Quick Curves: Candied Apples

[ggroess]

First attempt:
- with CM
- with the Wizard
- with gadwin
- with the Message Board
Am beginning to wonder if I've used a PC before  :(

It can be addicting so you better watch out...next thing you know we'll have you formatting hard drives and installing network servers...

Greg

[jlowell]

Hi All,

It was probably overkill, but here are the three steps I took to create my final image:
1. Did a rough color balance with Levels
2. Used Curvemeister for H/S/N
3. Used Pixel Vista (a color enhancement plug-in) to increase contrast and saturation.
Jim

[-default]

Great results here, folks. To answer Zog's question, the blue cast came from a combination of the lighting - a storefront window in open shade, and my cell phone camera's interpretation of colors. 

So far I find that jlowell's is the most appetizing.

[mikemeister_admin]

Needs a pass for noise, but since it's a low-res low-quality jpg, it's not worth the effort.

[-default]

Gorgeous.

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi, I run CM first in LAB, setting low,high neutral,  lightness curve adjusted, increased saturation .
Then into WCMYK and gave the black curve a  tweak.
Finally Noise Ninja in a separate layer, masking and recovering cakes and edges from layer below

Sikarlse

[mikemeister_admin]

I'm interested in you using NN at the end of the work flow.

Do you think this is better than running it at the start?  And why did you have to mask out some of the effects?

Chris

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi, normally I will do noise removal during raw processing,
In this case I saw another person deemed noise removal not appropriate due the low resolution.
So as I saw some noise in my version, I thought I would give a try.

I removed the NN effect from areas, where sharper edges was wanted  and from some well exposed areas.

Sikarlse

[mikemeister_admin]

I'm not a raw person (unless exposure is difficult), and for (important) photos I tend to run Neat Image (no sharpening) before Focus Magic.  When I've tried it the other way around, then FM can sometimes enhance the noise!
Finally at the end of the workflow I will tend to sharpen (unsharp mask) or apply some Mid Tone contrast.

So does this agree with your view on workflows, or do you tend to do something different?

Chris

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi folks I'm on the class this session (another uk member)

Here's my attempt


I pretty much understand the highlights, shadows, neutral thing

but not much else. I also applied some high pass sharpening to sharpen it up and hopefully give more impact.