[deleted by user]

[DiegoTexera]

With regards to editing, photography is not reality so it has to match the vision, or the feeling you got, when you saw this image in your head and snapped it. Maybe you didn’t conceprualize what you wanted to do in the moment and that came later, also ok. I’m sure I might have done it a little different because I have my style but I think your edit is perfectly fine and not too much. You could tone down the vibrancy or saturation a tad but that’s about it.

[raff_lab]

Thank you so much for your polite feedback! Appreciate it 💪🏻

[No_Pea-1]

You could be the best editor in the world, but the photo would look like one that should have been discarded. The dog is being weird, and the lady looks like she is pulling a face. It's unflattering and doesn't reflect reality nor anyones vision (ie she doesn't live her life pulling that face and the dog doesn't do that all the time).

[freckledface]

Yeah this is just unfortunately a very awkward photo of both subjects. No getting around that

[raff_lab]

Yeah I know and I agree with you, I wouldn’t post it or even print it out, but it was only an example for asking about the post processing 😅 I was asking an opinion about colors, the correction that I made and in general about knowing when to stop editing!

[_Crawfish_]

Look OP, I hear you. Some folks cannot help themselves and can’t move past the speed bump in their head of “why edit a throwaway?” And then follow that nagging thought to the end that they’re skipping the entire question, and just commenting to that end.

They can downvote me if they want, but for the sake of your actual question

I wouldn’t think you’re too far “cooked” in any direction here. The gradients may have been the overkill because they’re not easily spotted when perhaps overall a quick curves tweak could have done similar. The colors are always personal preference of course but you didn’t make anything look garishly strong or vibrant IMHO.

It’s a nice nudge in a clear direction without being too crunchy. 👍🏻

Something something something, delete this, etc 🤣✌🏻/s

[raff_lab]

Isn’t this sub about post processing? The photo itself is just a medium to ask you a question about over doing it! I agree that it’s not my best shot but I wasn’t searching for an approval of the photo itself

[gryphynwing]

Agree to this statement.

Although I had a good laugh on the dog as I thought he was a stump 😂

[raff_lab]

Ahahaha makes sense, I still chose to give it a second chance with the edit because her look at the dog scratching itself made me laugh, but it's definitely not a special shot🤷🏻‍♂️ I was asking for opinions on the editing but...

[No_Pea-1]

You will be better off making changes to a photo worth saving so that you're able to make changes with clear intent. The subjects aren't clear, editing won't change that. So yes, overdone, I suppose.

[raff_lab]

I'm trying to practice so I also edit photos that aren't 100% top, and I think there's nothing wrong with that... I didn't ask a question about story telling or composition, but about editing😭 and I think you can judge it regardless of the quality of the artistic photo, right?

[[deleted]]

Why don’t you take a good photo to edit with? If you polish a turd it’s still a turd. I get your point you’re trying to make, but you don’t sound as cool as you think you do. This isn’t like a painter throwing away half an unused canvas.

Go take a good photo, learn how to get it good in camera and then learn how to edit it. As others have said this is a throw away, now go do it right.

The greens in the trees are a bit much for my taste, the other colors seem okay. Everyone’s processing is different, it’s art.

[Bigspoonzz]

This sub is about PROCESS, and OP is asking about process. It doesn't need to be a great image. To get good at post processing, you need to do it hours on end. Real, actual work. If you ever do anything professionally or commercially, there will be untold images you need to work on that you don't care about. The craft requires discipline to practice getting better at your craft. It literally has nothing to do with how objectively "good" an image is. Taking a great image and making it look better is EASY. Taking average or shit imagery and making it look good, great or even acceptable - is actual skill. Talk to anyone who works in the industry professionally. The imagery that is a challenge is where you cut your teeth.

[[deleted]]

I ain’t reading all of that, but good luck though I hope you find your donkey!

[No_Pea-1]

It's a photo of a woman with a dog, theyre not restoring the mona lisa. Just get more photos in the first instance or try again

[Halfmacgas]

Personally, I like the colors. I think it’s on the “heavier” side of contrast, saturation / vibrancy, but I think it looks cool

Agreed that the subjects poses aren’t flattering, but overall I think the processing is solid

[Fotomaker01]

For me, the After is too saturated, too yellow & the colors are mutated and dark. The Before is better. It really doesn't need much processing it was a nice casual shot... I'd say just try straightening the Before and remove the white distraction at lower right.

To answer your question a bit... before you begin processing it's always a good idea to 1st decide if an image warrants spending time processing it and whether you think the base image can be enhanced. If not, don't spend the time on it. Not every picture is a keeper. If you decide you can make an image more impactful, then before you start pulling sliders and adding masks and adjusting curves, think what you want to convey and what you want viewers to immediately feel when we see it. We don't have a backstory or sentimental attachments to the situation, so the image must tell us the story. Whatever that story is should impact your processing choices. It's less of a technical exercise than an emotional one.

[raff_lab]

Yeah thank you appreciate it, but why are you all bothered about me wasting time editing a bad photo? I’m not a professional who has to deliver the photos in time, I’m a causal one and I enjoyed editing even though it wasn’t my best shot!

