Very dumb noob question regarding photo editing/ehnancing (filter, Nikon, processing)

[jm31828]

I'm not new to digital photography, but am really new to editing and enhancing digital photos any deeper than enhancing contrast, saturation, etc. I am really frustrated in that I'm not able to get some of the crisp colors out of any of my pics that I see in many. For example, I saw a picture someone took of their kid playing in the yard- it was a well taken photo, but somehow they enhanced the color of the grass so it's an unbelievable, eye popping green that looks amazing. My question is, does it take selecting certain areas of a picture and bumping up saturation to do this? All I have done is adjust the saturation sliders for the different colors, but it of course enhances that color across the entire pic- not just the areas that are that actual color, which after a point really messes up the picture.

I'm not asking for specifics on how to perform the functions in any given application, just wondering conceptually how people do this to get such great colors.

[kdog]

It sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on what's required to get the effect as you have described it. Selective processing using layers and masks is the cornerstone of post processing. However, there are Photoshop plugins like Topaz Adjust for example that do these sorts of enhancements automagically. Behind the scenes, these tools are doing the kind of enhancements that you describe. But they do it in a way that intelligently figures out where to apply the effects and typically without the need to do any manual masking or layering yourself. They go as far as to recognize and treat skin tones as different than the rest of the scene for example. Folks are using these more and more because they offer instant gratification rather than relying on knowledge and hard work. No shame in that, BTW.

[ShepsMom]

Have you tried playing with Curves? That might help, color balance, hue/saturation etc.

[jm31828]

I just recently started using Gimp, and it seems really powerful so I'm slowly learning what I can do in there. Curves and Hue/Saturation settings are something just this week I started playing with- and found some decent results, but affecting the entire picture. What I hope to do, for example in a mountain shot with farmland in the foreground, is to enhance the green of the grass and trees without adding a green tinge to the entire picture. I have been playing with it, and my understanding is that I just need to use the selection tool to select the colors or areas that I want to modify, and then let loose with the adjustments to curves, hue, contrast, etc. I'm assuming that's how everyone else does it?

[mathjak107]

I find the real power is in software that lets you do edits locally in just spots.... i use nikon capture nx2 but elements and photoshop also can do it..

the look i get in my photos is by altering brightness,saturation,sharpening and contrast only in the spots i want not the entire photo and that makes a huge difference in the look and effects your able to get.

the photos look very very different then if i did the entire photo with that edit.

this is edited in spots

http://mm-photography.smugmug.com/Other/WHITESTONE-II/MCJ0986/860943933_nSKJ7-X2.jpg (broken link)

[WyoNewk]

jm31828, yeah, it sounds like you've got a handle on it. But don't forget the old way, to capture it right in the first place. It's possible that those great looking pictures with vibrant color are that way because a polarizing filter was used on the camera, or it was shot with a little overcast, etc. If you're getting dull colors in your images, consider that you might be doing something wrong at the time of capture.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

I find the real power is in software that lets you do edits locally in just spots.... i use nikon capture nx2 but elements and photoshop also can do it..

the look i get in my photos is by altering brightness,saturation,sharpening and contrast only in the spots i want not the entire photo and that makes a huge difference in the look and effects your able to get.

the photos look very very different then if i did the entire photo with that edit.

this is edited in spots

Thanks for sharing- this is exactly what I have been looking into- seeing shots like yours and wondering how people did it. It appears GIMP lets me do that, but in a long round about way. Is the Nikon Capture Nx2 app one that just came bundled with your camera?

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

jm31828, yeah, it sounds like you've got a handle on it. But don't forget the old way, to capture it right in the first place. It's possible that those great looking pictures with vibrant color are that way because a polarizing filter was used on the camera, or it was shot with a little overcast, etc. If you're getting dull colors in your images, consider that you might be doing something wrong at the time of capture.

yeah, very true and it's an aspect I am working on. I guess I don't mean to say I am getting dull or bad colors, because many pictures look great- it's just that I see others that have colors that really pop out- obviously enhanced beyond what you'd ever get with just the right lighting and conditions.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by jm31828

Thanks for sharing- this is exactly what I have been looking into- seeing shots like yours and wondering how people did it. It appears GIMP lets me do that, but in a long round about way. Is the Nikon Capture Nx2 app one that just came bundled with your camera?

NX2 is sold seperately.. you can download a trial at nikons website...

origionally the rocks were quite dark with no detail... the water was flat and lifeless.... i was able to alter just where i wanted to...
brightning the entire photo or exposing brighter would have altered the sky to an ugly color so i had to do things locally just where needed. boosting contrast only in the water brought out all the ripples. had i boosted in camera contrast the clouds would have taken on a dirty kind of look.

lots of times ill darken around the photo and brighten just the subject so the subject pops more ......

its really endless what you can do.

in this one i locally enhanced just the browns in spots....

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

NX2 is sold seperately.. you can download a trial at nikons website...

origionally the rocks were quite dark with no detail... the water was flat and lifeless.... i was able to alter just where i wanted to...
brightning the entire photo or exposing brighter would have altered the sky to an ugly color so i had to do things locally just where needed. boosting contrast only in the water brought out all the ripples. had i boosted in camera contrast the clouds would have taken on a dirty kind of look.

lots of times ill darken around the photo and brighten just the subject so the subject pops more ......

its really endless what you can do.

in this one i locally enhanced just the browns in spots....

Excellent example- again that is exactly what I was looking to do. I'm going to play around with those features more in GIMP and see what results I get. Thanks for the responses!