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Looking for a workflow to achieve bright vibrant photo's


dbrianne

Member
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Hi. I am new here. I just got into photography about a yr. ago. I know how to take a great picture and I have a decent workflow using actions in Photoshop to post process but I am looking for an action set or something that will make my photo's BRIGHT and VIBRANT. I want to be able to pump up the lighting and pop the colors. I've tried a couple different actions but can't seem to find exactly what I am going for. Does anyone have any advice that could help?
 

Paul

Former Member
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Not a photographer - but Topaz would do wonders mate.
 
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All I've been hearing off you guys is Topaz, so I looked it up, seen the amount all the plug-ins do, and treated myself to the Topaz Plug-in Bundle for Christmas

It's the best £193.25 I have spent this week, and I'm particularly impressed with the DeNoise plug-in.
 

Paul

Former Member
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Good stuff ain't it, nice how you can mix and match stuff, lol way to many beers here lol.
 

ChrisHPZ

Power User
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I hate to sound so pessimistic but there may not be any particular workflow solution to what you want dbrianne. The thing with Ps actions is that they apply every step in the action set exactly as you've recorded them to whatever other file you apply them too. This is not always the best thing as different photo's require different attention. I do the photography thing myself and if there's one thing I've learned based on my own observation, it's that no two pictures ever come out exactly alike. With that said, I've spent a lot of time making each one of my photographs "pop" when the need arises. I attribute this to the uncertain nature that is photography. Whether I'm shooting outdoors or indoors, the steps I take to improve a photo are never the same. I don't want to leave you empty handed though. Try playing with the HDR Toning in Ps. Click on Image>Adjustments>>HDR Toning... Also, this website may prove to be of value to you in working with your camera. There's also a daily newsletter that you can subscribe to if you feel the need. Pretty good stuff here as well. A year ago I didn't know the difference between aperture and HDR photography. Hope it helps you.

PictureCorrect - Photography Tips and Techniques
 

Hoogle

Guru
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LOve Topaz especially the new adjust 5 but noise removal Nik software have got down to a tee once you have learnt about seting key points etc.
next step then is Nik plugin bundle more expensive than topaz but once you learn past presets setting key points etc it is amazing software.
Especially if you only want certain areas of photos to pop
 

Hoogle

Guru
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remember with adjust to do it on a duplicate layer so you can blend it in. Also try building up effects by choosing 1 you like and click apply and then move on to the next 1. There is also a good tool in there to mask it out without having to go back into photoshop to mask it out.
You should have some fun.
 

iDad

Guru
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Topaz isotherm of a speed tool for me lots of the presets just come in perfectly
 

Paul

Former Member
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Working on separate parts of the same image really helps when you want to 'pop' certain portions of the image as a whole.
 

alessandro_p

Member
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i can also suggest nik software plugin color efex and viveza.
I use color efex pro and it's really a great hand.

If you like it, try silver efex pro 2 for bw images.
 

dbrianne

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Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I am pretty new at using PS. I will play around with the layers and masks more. I just recently got topaz but have not had a chance to sit down and figure it out yet. I will look into the color efex pro as well. I really appreciate the advice.
 

dbrianne

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I am a photographer and I photograph people. I have been looking into topaz. I have seen beautiful before and after images. A lot of the examples they show don't have people in the photo's. Does anyone know what the presets in topaz do to peoples skin? Does it make it look fake?
 

Hoogle

Guru
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portrait smooth is the preset name howeer you will be better of doig it all manually on the right hand side. choose portrait filter and then tweak it as a starting point.
 

uavmx

New Member
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What camera do you use and what settings on the camera? I find a lot can be done with the basic camera settings getting cranked up (WB, Saturation)
 

dbrianne

Member
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Uavmx-I have a somewhat older camera but I love it. It's a canon 40d. I am using a prime lens. I didn't think about cranking up my settings. I have just been metering for an even exposure. Usually around 200 ISO, 160 shutter speed and aperture just depends. I use auto white balance and I know I need to be using custom but does it make that BIG of a difference? I am a newbie to photography. How would you even crank up a custom white balance?

Hoogle- Thanks for the portrait smooth tip. That's in Topaz? You said it's a preset. I haven't played around with topaz at all yet but I did just get it. I mostly just use actions. Does a preset have to be used in adobe camera raw or can it actually be used in photo shop. I have SO much to learn. I am a newbie to both photography and photo shop so I really appreciate every ones patience with me. I love learning new things so I am super excited. :lol:
 

Hoogle

Guru
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Ok custom white balance is best if set up in your shot however if you use ACR you can change the white balance very easily.

If you shoot in raw format and process all your images in ACR before you open them up in photoshop you can probably get the look of the image you are looking for. with just a few tweaks of sliders. These will also work with Jpegs but no where near the flexibility as a camera raw file.

You probably have an option in your shoot menu of your camera that lets you shoot a colour mode labeled usually Portrait , Vivid Soft, saturated etc but every camera model will be different.

My work flow usually consists of shooting with my camera with the use of camera raw + Jpeg large that way you have copies of pictures that dont need to be processed using camera raw. (sometimes you do get an image that looks good straight away lol) with the jpegs I tend to use them for uploading to places like facebook and friends etc.

Then I would open up Adobe bridge and review all my pictures on an SD card you will need some software like bridge to view raw files as computers dont typically build the image so cant preview them.

I will rate my images and then put them in sub folders and delete the images that just do not look good and cant think of a way to improve them.

I then categorise the rest using a star system ie 5 *'s are good images just need tweaking using camera raw and converting to a more recognisable format.

4*'s need basic editing sharpening white balance warmth tinting and vibrance etc.

3*s need actual editing ie things removed from picture filters like topaz or Nik software applied for portraits etc.

2*s time to get creative the image is boring as it is but have a play around to make it into something good.

and 1* is whatever you feel needs to be added as a category.

I then open up the images in ACR (Adobe camera Raw) this should pop up automatically when opening a raw image from bridge. I adjust the sliders and adapt the image as neede. If I need to then open it up in photoshop with the option open image I hold down alt and you should see that button open image change to open object then select that. This enables you to open your raw image in photoshop as a smart object so if you find half way through your editing you need to adjust some basic settings from your start image you just double click the smart object icon in your layers panel and that will bring up the ACR window for you to tweak the sliders.

And then the rest is all dependant on your image if you are going to use topaz though duplicate your image layer and rasterise it is it is a smart object it tends to work better and easier to use to begin with.
 

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