Photo editing is all about seeing things differently. I had fun with my Corel PaintShop Pro editing program in this post.
Making colors shine
I was impressed by the rainbow of colors at our local Farmer’s Market. This photo looked like it would be a good candidate for the kaleidoscope special effect and I was right. Wow!
The color or the structure?
I took this picture near Grizzly Peak in Wyoming and I couldn’t decide which edit I liked better — color or black & white? The blue sky in the background pops in the color version, while the structure of the trees gets your attention in black & white.
Eliminating distractions
I loved this Storyteller sculpture by artist Rose Pecos-Sun Rhodes at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Several of the other items in this display were cropped in the first edit, but I wanted to focus more on the sculpture. I cropped it more and also “erased” an annoying shadow in the corner. Digital magic helps the stars of your photos shine.
Seeing things differently in imperfect photos
This is a photo I took of two trumpeter swans taking off from a river at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. They surprised me so the original photo is not in sharp focus. I decided to create a dreamy version by softening the focus more and using a cross-process editing technique. It brought out colors, like the green in the water, that weren’t in the original. In the second version, I tried editing this photo in black & white but liked the mysterious blue tones of the cyanotype process better.
Softened or hardened edges?
The last image is of the sunrise over a tree in our yard I call my juniper muse. This was taken on the first day of 2021. The first image shows a cropped version of the original. The second image shows a version using the poster special effect. The colors are still bright, but the lines are sharper.
There is no “right” way to edit photos. Photo editing programs are a way of seeing things differently, with often surprising results.
A beautiful response to the challenge and I especially love the kaleidoscope effect of the Farmer’s Market image 💛
Thanks! I liked that one too.
Great assortment of examples 🙂 I love the kaleidoscope effect! The misty swans photo is lovely (I think I prefer it to the cyanotype edit) and I’d opt for B&W for your trees 🙂
Thanks, Sarah! That was a fun challenge.
Excellent examples! Thank you for sharing the results! Well done.
Thank you, Amy! Fun challenge.
Excellent
Thanks, Sherry!
You are so right in your closing statement Siobhan! Your examples are wonderful and prove there is no “right” way. It’s all about the artist’s vision translated into an image. Excellent!!
Thank you, Tina! Sometimes it’s difficult to find the best translation but we keep trying. What’s works for us is what counts. 🙂
Terrific examples of how to play with photo editing, something that seems to have taken over much of my “free” time in recent years. Like your swan photo, I find I can often salvage an otherwise delete-able photo by cropping or playing with various effects offered by my photo editing software (Adobe Elements).
Love the farmer’s market photos!
Thanks! Yes, on some days I look at the clock and wonder how I spent so much time editing photos. It’s fun but kind of addicting. 😉
Great set of questions with a lovely collection of photos. Shape or colour, object or context.
Thanks! It was hard to figure out what to include on that challenge. So many choices…
I just love this post ! I’ve been playing around with filters on my camera and a few features where I can do some post-processing before I upload. I love most everything in black and white. Creating depth is an art. Nicely done.
Thank you! I used to have filters that you screwed onto the lenses. My photography major roomies sometimes put a stocking over the lens or smeared it with Vaseline. It’s so much easier now!
Outstanding observations. VERY well done.
Thanks so much!
I totally agree with you Siobhan…”There is no “right” way to edit photos. Photo editing programs are a way of seeing things differently, with often surprising results.” Your images and explanations are terrific and really take us through your thought process and let us see the results. Wonderful!! A great post.
Thanks so much, Patti!