Learning PP techniques

[Eric Patdu]

Hello guys,

I tried re-processing the photo of the Black-capped Chickadee I posted based on the private comments of Sir Bob Kaufman saying that the cheek of the bird is blown.

I tried selecting just the cheek area and attempt to recover details but the resulting image looks unnatural because the "processed cheek" does not merge cleanly with the image. So, I tried global recovery using ACR, did some adjustments on brightness, contrast, clarity and vibrance and did a selective sharpening on just the bird using PS and came up with this. I was able to extract more details overall most specially on the cheek and breast area of the bird. (Ahhhh..... the beauty of RAW.....)

I know that this is not the best PP'ing for this bird as I am still learning PS but I am happy with the results that I decided to share it with you.

I would greatly welcome and appreciate any C&C on the photo as I need more inputs to improve my PP techniques.

Thanks again to Sir Bob Kaufman for not only giving his comments but also giving some tips and advise on how to improve my previous image.

Initially posted image with blown whites




Re-processed image with more details extracted

[Toto Gamboa]

Looks really good Eric!

[Eric Patdu]

Thanks Sir Glenn! I am beginning to love ACR for extracting details and doing pre-PP. Even the branch that the bird is perched on looked better than the first one and I didn't even do any sharpening on it.

[mantarey]

That's very good highlights recovery Eric.

[Eric Patdu]

Thanks Sir Rey!

[Renoir Abrea]

WOW! Great Improvements of the image!

I tried selecting just the cheek area and attempt to recover details but the resulting image looks unnatural because the "processed cheek" does not merge cleanly with the image. So, I tried global recovery using ACR, did some adjustments on brightness, contrast, clarity and vibrance and did a selective sharpening on just the bird using PS and came up with this. I was able to extract more details overall most specially on the cheek and breast area of the bird. (Ahhhh..... the beauty of RAW.....)

hi Eric' how to select just the cheek area and recover its details? please let me know...renoir

[Eric Patdu]

Thanks Renoir!

I'm still a beginner with Photoshop but this is how I process a certain area of an image.

First, I use the selection tool to select the area I want. PS has several selection tool but I kinda like the magnetic lasso tool.

Next, I copy the selected area and make a new layer via copy. (Others use layer mask instead)

Then, I process the new layer to my liking.

I hope I have answered your question.

[Renoir Abrea]

many thanks Eric'