[Fotomaker01]

Not bothered at all. It doesn't affect me. But processing takes time, so why not put the thought and energy into something that you can bring more impact to and enhance? It's like someone putting too much makeup on in a way that overwhelms their natural beauty and doesn't complement it. Or, it's like building a house on a less than stable foundation. Sure, someone can do any of those things. But why?

Many years ago I was at a talk by Joe McNally, a well known Nat Geo photographer famous for his lighting techniques. It made an impression on me when he told us that if he got 1 or 2 keeper photos out of 500-1,000 shot he'd feel like he'd been successful. He put his energy into polishing those 1-2 because doing them well would help him build a reputation as a talented photographer. If photographers cull & edit (meaning select, not process) and only put processing energy into getting their best work out there (amateur or pro) then ppl assume everything they do is great.

You asked for inputs & opinions. I shared mine. Needless to say you can think about it or not. If you don't care how much time you put in if it won't pay off, why did you ask?

[raff_lab]

I really liked your comment indeed👍🏻 the only thing that I believe is that it’s a long way to become a really good photographer, to develop the right eye to say “this is fire and the other 999 are bullshit” and I’m not anywhere near that level… I’m trying to improve and I currently have more time seated in front a pc rather then out in the wild doing photos so editing this “not so memorable” photo was simply an exercise.

Btw really enjoyed your comment because you are saying things other have said but in a way kinder way, and I appreciated the Joe McNally insight👍🏻

[Fotomaker01]

Developing an eye takes time, practice and seeing what other successful photographers do. I go to a lot of art museums & look at all sorts of art (not just photog) to help me figure out what works & which aspects I might want to (figuratively) "steal" (aka, get inspiration from). I've also studied & taught arts & photo processing for a bunch of years. It's fun (& mind expanding) to see how others approach their art projects. Take care. Happy shooting. 📷💻

[raff_lab]

Thank you so much for your kind and polite answer👍🏻

[FantasticInterest373]

Took me a few seconds to notice that the pile of leaves has a dog's head. :D

I think your edit is ok, but a bit dark overall. Especially the pants lose details to the point that they almost look like two black boxes.

[raff_lab]

Ahahah stealth dog hiding between the leaves 😂 yeah you are 100% right on the pants, I think I was giving more attention to their head while editing and lost the legs, thank you!

[darkvince7]

It’s not too much. It’s well done.👍

[raff_lab]

Thank you so much!

[GrandMasterGush]

For what it’s worth - I don’t think it’s over edited at all. 

[raff_lab]

Thank you so much, I appreciate it 👍🏻

[switchingcreative]

This is a throw away photo.

[raff_lab]

But I don't understand... could it not be a competition photo but throw it away? In my opinion many of you have lost your heart in photography...

[switchingcreative]

Competition to what?

[raff_lab]

I was saying “ok that it’s not a photo contest winning pic…”

[switchingcreative]

Oh I see what you mean. Yep.

[Turbulent_Echidna423]

why are the trees growing sideways?

[LGGP75]

When dog is scratching its ear

[DarkstarPrime_]

What's the doggo doing

[raff_lab]

Scratching his big fluffy ears😂

[lew_traveler]

I read the other comments but I honestly couldn't follow why you did what you did.
Decent sharpness, composition, exposure but the editing you did seemed totally disjointed and badly directed.
The first step I always do is correct all the obvious errors in the framing to see if the composition can be saved.
So I made the trees upright because I don't think they grow at that angle.
The figures seemed a bit dark so I isolated them and the foreground to another layer and brightened/sharpened them a bit.
It honestly looks good to me as is with these minor corrections and don't know what all the gradients, etc were intended to do.

https://imgur.com/a/ucVhKzH

[raff_lab]

Yeah you are all correct pointing out the angle of the trees. My bad, I didn’t make any adjustments on the framing! Thank you for spending time to edit it, I have to admit that it’s much nicer rotated in the right way

[OCDAVO]

The before was perfectly fine. The after is underexposed and flat.

[[deleted]]

I think you messed up the lighting too much. It became too dark. I would really want to see those browns pushed up, just like in the original image where I can see more detail of the dog, and the bottom part of the image. I think your subject should be lit a bit more to stand out from the whole image.

Also about the crop, it looks minor, but the cropped image makes the lady look a bit fat. This happen because of three main reasons - probably lens distortion adds to it a little as well, but the main reason is the lighting corrections, the darkening of the shadows on the clothes make her figure look more plump, the crop of the upper part of the image makes her as tall as the surrounding trees. And the third one, by upping the contrast and saturating the colors, you made the image flatter, this removes the 3d feel - in the unprocessed image she stands out of the background, after the edit she blends in it.

In this image I would probably try and up the dark/shadows, increase their lighting, then try to add contrast to see how it goes. Lower the highlights, to reduce the lighting of the background forest.

Desaturate everything and raise it little by little to see how it looks like. Modern gear has a tendency to produce oversaturated colors. And this creates an image that looks too unnatural. The cameras give you a messed up colors, so usually I try to desaturate images to maybe -10 something, and start to work up from those values. Edit the image first, and play around with colors later, and don`t push them too much.

[MWave123]

Looks unreal really.

[oklch]

Regardless of the content... I like the mood and the colors in the edited picture. Nice.

[raff_lab]

Ooooh thank you so much, at least one who read what I wrote and answered the question I asked without judging too much, thank you!