Before/After Image Processing - Train Car

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Post Processing

Canon 60D:  1/250th @ F5.0, ISO 800                            Out of Camera Raw File

Image Developed in Adobe Lightroom

Many images can benefit from some general retouching and color enhancing.  When shooting in RAW format, it is always necessary for some level of post processing.  Above is an example of a photograph I shot in the winter of 2012.  The image was shot with my Canon 60D with an 18-135 Kit lens.  On the left you see the original RAW file as it came out of the camera.  To the right, you see the same photograph processed in Adobe Lightroom.  Modifications made in Lightroom include adjusting contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, a touch more vibrance and lens corrections.  

Image Retouched in Adobe Photoshop

After making some global adjustments in Lightroom, I used Cmd+E on the Mac to take the image over to Adobe Photoshop for some retouching.  In this case, I removed the people, the car and evergreen tree from the photograph.  I also had to reconstruct the train rail where the people were removed.  I wanted the focus of the photograph to be the old rustic train car and I felt the items I removed were distractions to my overall vision for this image.  The tools of choice in Photoshop were the clone tool, healing brush, layer masks and adjustment layers.  With the retouching work in Photoshop complete, I saved and closed the file, which brings it back into Lightroom.  

Now that I essentially had the image I wanted, it is time for some finishing touches.  I have been using onOne Software's Perfect Effects 8 and I have found it to be a great tool.  To bring the image from Lightroom into Perfect Effects, in Lightroom go to File > Plug-in Extras > Perfect Effects 8.  I then added some dynamic contrast, color enhancers, and sharpening.  Once I was happy with the final product, I applied the settings and sent the image back to Lightroom.  Below is the final image after all of the processing is complete.  Many times the image I see in my mind when I press the shutter button is not what comes straight out of the camera.  With the help of some great tools, the image in my mind becomes a reality.

Final image after being processed through onOne's Perfect Effects 8.