After Before Friday-Horses
After Before Friday-Horses
Today is After Before Friday, where we all learn a little something about photo post processing.
I took some photos the other day of these baby horses and their moms. You can see a couple in this post. The main problem with trying to get good photos, was all the stuff behind them. Fences, buildings, tractors.
This mom was funny. I was shooting photos for a while, then I think she got nervous. She started running around with her baby. This is my photo before any editing.
You can see the stuff in the background, plus the sun wasn’t quite right for good lighting.
This is my photo after editing.
I cropped in, and adjusted colors in Lightroom. I then took the photo to Photoshop. I used the healing brush tool to get rid of some of the background distractions. Then on a whim I opened the blur filter gallery. I have never used this before, and I clearly still need to learn more about it. I made two Iris blur filters, one over each horse. I like how it blurred the background nicely, but I couldn’t make it blend better. There is a definite line there. If someone more adept at PS knows how to blend this better, I would love to learn.
I think learning how to take an OK photo, and make it something better, is a valuable tool in photography. I am still learning tricks in Photoshop, there is so much there to know.
Overall though, I think the edited version is far better than what came out of the camera.
To see more After Before photos and learn some editing tips and tricks, head over to Visual Venturing.
Have a great weekend everyone!
BVravo, it looks fabulous! The mom and her baby are just beautiful and after editing I can se every muscle and their wunderful shiny fur… pawsome!
How cute! The mom and her baby are beautiful. I like both images, the blur is neat. Happy Friday!
Good morning Mary!
This horse photo you shared last week was so special to me, and when I was on vacation (we just got home yesterday), I had specific things I had wanted to photograph on my trip. I got ocean shots, fairytale cottages in Carmel, and certain historic places. I got EVERYTHING I wanted except for a horse! We saw many in Carmel Valley but we were unable to stop on the highway.
This is such a fine transformation. I love how cropping a photo can give focus and attention to the subject. But I especially love what you did with the blurring tool. Like you said, I am learning to take better photos, but I learned SO much on my trip from a photographer and his wife on the streets of Carmel, then from a young woman in a gallery who shared the old craft of photography before any digital devices. SO fascinating!
I need to spend more time this summer working with Photoshop to find the healing tool you used; your transformation is inspiring and also very very CUTE (LOVE HORSES!)
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I love both photos — and in particular the second.
I use PS — but very very immaturely. Mostly I use it to put words on my photos of my paintings!
Reading and seeing your work, I feel inspired to dig deeper into its many possibilities!
Thanks for the inspiration!
I think they both look great.I have progressed beyond PicMonkey yet, but these types of posts inspire.
Beautiful, Mary! I love the result of the background. Well done! :)
I think it’s tough just getting a camera shot off fast enough to catch animals looking right at you, good shot!
I’ve been playing with PS more and make use the clone-stamp tool quite often, using a lower % of opacity around the edges. I get rid of that pesky garden hose in the background that way :->
looks nice!
Very nice Mary! I think you put yourself down by saying its an OK photo, its got lots going for it, the Mum and baby are both looking at the camera, the backlighting is lovely and the blurred background looks good. I like the slightly greenish blue colour you have added to the trees in the back, it works well. I’m not a Ps expert by any means, but have you tried creating a layer mask over the horses using the quick selection tool and feathering the edges slightly and then applying the blur filter. I don’t know if this will work, but it would be worth a try. :-)
Kaie, than you for the suggestion. I figured out how to do what you suggested and it worked great. And the best part, I learned something new.
It is better, the mother horse isn’t in shadow as much so the horses do stand out better. Good job! Love Dolly
Horses running free always make me smile!…:)JP
Interesting idea on the blur filter. I agree with Katie, it’s a good result and I also think her suggestion would work well for the transition between the horses and blurred background.
Unbelievably beautiful transformation. I can see the problem you mention but it does not bother me. Maybe when you feel more adept with Photoshop you will revisit this photo. That’s what I am constantly doing with Lightroom, revisiting my old photos.
It is a beautiful transformation! I never have the patience to play with LR or PS but you make me think that I should find the patience!
PS is always a good tool which I do not have much time to learn.
lovely photo. I really like the crop and the colours in the second photo. Gorgeous bluey-green sky!
Mary, you know what I love most about this post? That Katie chimed in and gave you a suggestion that you then used and found it to work :) This is exactly why I love these posts. Your idea to blur the background was a great one, and I really love the turquoise tone you chose to give it. Such a great shot! Makes me want to put on my cowboy hat and yell “Yeehaw!”
I like the blurring around the horses. To me it looks like the blur surrounds the horses, but the horses are clear, which makes them stand out.