Before, After and Beyond

To date, we haven’t done a lot of editing reveals here at Shutter Sisters. We have discussed processing and presets but what about the simple steps we take to merely improve and intensify our images? I must admit I often look at the amazing shots in our Flickr pool and think not only how did they do that? but also, what did that image look like straight out of the camera? Editing our images to enhance them is a step that many of use take now in our own digital darkrooms and it seems like high-time time we show some before and afters!

In celebration of the release of Lightcrafts’ brand new intuitive and oh-so-easy to use photo editing software Aurora, we want to see your edits! Before, after, beyond or a combination of the above; it’s up to you! Just show us something before you edit it, then, work your magic and show us the end result. It doesn't have to be fancy or some great departure from the original. Just something subtle that makes the image pop. Share your handiwork on your blog or at Flickr and then leave a comment with the link to your edit.

And don’t worry, your work will not be in vain because the fine folks at Lightcraft are generously giving away copies of the all-new lovely Aurora to 7 of our readers! That means that all of you that participant in our editing extravaganza will be eligible to win your own copy of the new Aurora photo-editing software. I have used it and it is smoooooth stuff ladies. Very nice! And super-easy and fun to use. You’ll love it. But, don’t take my word for it, you can try it out yourself for a week for freeeeeeee! And in case you wondered, Aurora is not just an editing tool. You can use it to organize, tag, name, view, share and publish your photos among other things. And there's also an option to subscribe to an affordable online back-up plan. Hello brilliant.

OK, you’ve got until midnight on Sunday night to leave your comment and link here on this post to be in the running to win win win!

Ready, set, edit!

Comments

[Puna]

Wow this is an easy assignment for me. I not only found photography but I also found photo editing.

I've been playing along with the Lovely Laura of http://www.dolcepics.com/...
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/whats-your-play-no-42/
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/whats-your-play-no-39/
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/whats-your-play-no-37/

I've also been playing along with the ladies from http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/its-friday-rah-rah-shis-boom-bah/
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/creative-cropping/

And I've been playing by myself.
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/before-and-after-the-barn/
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/pse-tip-soft-light-for-faces/
http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/pse-tip-creative-kaitlin-and-quick-edge-burn/

It might seem like all play but really, I'm learning...and I'm obviously really excited about it. I may not win this contest but I think I win with the most time (unwasted) teaching myself photoshop and photoshop elements!

[Alicia]

Here's photo I am working on... The first is straight out of the camera, second is actually the 3rd edit I did (it just looks better in this order), and the third picture has an antique feel to it... What do you think about the edits??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34467943@N07/3468155682/

[Sebrina]

Looks like I can't play since they only have a windows version and not mac :(

[Kari]

Here's a quick color edit I did recently...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10811746@N05/3467538363/

[Meg]

I may actually check back every 5 minutes today to see everyone's before and afters. I absolutely love seeing how an image "started out" and what it turns into. I get even more excited when I see images that are less then perfect SOOC completely transform into something fantastic with a little editing.

http://whimsy.typepad.com/teaandbrie/2009/04/before-and-after.html

[heidi]

here's a big crop/color adjustment to save an otherwise useless picture... http://www.flickr.com/photos/37075105@N02/sets/72157617217644362/

[Martha]

Here is a before and after of a rather dull photo transformed:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14756941@N08/3461649468/in/photostream/

[renee @ FIMBY]

I would love to use something a bit more intuitive for photo processing but I like the raw capabilities and workflow in Bibble (& the price). But I'd love to try out Aurora. I don't play around with editing hardly at all, I will tweak WB and lighten the exposure from time to time. Can only spend so much time on the computer, what with 3 kids (homeschooled) and a home to take care, gardening, meals to cook and weekends spent hiking. I'm spending my creative time right now just trying to figure out how to take better photos to begin with.

Sometimes I feel very alone in this when I see all the photos on the daily click (which I subscribe to) and many look obviously processed. Feel like I'm not part of the "in" shutter sisters photography crowd LOL!

I ramble...

[Bridge]

I LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

[KL]

Oh, I am partial to lab puppies. The cutest of the puppy world.

I admit I do too much post processing sometimes. I'm still learning when to say when.

