Could anyone give my guidance on making the attached image more appealing? Not sure what to experiment with. Can I make the people more clear by adjusting contrast, blurring the background, etc
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http://cellocelli.com/School.gif>
Thanks for any guidance!
#1
Well, first of all learn to use the correct format. For a photo you want hundreds of thousands of colors and not the 256 you are limited to with GIF. Save you images as JPG or TIFF.
Robert
#2
"learn to use the correct format"
That I can do. Didn't realize that JPG was a more complete file that GIF. TIFF is too large for my application on the webpage.
<
http://cellocelli.com/SCHOOL/schedule.htm>
I've learned to save certain files as GIF for better color matching in website design. But I can look at the original and resave. Anything else because the original isn't a very sexy image to begin with. But I know there are people that could make it much nicer.
Just a humble cellist here, thanks for the help.
#3
Ok, here's a jpeg. Still not a great photo. But...any tweeking advice?
<
http://cellocelli.com/School.jpg>
#4
dnsyder,
There are many things you can do to improve the attached photo.
- Color balance to get neutral colors (Levels or Curves), optimizing contrast, spotting for dust and scratches, red-eye correction, de-noising, local corrections and sharpening to name some.
Taking you through each and every step is a bit of a futile task, as it would be quicker for me to process the image itself. Unfortunately, I dont have the time to do this.
BUT, I can recommend www.retouchpro.com which is a community of retouchers. Try posting your image and your story there, maybe someone will offer you help. Ofcourse, maybe someone here will take on the challenge (you should probably post a bigger image / scan, though, if you want the to print the tweaked result).
#5
That would be:
<
http://www.retouchpro.com>, for those who like to click directly over to the site.
;) XD
#6
Mathias,
Thank you, I'll check that site!
"Color balance to get neutral colors (Levels or Curves), optimizing contrast, spotting for dust and scratches, red-eye correction, de-noising, local corrections and sharpening to name some."
I look forward to learning some of these skills. I'm sure that I can find some quick tutorials if I search for them.
BTW, as I'll only be using the image at a reduced size on a webpage do you think I can get away with the current scan?
Thanks again.
#7
I would go in to levels and adjust the gray slider under the histogram to darken some of the highlight areas on the people. They are borderline blown out. I would also tweak the black slider a bit to add a little contrast so it is a little more poppy. You could also go in to Hue/Saturation and adjust he saturation a small amount like +5 to +10.
Robert
#8
Oh what the heck, some of us enjoy this kind of stuff... I think the little girls toothless smile got to me :-)
Here's what I could do:
<
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LgwPXJa4uU9Cleghv DCEj4ytH8y0f> Enjoy!
#9
Thanks Mathias.
Looking much better!
#10
G'day
I thought a little recomposition might make the picture a little more
intimate and help to draw the cello in a bit more?
<
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1e61YwLzGTJ9qv5wHF m5364KwPh9Ly0>
regards
John
#11
Nice job Mathias.
Robert
#12
Thanks Robert!
I can recommend the link in dsnyders profile for a bit of excellent cello music :-)
#13
"I can recommend the link in dsnyders profile for a bit of excellent cello music "
Hey thanks Mathias! Cello training and years of practice I do have, web design I'm just faking. I'm in the process of launching and promoting the site now. Do you have any comments about specific likes/dislikes from what you saw or any constructive comments? I plan to build a mp3 player for a general 'listening room' from where people can hear all sorts of cool cello sounds.
Thanks for your help and feedback!
dsnyder
#14