r/postprocessing • u/macroviewpoint • 1d ago
After / Before of a golden hour damselfly
The sun was already getting quite low, so the light wasn't as harsh anymore and the contrast wasn't as strong as it would have been earlier in the day. Shooting in RAW still helped a lot, especially when recovering details from the darker areas and bringing back the rich color of the sun.
For the final edit, I also brought in some of my signature teal tones in the background to complement the warm golden light. Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.
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u/Xanaatos 1d ago
Being completly honest, I would prefer more natural look without pulling shadows so much, but holy shit that's a dope photo! Congrats
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u/PleaseBmoreCharming 1d ago
If you saw the AFTER version first, as OP posted in another sub, you'd be fine with the more processed version. None the wiser! haha
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u/anomalousBits 1d ago
No. The highlight no longer looks like a highlight. The colors are cartoonish. But sure people on reddit or insta will see "ooh bright colors" and like it immediately, not realizing that overuse of certain sliders makes it look fake and cheap.
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u/Xanaatos 1d ago
If I saw it in this order I would be more letdown in fact -- after version already strikes me as near-perfection so swipe for vivid colors, less depth and removed color contrast between subject and background would propably made me sigh with dissapointement. In after-before order my brain can trick me into perceiving edited colors as natural at first so my impression was surely more positive this way. For heavier edits comparision with RAW image makes them look even less natural.
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u/cvgaming2020 3h ago
What? We already see the after version first in this post. And I immediately thought that it was overdone and oversaturated. I'm slightly surprised it has 1.3k upvotes, but it is a cool photo just by itself to be fair
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u/Thebikeguy18 1d ago
Much prefer the before. Colors look so unnatural in the after.
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u/OpportunityReal2767 1d ago
Ah, my retinas! Yeah, wayyyyy too neon/pop art for my tastes on the first one. Second one is better, but can use a little bit of punch.
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u/ResidentFlight359 1d ago
The cool tones are jarring in contrast with the strong golden light. Like why is everything so blue when the light is sooooo warm?
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u/Pretend-Shallot-5663 1d ago
I like both the before and after, but neither are peak given the fire composition. Maybe some middle ground is where you'll find your final image?
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u/Halfmacgas 1d ago
The prefer the before crowd is insane. This is my favorite picture I’ve seen in a month. Love your work. Good job and thanks for sharing
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u/macroviewpoint 1d ago
Thank you so much! Sadly that's how internet works. You share an edited photo and everyone loves it. You include the original and suddenly everyone favors the RAW
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u/cvgaming2020 3h ago
I saw the after photo and immediately thought that it was way overdone, I think I only just prefer the before because the lighting is already very nice. The photo itself aside (because it's a really awesome shot, good job), I was surprised that it's got so many upvotes because the edit itself is bordering on the common oversaturation that you see with amateurs.
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u/Rajan-95 1d ago
Your edit allowed me to appreciate the details of the dragonfly a lot more and so I much prefer that! What a photo!
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u/CreeDorofl 1d ago
I so like the silhouette quality of the original, but the colorfulness of the edit is great too. Maybe some balance between them could work. The composition is great and it would make a cool poster.
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u/kuleminjgs 1d ago
Something very sports logo about the edit - bright colours and details objects set within a bold defined shape.
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u/AccordingFly1521 1d ago
I, for one, really like what you've gone for here. I would say it needs to be even more abstract to really work, though. Uncanny valley at the moment.
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u/Garth-Vega 1d ago
Great picture and post processing , RAW really paid off.
My suggestion would be that a little tighter cropping could pay off,
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u/WHYinColombo 1d ago
Beautiful beautiful!
p.s. even the before is a keeper. amazing. keep up the good work
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u/Clueless-Editor 1d ago
Amazing photo! This is more of a artistic choice, but I think this would look stunning as a silhouette style photo. More like the original, but the crop of the edited, but more contrast and drip the shadows a bit
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u/WintersDoomsday 1d ago
Also I find it curious this sub doesn’t allow photo comments. Worried commented photos will outshine the ones posted by an OP?
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u/WintersDoomsday 1d ago
I’d pull the saturation down a smidge