I'm amazed at how it can transform images, but use it for small corrections as well. Here is a picture I wasn't crazy about until I fiddled. Highlighted the subject matter, fixed levels and finally, greyscale. The final black and white is my favorite.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12418609@N00/3467850535/

[TechyTeacher]

The before is strait out of the camera. The after, I seperated the background, and played with the effects for the background to make it seem more sureal and changed the brightness of the subject. I like how it turned out.

http://clicksofthecamera.blogspot.com/2009/04/before-and-after-assignment.html

[Shae]

http://shaespics.blogspot.com/2009/04/for-our-anniversary-pat-got-me-new-lens.html

I love seeing what everyone else did! There are some very creative sisters out there.

[Kristin]

Ooohhh yay for editing software! This pic i just edited slightly to give that warm detail that makes ya feel good. I just warmified the color - the bokeh is natural!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/khrystyn22/3459982141/

[jasminflower]

This is so fun!! Love the idea and I can't wait to check out the Aurora freebie!! Here's my contribution to the "competition".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasminflower/3468074229/

[Mollie Kendall]

Here is my edit on a recent image :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22680271@N05/3468226109/

[spread your wings]

this challenge will be fun. i love seeing other's before and afters.

[Cindi Barker]

OK, this is VERY extreme and not my usual style...well, I do like black and white and sepia images but the level of editing and Photoshop work is beyond what I normally do. This shot was taken a week or so after Ike and then we had an assignment in our club for an image portraying MOOD and this is what I came up with.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3521/3468259083_075d954198_m.jpg

Cindi

[Becca]

I absolutely love conversation hearts, and when I got a chance to photograph them this Valentine's Day, I was in a rush. The result was an underexposed photograph with paper plate indentations showing. I fixed it up, and this is my before and after edit: :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26558078@N06/3468282947/


Thanks Shutter Sisters!

[Shannon Perlow]

Here's some of my before and after's from a wedding last fall.

http://www.locke-innovations.com/blog/

[Marina]

I was playing around with macro extenders a few days ago and shot a whole bunch of things. After a while, I realised I'd forgotten to adjust settings for a really bright, sunny day. Doh. I managed to rescue a few of them using CS2, though:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teoandtea/3468427279/

[tonya]

This topic is so near and dear to my heart that I had to write my own whole post about it, including a few "before and afters". It's at http://www.tonyadoughty.com/blog/2009/4/23/before-and-after.html

[shelli - mama of letters]

This was fun! Thanks!


http://web.me.com/pabis/Mama_of_Letters/Blog/Entries/2009/4/23_Post_Processing.html

[summer]

I don't have a good photo altering program just the one that came with my Mac so I haven't really used one at all. I sometimes warm up tones a little or adjust exposure a little if I had metered at a proper exposure but want some thing over or under exposed for effect. And sometimes I adjust color to black and white but I try and do that when I'm shooting if at all possible.
I love what every one is doing I just don't know how to do it and don't have the technology or skill. I don't know digital photography at all really and have ended up just using my DSLR like my film SLR minus the film;), mostly for saving on cost. I still like film better I think for SOOC shots...so I tend to use SOOC shots out of my digital as well. Hopefully I will learn and grow as a digital photographer. That's my goal anyway.
Here's a shot that I played with a little. I was waiting for my girls to wake up from nap so I could get some photos of them playing under some sheer material...I was trying out different settings on my camera to see what I liked best.
Before:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sufferingsummer/3468524681/
and After:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sufferingsummer/3469369062/in/photostream/

[laura-dolcepics]

What a fun challenge! I LOVE seeing before and after. Thus, I love the " \ " key in Lightroom where we can toggle between SOOC and edited. :)

It's been a while since I've posted... sorry! Here's mine:

http://www.dolcepics.com/articles/before-and-after/

[Melissa]

I love, love, love looking at everyone's before and afters.... here's one of mine ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgysen/3468663123/

[nicole]

One of my favorite before and afters...
http://lntphoto.blogspot.com/2009/04/beforeafter.html

[Angie Muldowney]

I love how sometimes it's the most unpromising images that look the best after a bit of photoshop jiggery-pokery. Here's my before and after... http://www.lemonlight.org/weblog/2009/02/before-and-after.html

[Heather]

My biggest aha! moments come in editing photos in PSE. I'm not sure I could do without gradient maps! Here are some of my 'backyard recipes'

http://heatherk.typepad.com/photography/2009/04/backyard-recipes.html

[Kelly]

I have to confess, I downloaded this earlier, and I hated it... *wry grin* I'm used to CS-3 now, and while it's not as cheap, Aurora doesn't seem to have even the capacity to do what Google's Picasa has, especially for its file capacity. Maybe it was just the trial version, I dunno - but anyway. If you want a *free* editing/organizing software, I have to recommend Picasa! I used it for a couple years before I got Photoshop, and it worked beautifully!

