Dave Chinn

My reasoning for this post is to try and stay on the positive side and say, for those who are struggling and not satisfied with their post processing skills. I can say, keep at it and be patient. It will get better with attitude and practice. I have been going through some old files, viewing some B&W's that I have post processed 2 years ago. Let me say I wasn't very impressed but 2 years ago I was satisfied .... I think .... and now .... NOT at all. What was I thinking? I'm attaching a sample of an image I took and post processed in 2014 and the same image that I post processed this morning for a comparison just to show there is HOPE !!!

Feel free to post your post processing images for comparison. Its fun to see the growth and how our skills have improved over time.

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Dave, for me this is a fascinating comparison of attention to detail and to your evolving artistic vision.

I see improved attention to detail in the background changes, your use of light on the gentleman's face, the textures of the jacket.

Vision because, for me, these represent documentary vs. artistic interpretation.

Super topic, thanks!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

1. Posted to UHH in 2012, after a bit of play in Picasa.

2. Posted to UHH a few weeks ago after working with Nik and layers, layer masks in PS Elements.

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pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

Well done! thank you for sharing this - you make a very important point. Awesome work.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

This is a good post for several reasons. Firstly, it is interesting to see how your processing has changed over the years. I much prefer the 2016 version. I have also been thinking it would be interesting to look at some of my older photos and see how I've progressed over the years. An inspirational post that could be just the impetus I need to go back a few years and look at my older stuff.
erich

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

A very good topic indeed. The improvement takes work practice and commitment plus a great deal of time spent in front of a computer screen and its obvious Dave you have done that and served the apprenticeship. Many appear not willing to put the effort in to their snapping and some wags may say they really should forget the Canik and buy a fishing rod cos without the dedication their snaps are never gonna hack it.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

What a great idea for a thread! I hope everyone will pitch in with comparison images or stories or both. Of course I prefer the Chinn signature look of the current rendition. This is both a journey of skill and choice, what appeals to us at one time may become less wondrous over time. We may learn better how to look at our images and how to shape them, but we may also alter our own view of that image as we get further away from it in time and have more exposure to images by others that inspire us. My own journey with processing isn't a straight line, where my journey with composition has been more consistent (I think). I still very much like some of my images from as far back as 2008 when I got my first DSLR. Others, though, make me wonder as Dave did, whatever was I thinking? The ones that I'd do really differently today are those where I got very heavy-handed with processing tools I didn't understand, or the images were challenging anyway, such as with extreme lighting.

Here's one I spotted from 2010, taken while being eaten alive by the worst mosquitos I have ever met, at Trout Lake in Washington. First is the 2010 version of my processing, when apparently all I knew how to use was saturation and the orange slider in LR. Second is my quick version just now from the same humble 10 MP image.

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rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

Dave what a great exercise, your 2016 is just so striking compared to the original...the impact is head and shoulders above the original!!

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Dave, GREAT thread! The difference you made in just 2 years is astonishing. Maybe I'll try to post, but for now suffice to say that I hear this! I've been unable to make many new pictures for a while, but since I invite members to check out my bona fides on Flickr, I've lately been going back and looking to see what you see if you look in, and a lot of what I was seeing no longer passed muster. That has caused me to return to many, many older files and rework them from scratch, now using mainly Lightroom (I love Lightroom like Oprah loves bread!) and Photoshop where necessary. Until 2015 I was shooting all jpeg, but they respond very well to Lightroom, and I always kept the full set of original SOOC jpegs completely untouched so I could return to them as my skills improved. I think this is an ongoing, perhaps lifelong process. Saint Ansel used to return to his negatives from time to time and make new and better prints.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I think that the 2016 is better. The subject is not distracted by the other people to the left, and the darker tone makes the image more stark. It's a good excercise to go back and re-evaluate. I think you have inspired me to do the same.

Bushpilot Loc: Minnesota

An interesting, and fantastic thread you started! I'm so glad you posted this subject.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Great work Dave. In a couple of more years you may have it down pat.

Don

Dave Chinn

Thank you Linda !!! I can't imagine what he would look like 2 years from now, because future vision is sorta hazy. As for the topic, I hesitated to start for various reasons but I do think it is something for us to think about and try not to lose focus on our goals.
Dave

Dave Chinn

Thanks for adding your growth process and participating Linda. For a more accurate comparison I feel using the same image would have been best. Although, the ones you have posted shows an improvement of post processing but since they are different photos it makes it rather difficult to compare the growth. Just to reassure you and everyone else, this thread should go beyond post processing. Without good composition, focus and just a good base image we have a so so image. We could also compare all of that as well for growth process. I guess what I'm saying is, there are a lot of variables to determine growth process. The two you have posted does show an improvement overall with composition, exposure and over all ... subject matter. Either way, I feel that its good to look back and compare where we were at one time to the present and you have done that. Thanks again !!!
Dave

Dave Chinn

Thank you Piet !!! There is no doubt in my mind that you would have some excellent samples to show your growth process. You have some outstanding composites and I'm sure there was a time you may have been satisfied but now not so much? I know looking back on some of my composites and comparing them to more recent ones is exciting for me to compare the difference. Thanks again for commenting.
Dave