Challenge: The Rose perfected from a jpg: can you do it?

[Asher Kelman]

This is the same beautiful rose Michelle introduced us to.

I asked her to provide the original file here .

I challenge you to process it to bring out the most stunning rose there is in this shot!

Describe how you approach this. Whatever steps you give will be helpful. Also why you crop if you needed to. Post your version at 900 dpi wide.

Thanks Michelle, a rose by another name!

Asher


Remember to add © 2007 Michelle Jones and that you grant your creative contribution back to the original photographer's © as fair exchange for using the file for this excercise. No other use license is hereby granted not permitted.

 

[Marian Howell]

quick mod...in ps3 converted to argb, added joseph holmes' argb +20 chroma variant, converted back to srgb:

 

[Michelle Jones]

I like that.....But I would have lightened it up a bit. To me at least it is somewhat dark.
Michelle

 

[Brian Lowe]

Here is my version.

I processed in Lightroom where I tweaked colors to my liking then gave it a crop. Next I imported the photo into CS2 and played with the curves and gave it a little USM and here is my rendition, I hope you like it.

-Brian-



© 2007 Michelle Jones

 

[Marian Howell]

i like the way your crop focuses the eye right into the flower!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Marion your rose is rich! I don't yet see side by side how the Holmes curves gave you the end result, but that would be somewthing I might test myself.

Brian, you are totally wacco, changing colors, but this is so much better in my eyes, it's like Cinderella was hiding inside and you removed the red curtains to find something even more delicate!

Marion can you just tweak the hues to reproduce that or not?

Interesting that when I look at Brian's image more closely the shading insdie the flower is perhaps posterized?

Maybe a jpg artifact!

Asher

 

[Ferenc Harmat]

Here is my version...

This is the same beautiful rose Michelle introduced us to.

I asked her to provide the original file here .

I challenge you to process it to bring out the most stunning rose there is in this shot!

Well, this is certainly a beautiful close-up, which, in my humble opinion, suffers from some severe color-cast, in general. The flower seems to have been "submerged" beneath this cast, which kind of makes it difficult to clearly see it and appreciate it. Also, there are some elements in the image that are foreign to the rose, which result distracting to the eye.

I can not say how the original colors looked, but I tried to recover it, the best way I could. Here is my interpretation:

For pulling out the rose out of the severe cast, I tried to follow a as simple and effective approach as I could, always focused on recovering light/brightness and color balance:

1. Opened and converted to 16bit (just for better computations of Levels, etc.)
2. Performed a Levels operation to restore brightness.
3. Re-balanced onverall color balance in a highly non-linear fashion, by means of
proprietary color+masking processor (FLEXChroma). This was achieved by performing
targeted de-saturations of the R, G, B channels in a specific sequence and strength,
and in those areas of the image where such colors where more saturated (by means
of dedicated saturation masks generated for each R, G, B component.)
4. Increased density in mid-tones, to enhance overall "rosy" look by means of proprietary
Tonality and density processor. This operation was also highly non-linear in nature, as
the midtones captured in the distracting background were darkened, whereas the mid-
tones in the rose's surface where actually boosted (luma+chroma), for instance.
5. Converted back to 8bit.
6. Re-sized to 800x1200
7. Sharpened for web (proprietary)
8. Saved as .JPG


Hope you like this version. The rose is much easier to see, now, than before (IMHO).

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Ferenc,

I like what you have done as it givethe rose as special presence. I'd wonder whether a selctive blur of the outer petal edges might not be an idea to consider.Even in Brian's rose, which is perhaps the most delicate, I'd prefer a less hard edge to the out petal edges.

What is amazing is how much work there is to do with just one rose. Now Ferenc is your software going to become available any time soon? Sounds interesting, something akin to Asiva?

Asher

 

[Ferenc Harmat]

My comments...

Hi Ferenc,

I like what you have done as it givethe rose as special presence. I'd wonder whether a selctive blur of the outer petal edges might not be an idea to consider.

I am glad you liked it. A selective blur will not be necessary. I would just need to supress sharpening-for-web stage and that's it. It will have the softness you desire.

Now, keep in mind that every sinlge step of my processing is in line with my original objective: rescue the rose and make it visible (subject-isolation), by restoring or increasing its vibrancy, as well as preserving its overall natural hue. The final sharpening is fundamental, because it adss to it the extra dimensional kick, so it gives the impression it will come out of your screen at any time (has a "3D" look to it).

Now Ferenc is your software going to become available any time soon? Sounds interesting, something akin to Asiva?

There are four (4) modules, and only one is commercially available. The modules used for this excercise will not be commercially available for now (although they are ready, for that purpose).

BTW, and forgive my ignorance, what is Asiva?

 

[Asher Kelman]

The Asiva software has a paradigm of selection based on hue nas tonality with the use of histograms to limit where the action will work and the roll off (or feather) of the selected areas. Saturatrion is dealt with independantly of saturation.

• Make corrections, enhancements and apply filters precisely, without time-consuming masks.
  
