blend? - groan - ha). :)
ReplyDeleteNow that's one I haven't tried yet haha ;)
DeleteThe end result is DEFINITELY better than the shadows in the one below, but you could have saved yourself so much time if you'd done the shot with better lighting in the first place! However, I am sure you know that and I am preaching to the converted, so I assume you had a good reason for using the harsh flash (doing it after dark?). Anyway, the final result is quite stunning! Very well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I'm glad you like it. I did a lot of tweaking and was a bit unsure of myself in the end. I always grow a bit blind to my own work when I sit with it for a longer time, especially when I'm nitpicking and tweaking :)
DeleteYes, you guessed right - the sun now sets at 15:30 and it was dark as coal outside.
A good example on how to save the day for a shot that you normally would throw away.
ReplyDeleteBut as Kim mentioned it might be a good idea to experiment with ways to improve the light while taking the shot. Also timeconsuming but once you know how to solve those problems you can work faster.
Yes I know, though sometimes it's easier to solve things sitting down than scurrying for stuff to solve pesky little problems like that haha. Though I'll absolutely give it a try some other time :)
DeleteMy immediate reaction was that your were pouring metallic liquid a most interesting concept :) Good job on getting rid of that pesky shadow :)
ReplyDeleteA great end result, it is amazing what sitting down can do :-) We used to have a tea that was available from October to January called 'Be Merry' a Spicy Apple Plum Christmas Tea and oh so yummy. It hasn't been around for a few years now and I am still looking for an alternative :-)
ReplyDeleteNow that sounds delicious! I'll keep an eye out for something similar. I bought some spicy Christmas tea just yesterday, but I haven't tried it yet. The smell was wonderful though :)
DeleteYou did your best to make this picture, and the result is looking amazingly good. Great take with a dynamic touch to it -- maybe a separate flash will save some time.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth the effort. How did you get rid of the shadow? I would have worked on it for hours and then gave up. I haven't mastered detailed photoshopping yet!
ReplyDeleteBasically I used the lasso tool select and copy the main subjects to a different layer (1 px feather). Then I went back to the original layer and used the clone stamp to get rid of the shadow. That way, I just had to match the colors and patterns, and I needn't worry about painting over anything. To do that you hold down the "Alt" button and click to select the point you want to clone from, and then just paint as usual. I recommend using a "soft brush" - otherwise you'll get visible "edges". When doing this, it's good to have repetition in mind - you don't want the cloning to show - so you might want to clone over parts of the already cloned parts a few times.
DeleteThis technique is also very handy when you want to remove any minor imperfections from a photo, like say pimples in a portrait :)
When I was young, I learned to drink tea from my mom. No sugar, no milk. Today, I'm like your hubby.. give me some herbal teas, no sugar added but all that yummy fruity flavor. The best though, is always really rich dark coffee... sorry! :-D
ReplyDeleteDid a good job fixing your shot. looks great now!
No I totally agree, no sugar is needed. The mild though is an entirely different story, and especially in coffee ;)
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