Of course that meant that the foreground was under exposed and it is spoilt by the telephone wires which cross the view. This seemed a suitable subject for another trial in PaintShop Pro with the Re-dynamizer plugin First though - get rid of the wires. For that I use a plugin called Wire Worm. This is one of a small group of plugins which are free. It draws an elongated loop (length and width fully adjustable) to enclose the unwanted part of a picture. This loop is then dragged and nearby pixels are blended in to replace the offending section. The process is better done in short sections.
Next was to let Re-dynamizer do its job. Here I have just used its own suggested settings which have increased the contrast in the clouds and brightened up the foreground. Now we can see 'bee heaven' - the lavender bushes and the Hibiscus that they frequent from dawn to dusk.
As I mentioned a short while ago this plugin is not free but I think well worth the £15 it cost to register, which I have now done. Both pictures have a border which is put on by another free plugin - One from a whole group called Border Mania which includes the gold coloured frame I also use.
I'll have a look at these and compare with the healing brush in PS.
ReplyDeleteExcellent job.
Hello Adrian. I used to use the clone brush in PSP but found Wire Worm useful, and quicker, for some long thin bits which need eliminating. It actually slides the nearby section over the offending part and then softens and tries to blend that in. Difficult to describe but a useful extra to the armoury of tweaks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vicanek.de/plugins/wireworm.htm
An excellent piece of editing John.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly makes a big difference to the end picture.
Thank you Keith. I am constantly amazed by the variety of available plugins many of which can automatically enhance dull photos. We can no longer say 'the camera never lies' ;)
ReplyDeleteInteresting John..thanks for sharing the 'how to'.
ReplyDeleteThe end result is stunning, John! I often hesitate with free downloads, because even if they don't charge you money, you still pay a price in some form or another. These look very useful. Looks like I'll be doing some downloading ...
ReplyDeletecheers,
Wilma
Thank you Frank. I like to try things out from time to time.
ReplyDeleteIt can be difficult, Wilma, to know what to trust. I normally look for things which have been recommended by other users or trusted reviews. There are some excellent free plugins for graphics programs which can handle Adobe type files.
ReplyDeleteYou need to know where to save them on your computer as different programs store plugin files in different places. One way of finding them is to use the Windows search facility to search for 8bf, as plugins are usually named something like xxxxxx.8bf, and make a note of the file path.