The After Before Forum is a place where photographers of all levels can show how they get the wow in their photography. It is easy and fun to take part, you can check out how here.
I remember when taking this and others from the top of Gdansk’s cathedral that I wasn’t sure what i wanted to do with the pictures. This meant that I was taking pictures at around f/16 to have a wide-ish depth of field. This is a good plan but when editing you may want something different.
With today’s edit, I really wanted the church to be the focus but the whole scene was cluttered and distracting.
The only way to isolate the church was to create a shallow depth of field. I did this with two gradient tools and reducing the sharpening, this creates a soft feeling but not really blurring the image. I then edited the gradients to make the effect feel real. For example the church’s tower was softened by the gradient because areas behind it needed to be softened. On the edges I used auto mask and in the centre of the tower I used a normal brush.
Other editing steps were standard, just adjusting the overall tone and colour as well as sharpening.
Week 79 Entries For The After Before Friday Forum
Benjamin Rowe Aperture64
-
- After
-
- Before
I think the only thing I would change if I was to do this again, would choose a different time of day as I have quite harsh shadows in the image. I would also adjust the blue saturation a bit more because it kind of jumps out of the image.
Let me know in the comments what you think.
Please check out the links to the other members posts to see how they make their image pop.
If you wish to take part in the forum next week check out the forum guide here.
I would love to here what you think and you can let me know in the comment box below.
Remember if you liked this post to; like, share and subscribe.
If you wish to get notifications when I post on my blog, you can follow me on Twitter@apertureF64, on Facebook.com/aperturesixtyfour or alternatively be emailed by subscribing below. All images are the Copyright of Benjamin Rowe , ALL RIGHTS Reserved unless credited to another photographer. For more information please read my Copyright Statement
Aperture64 
Awesome shot and edit! Time got away from me again. I swear I have this on my schedule to do your challenge each week. I need a secretary to keep me on track!