Salvage Week - 06-09/2024

[Douglas Sherman]

I have been traveling for the past two weeks so I haven't had a chance to put up this thread consistently. This is a Skunk Cabbage. It is an ugly plant and as you might have guessed from the name, it stinks. As a result, it is pollinated by flies. Here is a scientific article about other distinctive characteristics of this plant that I think you might find interesting: Turning up the heat: strange (and stinky) skunk cabbage (tufts.edu). Please add your salvage work to the thread.

Original image

Rework

I processed this in my normal sequence and then used field blur to isolate the main subject and darkened it to separate it from the subject.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice work isolating the plant in an otherwise cluttered scene.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

That is a nice transformation from a cluttered scene to a standout. Nice work Doug.

 

[AlanLichty]

I am going to swipe a technique of Doug's for another set of Dahlia blooms in front of a local grocery store.

Original with no retouch beyond resizing. The original was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro using DNG outputs and in this case Apple's ProRaw color profile:

In this case I switched the color profile to Apple ProRaw-Linear in Lightroom before edits for the light/color and then used PS to create the subject mask and eliminated the background.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice work with this Alan. The black background make this pop.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

This is from a visit to the arches long time ago. The light was quite meh.

original

processed

 

[AlanLichty]

This is from a visit to the arches long time ago. The light was quite meh.

original
View attachment 73132

processed
View attachment 73133

That certainly looks a lot nicer than the original - lots more interest in the sky as well as the ground features.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

I am going to swipe a technique of Doug's for another set of Dahlia blooms in front of a local grocery store.

Original with no retouch beyond resizing. The original was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro using DNG outputs and in this case Apple's ProRaw color profile:

View attachment 73130

In this case I switched the color profile to Apple ProRaw-Linear in Lightroom before edits for the light/color and then used PS to create the subject mask and eliminated the background.

View attachment 73131

That's a beautiful result, Alan.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

This is from a visit to the arches long time ago. The light was quite meh.

original
View attachment 73132

processed
View attachment 73133

Very nice recovery, Jameel.

 

[Peter Michal]

I have been traveling for the past two weeks so I haven't had a chance to put up this thread consistently. This is a Skunk Cabbage. It is an ugly plant and as you might have guessed from the name, it stinks. As a result, it is pollinated by flies. Here is a scientific article about other distinctive characteristics of this plant that I think you might find interesting: Turning up the heat: strange (and stinky) skunk cabbage (tufts.edu). Please add your salvage work to the thread.

Original image
View attachment 73118


Rework

I processed this in my normal sequence and then used field blur to isolate the main subject and darkened it to separate it from the subject.
View attachment 73119

Very nice work Douglas.. inspiring.

 

[Peter Michal]

I am going to swipe a technique of Doug's for another set of Dahlia blooms in front of a local grocery store.

Original with no retouch beyond resizing. The original was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro using DNG outputs and in this case Apple's ProRaw color profile:

View attachment 73130

In this case I switched the color profile to Apple ProRaw-Linear in Lightroom before edits for the light/color and then used PS to create the subject mask and eliminated the background.

View attachment 73131

Beautiful Alan.. here a good knowledge of Lightroom and its good use paid off to brilliantly enhance the image of this flower. Now the sight of the flower does not disturb anything. Very nice work.

 

[JimFox]

I have been traveling for the past two weeks so I haven't had a chance to put up this thread consistently. This is a Skunk Cabbage. It is an ugly plant and as you might have guessed from the name, it stinks. As a result, it is pollinated by flies. Here is a scientific article about other distinctive characteristics of this plant that I think you might find interesting: Turning up the heat: strange (and stinky) skunk cabbage (tufts.edu). Please add your salvage work to the thread.

Original image
View attachment 73118


Rework

I processed this in my normal sequence and then used field blur to isolate the main subject and darkened it to separate it from the subject.
View attachment 73119

Awesome work Doug, and thanks for the background on the cabbage and how you achieved this look.

I haven't come across field blur. Is that an option in Photoshop?

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Awesome work Doug, and thanks for the background on the cabbage and how you achieved this look.

I haven't come across field blur. Is that an option in Photoshop?

Filter->Blur Gallery->Field Blur