Bobby Earle is a photographer in San Diego whose work I greatly admire. And I'll tell you, yes, he is a fantastic photog, but I love him for more than his photography. He has a great attitude about life and photography and his passion for his beautiful wife (who you can tell is his best friend) all point to him being a really well-rounded, awesome guy. He does this thing called "Before and After Wednesdays" where he posts an SOOC (straight out of the camera) image and then shows you how he processes it to get his look. I think it's a great idea because ALL of us, would be nowhere without someone, at some point showing us something we didn't know. We all learn from everyone else, not just in photography, but life in general. I know I get asked a ton of "how do you..." questions and I am passionate about sharing whenever I can. So while I can't pinky-promise I'll manage to do this every Wednesday, I am going to TRY.
This is an old photo, from 2005, but one I really love. It makes me laugh everytime I see it. I am a firm believer that good post (post processing) is necessary (read here ALL about it) and can really help a so-so image. I don't think that is the case here (I mean I don't think this is a so-so image), as I think this is a pretty decent SOOC. Exposure is good, focus good, lighting not bad. Just needs a little...like icing on the cake, KWIM? So this one isn't being "rescued", so much as "finished."
Here is the SOOC version:
and here is the finished version.
And here is what I did to get it. (Click to enlarge.) In this case, these are all TRA actions, though I also use a ton of my own "stuff" and I like ColorShift too. There are so many out there and I own a lot of them to round out my own workflow, but seem to really use these the most.
