Editing and Image Selection

Over the Christmas period I have been busy editing photographs and working towards the final selection of images.  In accordance with the 'statement of intent', I need to work towards a portfolio of 10 images for each theme, 'architecture' and 'street'.

I have included some screen grabs here to illustrate the type of editing which has been undertaken.

This photograph was taken around midday and you can see the high contrast results.  I wanted to capture the tunnel like qualities of the street and the Italian flags strung across, unfortunately, I did not have any filters to hold back the bright sunlight and this has resulted in the histogram having a high peak in the black end of the scale, the picture registering mainly blacks and dark colours.

I did try to work with this, as in Edward Swinden's work shown earlier in my blog, however, I felt this defeated the object to show this street as uniquely Italian.  I therefore used the burn tool to bring out more detail in the apartments on the left.

Here I worked on the 'raw' file using 'fill light', to bring out detail in the dark area in front, vibrance to improve colour in mid tones and clarity to sharpen it up a little.

Here little work was needed since there were no highlight or shadow  'clipping' warnings, other than to increase saturation by a small amount to increase blue in the sea and sky.

Here again, saturation was increased by a small amount to improve colour.

This was another high contrast situation with foliage shaddows falling on the scene.  I used fill light and saturation to boost colour.

This one had lost some detail in the highlights, recovery was used to bring these back a little, vibrance to improve colour in midtones and the contrast boosted a small amount.

Rocovery on this one improved some blown out highlights on the toys with contrast and vibrance to sharpen and boost colour.

With this one a sharpening tool from the filter menu was used on his face since it was very slighty blurred by his movement.  In addition the sky behind was blown out due to bright sunlight and this was improved a little.

This is a screen grab of an area which was improved using cloning.

I have also included here informtion from the internet with regard to Health and Safety.  When spending any length of time at a workstation it is important to be aware of  any health and safety implications.  These include correct screen height and lighting, comfortable sitting positions, no over-reaching or stretching, correct placement of keyboard/mouse and any other equipment, as well as regular breaks away from the screen to alieviate fatigue, eye strain, back, neck or arm/hand/wrist problems.

In addition to these specific considerations, the working environment should be assessed for light, ventilation, noise, dust/cleanliness, trip or slip hazards and safety of electrical equipment, as in regular testing.

Ensure the Safety of Everyone Using Your Equipment

What does the law say?

Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 [PDF], every business has a duty to minimise the risks in visual display unit (VDU) work by ensuring that workplaces and jobs are well designed.
The regulations apply to staff who habitually use VDUs as a significant part of their normal work.
Staff who spend more than a few hours each day sitting at a desk with a DSE/VDU may experience headaches, neck and lower back pain, sore arms and shoulders or a combination of these problems.
As an employer you are required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who uses your equipment.