CC wanted on my understanding of picture processing.

[Doppelgänger]

First off, I am not trying to be the next IA bandwagon photographer. I'm just having fun taking pics of stuff because I like the challenge. Now I'm getting into doing some processing to try to make things easier on the eye (OOC only goes so far sometimes). I just want to know if I am on the right track or not and what else I could consider when editing before I get into a rut. I've gotten input from someone on here and it has definitely help, but everyone is a little different, which is why I am seeking opinions.

So I guess I'll give a few examples of pics I done- before and after...

before:



after:









before:



after:

[jdmdb8itr]

i think they look great,

[thecrazyone]

looks hella good1

[Nerdsrock22]

Your color control is excellent. You are working from a P&S right?

I really like the look of the Miata pic. Is that mostly saturation work?

[Doppelgänger]

Correct, PnS. The Miata picture I had used curves, contrast, brightness, sharpening, blurring and saturation on all three areas individually (foreground, background and subject). You can see the line between the FG and BG right in the middle of the picture...where the gravel meets the brush. I tried to pick an area where such a difference would look well blended/natural...or just not so offenseive. Dunno how obvious it was before I pointed it out

I did have a lot of fun moving the truck out of the Porsche picture though...I don't think I did too bad of a job

[Nerdsrock22]

Correct, PnS. The Miata picture I had used curves, contrast, brightness, sharpening, blurring and saturation on all three areas individually (foreground, background and subject). You can see the line between the FG and BG right in the middle of the picture...where the gravel meets the brush. I tried to pick an area where such a difference would look well blended/natural...or just not so offenseive. Dunno how obvious it was before I pointed it out.

I did have a lot of fun moving the truck out of the Porsche picture though...I don't think I did too bad of a job

I didn't even notice the disappearing truck. So yes, awesome job.

I think you do a perfect job of working with what you have, and end up with some stellar results.

I'm still working off Photoshop Elements 4 (can't afford the big guns) so I've never been able to mess with Curves very much. I'm always impressed when it's done well.

[Machado]

they look great to me!