  
• Control how filters (Operations) are applied to and image using adjustable maps (curves) on the Hue, Saturation and Luminance components. Set an Operations’ roll-off on the maps so the effect appears completely natural. Blend colors gradually into one another.
  
  
• Organize and arrange your Operations in an Operation Sequence.
  
  
• Turn Operations on and off at will for instant comparison. Change the order of Operations in a Sequence and save your Sequence or Operation(s) independently. Use them on any other image or for archival purposes.
  
  
• Multiple ways to apply any operation: globally, regionally with a rectangle or ellipse tool, or by using the powerful brush tool to apply pixel-accurate effects. All Operations can be removed in any combination with these tools.
  
  
• Work with a proxy image and render your corrections to the final full-resolution image only when your creative work is done. This allows you to work quickly and see changes almost instantly in the process.
  
• All Operations are saved or stored as vector-based sets of instructions. You don't have to worry about loss of resolution when applying the same Operation or Sequence of Operations to different sized images.

You can get it as a standalone program or else PS plugins here

Asher

 

[Don Lashier]

My quickie:

Photoshop:

- levels layer, trim right end to data
- curves layer, S with long straight middle to increase midtone contrast, darken background
- hue/sat layer with hue + 12 to correct perceived color balance
- cropped, for what to me seem obvious reasons
- copied base image, applied high-pass ~60, difference blend, fill reduced to 43%
- gamma curve on top of everything to compensate for darkening by previous step
- usm base image 200, 0.4, 1
- add copyright and save as jpeg, quality 8

- DL

 

[John_Nevill]

A victorian rose.

Edited in Silkypix
Exposure +1.5stops
Colour deflection + 7
Dark adjusment -1
Black level +19
Colour mode - Portrait, desaturated to .4
Dynamic range +4EV

 

[Asher Kelman]

John,

I see you have maintained the gentle tonality range of the shadows on top of the superior center petal that defines the central cluster of petals.

That is so easy to get posterized.

Why is it that most versions show a harsh dark edge in the left upper quadrant. What is happening there?

SilkyPix comes out well!

Thanks,

Asher

 

[Nikolai Sklobovsky]

OK, I'll play

Below is my attempt.

Inverted Rose

Loose rose selection based on modified red channel, inverted, BW layer applied.
A copy of original darkened via several multiply layers.
Another copy of original scaled up to create a faux backround and set to a lower trasparency.

I may have forget a few steps here and there, but that is pretty much what I had in mind..

 

[Ivan Garcia]

Hi guys
Here is my take.
Objective : remove color cast and enhance image.

1- Converted file to 16 bits
2- Levels layer to restore brightens
3- Curves layer for preliminary color cast removal, and contrast enhancement
4- Color balance layer for final color adjustment, slider moved toward blue and cyan
5- Nicolas Claris sharpening action @ 40% normal blend (Selective via mask)
6- Duplicate background layer
7- Selective Lens blur filter via mask
8- Flatten image
9- Added copyright text.
10- Nicolas claris sharpening action @ 25% screen blend (for color pop up).
11- Cropped to taste
12- Flatten image
13- Convert to 8 bits rgb.
14- Resize for web.
15- Added border

 

[Michelle Jones]

Oh wow! There are sooo many beautiful versions of the same rose. That makes it so interesting.
Michelle

 

[Ferenc Harmat]

Strange...

SilkyPix comes out well!

Asher:

I worked my version out of a .jpg, and not from any RAW file. I see folks here talking about SilkyPix, Lightroom, etc. Are they using processing facilities offered by these programs to be ran over .JPGs?

If not, where is the .CR2?

 

[Asher Kelman]

John,

I guess some programs handle jpgs too!!! After all, they are all ultimately TIFF files, aren't they?

Asher

 

[John_Nevill]

Asher,

My rendition was indeed worked from jpeg using Silkypix.

Almost all Silkypix functions available to raw can be used on jpeg, tiff and dng.

For some reason, one of the noise reductions controls is nulled when working on lossy jpegs.

I must check why this is?, after all, i'm writing book on it, I should know this ;-)

 

[Edward Bussa]

Bibbled

Sometimes it is freeing to edit someone elses image... no preconceptions to deal with or satisfy!

This version brought to you with a tool called Bibble:

I like the out-of-focus geometric shapes at the top (bottom in the original). Michelle, what are those shapes and did you create them with light patterns or are they objects?

 

[Michelle Jones]

They are patterns in a rug on my floor. It is in a Aztec design. I had my camera on a tripod and looked down onto the rose to photograph it. And what is bibble? Is it a plug in for Photoshop or is it a stand alone program?
Michelle

 

[Edward Bussa]

Bibble is a stand alone tool. It is a competitor to Lightroom, Aperture, Capture 1 and SilkyPix. It converts and processes raw files.

I like it's interface (except for the browser windows) and the Noise Ninja integration and some of the plug-ins that are available. I placed your signature on the picture in Photoshop, thats why Photoshop appears in the EXIF.