# WoX photo challenge .:. Post processing #2

Below is the original jpeg file that was suggested to work with:

NB. In my work I used Photoshop v.22. I also have experience of working with another powerful image-editing processor from Adobe - Lightroom - but I used to perform my digital manipulations with Photoshop, and besides that I am not sure Lightroom is capable of doing all I want. Maybe I am not correct, but anyway -- the best and most efficient tool is the one that you used to, right?

Step 1.

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Firstly, I copied original file to the new layer. Every further operation I saved to another separate layer (which helped me to display all the process later, allowed me to compare all the changes made to the original file and helped to make decisions about the further retouching. Also it makes possible to go back and correct errors, when my actions do not lead to improvement, but spoil the image).

So, I corrected the geometry of the file:

Above you can see the result of step 1. The horizon line is normalized. I did slightly more than simple rotation (also had to apply some disproportionate scaling of perspective).

Step 2.

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I lightened the shadows, and partly the half-tones, leaving the highlights of the image unchanged. For such an image, taken under contrasting lighting, this is a must.
Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights <- this Photoshop command is also an option; it is less adjustable but can be used for this, to receive some good results in a very fast manner (fraction of a second).
If you prefer reliable manual work, 'Curves' is a perfect tool Photoshop can suggest for this task.

Step 3.

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I believe that a good part of the job is done by this point; but still the image is not perfect, some areas of the cityscape have dirty colours. the sky is ok, but the nice historical buildings of St.Petersburg are shady, and thats why the colours are dirty, this makes them look not so cool as possible. So I used the same 'Curves' option to adjust this area of the image (i.e. the middle part, the buildings). Also I used the x-processing action script on this stage.

Step 4.

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Now I think its time to crop the image a bit, to make its composition better. I cropped a little but on the right (the trees). After evaluating (almost final) result, I think it has a bit of excessive yellow-ish tones in the lights, especially in the sky area, and excessive blue-ish tones in the darks.

I adjusted it with the Photoshop option 'Color balance' which let me operate separately with highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. It is a perfect tool for this kind of light colour-tweaking.

This is the final result that satisfied me, which I provide as my entry to the contest.

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When you apply this to a JPG file, you are getting to the same RAW files editing interface as you used to (just less tools are present). NB: If you dont see such an option in the Filters menu of your Photoshop - it means your Photoshop is dated, and you need to upgrade it.

RAW editing interface

The key features are in the screenshot above: fast way to tweak the Color balance of your photo (hard to impossible to edit it when you have the image as JPEG already). Exposure can be changed too, if you have the image too dark or too light and over-exposed. One of the key features for me that I often use, is 'Vibrance' -- its a way to raise the colours contrasts and, simply speaking, the saturation of the image, when the colours are too dirty or bleak. 'Dehaze' is a fast way to adjust image contrast in an intelligent way.

Look at the second screenshot: I got this totally different version of the capture in less than 10 seconds, just using a few sliders. V.1 is a hot afternoon, V.2 is an early morning with freeze in the air and blue-ish shadows. Isnt it cool? Its a great Tools Arsenal worth using, believe me. I.e. means it is worth shooting and saving your photos as .raw files, instead of jpegs (ofc if the further post-processing is intended).

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Oh, and this is the Curves Tool -- this is how its implementing looks like. I lifted the Curve of the Green channel of the image, to add more red tones to the image and to suppress the excessive blue-ish tones.

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Note, than Photoshop - in same way as Lightroom - has a lot of useful default presets, ready to use. Which ofc doesnt mean you should not create your own! On The screenshot you see the Curves menu presets, and you can see I added and saved some custom ones.

Here are two examples of presets - giving the final image look of a Negative image, or X-Processed image (which means simply the effect of 'wrong film processing').

One cannot embrace the un-embraceable, but I cannot but mention the Layers. Layers mechanizm is a great feature of Photoshop, a key for images digital manipulations. For example, the image below is a mix between two file copies above (a Negative and X-processed ones). I added them as separate layers and mixed using some layers effects, which resulted in such a bizarre image.

Photoshop possibilities are endless! And very often the most important thing with photoshopping images is to know what you want to get, you should aim straight to this certain result in the short-cut way ... without being distracted by trying of hundreds other different options.

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Hope this was a helpful guide. This was my entry to 'Post Processing' contest by @bambuka, run in WoX community.

Thanks for the visit!

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All images taken by me, copyright (c) @qwerrie