Sample Edit 10/15/2012

SUBARU IMPREZA WRX

Finalized Version

Raw sample

So here's an example of what post-processing in photoshop can do to a photo. Recently i got the opportunity to shoot my cousin's GD WRX and this is just one of the shots from the set. First thing's first.. what do we start with? First thing we should do is evaluate the .RAW file and see what we need to work on. 

 Raw file

 Alright, so looking at the .RAW we teaked a bit of blacks and fixed lens warp and imported it in to CS5. First area we need to look at is the area circled in RED. This fix can be complicated if we make it complicated, for now we'll leave it alone and focus on the second area. Note the area circled in YELLOW. Upon closer inspection, you'll see numerous rock chips that need to disappear. For the job at hand, we'll use the clone tool and clone out all the major chips on each body panel.

The game plan

Since i'm OCD and i need to organize every little detail (haha), i made a duplicate and made folders labelled "FIX" and "EDIT". "FIX" being the layers used to remove and add details (in this case, the rock chips). Whereas the "EDIT" folder is the folder that holds all the layers that tweak the picture style itself. More of this will make more sense as we progress further. The order i chose to progress is to remove the rock chips off the fender, bumper, lip, head light, and hood. Afterwards, removing glare and my own reflections off the hood and bumper. Third step is to remove the reflections given off by the light source (YN-560 w/ umbrella). Last, but not least, to remove the rock chips off the area fixed in step three.

To remove the rock chips.. we're gonna use the clone tool. For those of you experienced enough with photoshop may already know this. Holding the ALT and right-click on your mouse while using the clone tool, you can easily decrease/increase the size of your brush by moving left/right with the mouse. Later on, it's better to personalize photoshop to your liking, by changing the hot key layout and so on, so forth... as it makes your life easier and makes you much more efficient. This applies especially to the pen tool.

Steps 1-6

1. Composite layer, with rockchips, reflections, and nasty glares removed.
2. Autotone/Autocontrast/Autocolor AKA "Auto'd" layer. Using IMAGE>AUTO.. we can easily fix miscellaneous things like tone, contrast, and white balance.
3. Curves/Exposure layer, playing around with the curves and exposure, we can brighten up the picture a bit and bring out a bit of that color in the headlight and side marker.
4. Line desaturation layer, using the sponge tool at roughly 65% opacity, the yellow was made more mild.
5. Desaturation layer, using IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>VIBRANCE.. i toned down the colors and saturation a bit to the whole picture.
6. Psuedo bokeh layer, using a duplicate i used gaussian blur and blurred the ground ever so slightly, removing the blurred area from the car and made the layer opacity to about 60%. Using the dodge and burn tools i managed to make the concrete "pop" just a bit more. 

Last layer that needs to be put on top is the sharpening layer, which i use to slightly make my photos stand out once in a while. In order to do this, make a duplicate of your final edit and go through, FILTER>OTHER>HIGHPASS and set it to 10.0. Afterwards, change the layer style to SCREEN and opacity to about 18%. The max i recommend EVER, is 25%. Too much is not good and make your photos look way too sharp and ugly upon closer inspection. 

... and thats how i do it! Again, i apologize for the tacky figures but its the best one can do for now.

P.S. Keep in mind that you can go in multiple directions with each shot.. this is just how i happened to do this one.

Enjoy!