Why are the rest of you so damn good....? *GUIDE* (I hope...)

[R063R]

I'm never taking another photo on GT5 ever again! EVER!!!

I'm kidding, of course. But I have just watched a video on YouTube that another GTP member - Meteorz, or Max, or something - posted on his own thread (if you're a female, I apologise, and I will edit this post if I am wrong) and it blew me away. The guy's (*gal's) skills are utterly insane. The video, is of the Lexus LFA at the big 'Ring edited from a normal replay photo into a beautiful winter scene, with slight ice on the tarmac, snow resting on the top of the barriers either side of the road, a muddy slush effect on the edge of the tarmac where it meets grass, and the trees all re-coloured brown to match the time of year. It was a joy to watch.

Now - I used to enter the Photomode competitions on here a while ago and for them I used Photoshop CS4. I upgraded my PC recently and now have CS6. I like to think I'm pretty handy editing things, but have nowhere near the skill level that most of the members on here possess.

So, the purpose of this thread - I hope - is for all the GTP member visionaries of Photoshop to teach us lesser mortals some of their skills. I can only speak for myself when I say that I will not be using these new-learned skills against you all as I make a comeback to entering the Photomode competitions again - current situations in my life dictate that I no longer have the time to sit for hours every week racing a car round a track, then watching a replay and pausing it every 2 seconds to enter Photomode, then spend another 10 minutes finding the right angle for a singular photo.....THEN export it to my PC to spend another X minutes editing the same photo. Or several photos... What I will be using the skills for, however, is bragging rights on my FaceBook - I like to upload photos and confuse people and make them wonder if it is real or not.

What I hope to gather here is the likes of before-and-after photos, with a guide to what edits were done, or a step-by-step, or even the likes of a tutorial video. Like I say, I merely hope for all this - whether it happens or not is entirely out of my hands, but I thought I'd throw it out there as I've been wanting to do it for months already anyway.

Over to the rest of you now. Massive thank-you to anyone who contributes

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

While this thread isn't about doing massive edits, it is some what a long the same lines as yours thread and might be helpful for on lookers in this thread.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=271237

 

[R063R]

While this thread isn't about doing massive edits, it is some what a long the same lines as yours thread and might be helpful for on lookers in this thread.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=271237

Sorry - my own fault for not clarifying - I don't expect to gather huge edits like the Nurburgring snow scene, but even the tiny tricks that have a huge effect on photos and make them more realistic looking, or generally more beautiful 👍

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

Sorry - my own fault for not clarifying - I don't expect to gather huge edits like the Nurburgring snow scene, but even the tiny tricks that have a huge effect on photos and make them more realistic looking, or generally more beautiful 👍

oh you probably did. I just skimmed over what you wrote and thought I would share 👍

 

[leeislee]

Share that YouTube link so people can see it mate. 👍

 

[R063R]

Share that YouTube link so people can see it mate. 👍

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKCGZNkqFcc&feature=youtu.be

There we go 👍

 

[leeislee]

not a bad edit. although there are alot better edits by various members here on GTPlanet.

Maybe you should find pictures/edits you like and ask the creator how he/she did it. 👍

 

[zzz_pt]

1. It's not the software that make the shot better. I use Photoshop Elements 8 (since my HD crashed I lost all my software :S) to the most of my work. I know I'm not the best around here but I can make something as the video you shared...without the full version of Photoshop, Lightroom, etc

2. To save some of your time, try to imagine a shot before turn on the PS3. Then it will be a lot faster and productive to finish the whole process.

3. See some of the interviews in this thread 👍

 

[Terronium-12]

The obvious thing to say is practice, but that much is obvious and doesn't really help in the long run.

- It helps massively if you're able to recognize what kind of shots you're after that's befitting of the car being driven; you'll find some are far less imposing from the front or profile angles than others and vice-versa.

- If you go into Photoshop and you're at a loss for ideas, use the internet. If you see a method you think is adaptable to your shot, research it and then apply it. Even the best photogs among us learn on a constant basis.

- Use Photoshop actions. They're time-savers, leave little to no room for error and they can turn a 15-30 minute long process into a 2 or 3 minute long process, sometimes a lot shorter than that.

- If you see an edit you like ask someone how they did it, and even before then don't be afraid to experiment and get feedback from that. Every little bit helps in the long run.

Take it from someone who's just recently gotten back into the swing of things with GT5 photomode and editing the shots thereafter, it pays off in the end if you stick with it and learn things along the way.

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

In going a long with what Terro said, and with being relatively new myself, once you spend some time shooting, and some time editing, you will figure out how to do things and what you like and don't like.

Over time with out evening realizing it you'll develop a style and once you realize your style, it becomes much easier to figure out the kind of shot you would like to do. Or you can look at a picture and tell what kind of edit will look best with it.

But its all just time and practice.

 

[leeislee]

Well said Michael 👍

 

[R063R]

One thing I notice about GT5 photos is the grass and general greenery are always a very unrealistic shade of green. Almost cartoony-looking. What sort of thing should be done to make it look more real?

Also, I've noticed some photos on other threads that have much more reflective paint - would this be something similar to the High Pass filter? Sometimes the shade of paint looks a bit cartoony as well, like the greenery.

Is there a method or process of editing any of you use on every single shot you do that turns a Photomode shot from the very clear game-style screenshot into that area where the viewer has to look a bit further to work out if it is real or a game? For my real-life photography, I have started to use a black-white Gradient Map layer, set the layer display to Overlay, and then bring the opacity down to whatever value looks well on the photo. Makes the blacks blacker and the whites whiter, and I seem to do this on every photo I do before I go into any further editing.

 

[leeislee]

De-saturating the pic a tiny bit makes it look better. or just adjust the strength of the greens if you don't like them.

 

[Terronium-12]

It depends on the environment within the photo to be honest.

At times I'll mess around getting rid of apparent color banding in the sky and then sharpening the surrounding environment and bringing it a bit more into focus without distracting from the car all too much (that is, if it's in focus) and then work my way around from there. Color and shadow intensity play another role in fooling the viewer at first glance.

On occasions where I'm a bit too tired to engage in prolonged editing I'll go through the motions of the LAB method and get a good zing in the colors throughout the picture. That alone can make your shots looks better, more often than not.

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

Whats the LAB method?

 

[Terronium-12]

A technique I picked up from the interwebz.

I made a tutorial for it here

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

Hmm. Thats festive. I love the interwebz.

Thanks for the link, and the entertaining tutorial lol.

 

[R063R]

Took a photo a while ago for a racing league I'm a member of and done an edit on it this afternoon. Voice your opinions on it, or suggest what you'd do to improve it, or download it from my flickr and edit it yourself and re-upload.

What I done -
1. Saturation-> -30
2. High Pass filter, layer mode->Overlay, Opacity-> 50%
3. Gradient Map black-white layer, layer mode->Overlay, Opacity-> 70%

MX5-001 by R063R_G, on Flickr​

 

[leeislee]

Not bad but the composition could be better mate 👍

Have a look at the composition guide on here, the link is in my sig. Worth a read if you're interested in improving.

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

Try and get the car away from the center of the picture, maybe one side or the other, and the tunnel is cool, show some background!

 

[Fat Buff Guy]

The shot is a little cool and Desaturated for my taste. But I tend to edit warmer pictures, it's not right or wrong just a personal preference.

And I usually go all B&W or all color, I am not a fan (usually) of really desaturated images. Although everyonce in a great while I see one that leaves me mind blown.