[keli_h]

lightroom is, like, totally my bff

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twelve-paws/3469184333/

[jag]

Ever since I discovered the capabilities of Picnik, I rarely post a photo that hasn't been touched up in some way. The disadvantage is that I can't get them printed in anything larger than a 4x6 because the resolution goes waaay down when I save it back onto my computer. (In Canada, we still can't send to print directly from Flickr). If anyone knows how I can get around that, I'd be much obliged! I did get Photoshop Elements for my birthday, but haven't even begun to tap into those possibilities. It scares me!

Here are two examples of before & afters:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/3470030628/in/set-72157604073023608/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/3470053330/in/set-72157604073023608/

jag xox

[Liz]

fun! my blue eyes have a brown spot in them, so when i took this photo and cropped it to my eye, i tried fiddling with the color and contrast to see what i could get, in regards to each color.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilybeth29/3299024214/in/set-72157594587515983/

[NotAnna]

Although I've done a few experiments with special treatments and vintage looks, mostly I post-process to correct my amateur's shooting mistakes. In this case (using PS Elements 7, as always), I corrected the color cast, adjusted the levels to brighten the whole thing, cropped, and cloned out the redness in my daughter's right eye, then desaturated the reds, which I think enhances the innocence factor.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31866449@N04/3469395021/

[Kerstin]

Looks like a great bit of software but I can't play along because it doesn't work with Macs :(

[Bostongaljm]

I love SOOC, but sometimes I love to blow out color, maximize details, and to expose some of the hidden potential of a photograph.

Love that puppy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22522584@N02/sets/72157617258304324/detail/

[auyeda]

From what I've read this is fabulous software - exactly what I need!

[Jaana]

This has been so fun to see everyone's before & after. I want to play! :)

http://photographybyjaana.blogspot.com/2009/04/before-and-after.html

[Tracy Sutherland]

This was fun!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/konehead/3472258094/

[MAKNJ]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maknj/3471876759/in/set-72157617190233491/
This is the first in a set (SOOC), the next two pictures in the set are my "afters." I think of it as two hobbies I have: taking pictures, and processing/editing pictures. It's two different sets of skills, that happen to result in images.

I've loved looking at everyones before and afters.

MAK

[Erika]

Here is my post sharing my edit process http://gashuttergirl.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/shutter-sisters-before-after-and-beyond/

Congrats on the big win with Picture Hope.

Erika

[Shawna]

I haven't had a chance to play in a while. I can't wait to get a chance to read through all these posts, as I have so much to learn. Here mine:

http://tumblieweed.blogspot.com/2009/04/photo-editing.html

[Kathy Winter]

It's fun seeing what everyone is doing. This was such a fun exercise, I made it a set on flickr and hope to add to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathywinter/sets/72157617311347160/

[Heather]

It's taken me all week but here is a before and after of a tulip -- still figuring out how to use elements, baby steps.

http://mamamutterings.blogspot.com/2009/04/tulips-before-and-after.html

[nadine]

When I looked at the original on the camera I thought wow what a good shot! Then I opened it in Photoshop and realized wow what a not good shot. Colours needed some serious improving!

http://miramis.org/nadine/pictures/beforeandafter.jpg

[vivian]

thank you, this was a lot of fun to put together!

http://viagael.blogspot.com/2009/04/beforeafter.html

[Foto_op]

My daughter and I collaborate on many of our artwork pieces. With these images, I took the shots and my daughter did the graphic work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foto_op

[alisa]

so this represents my very first attempt at photo editing. i've always envied the ability to crop a photo (i know, i am just that dorky) so i jumped at the chance to try this. i may be hooked.

[claudia]

I love my PSE6 for editing and occasionally even use picasa & picnik for quickies. I have to admit that I need to use it a lot with only having a point and shoot to work with. And I'm okay with that because I can make a good shot look great with it. Here are a couple I just recently did.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3477511479_36e512c248_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3397/3478311076_e9ffe9f427_o.jpg

[spread your wings]

If I modify an image I use photoshop but I want to check out Aurora that you mentioned.
this was from a photoshoot T and I did together. she took some of herself and then I took some of her. Every once in a while I open up old images and play around with them just for fun.
http://autumnsun08.blogspot.com/2009/04/shutter-sisters-challenge-before-and.html

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