Digital Photoguide

Part 22 - Simple Improvements

May 2006 Magazine

Simple picture improvements can be made quite quickly and give a worthwhile improvement. This article describes how several improvements were made to the picture below which shows a Class 66 on an oil train at Shepreth Branch Junction near Cambridge. The improvements made were:

• Slight increase in contrast overall

• loco front lighter

To see the difference between “before” and “after” versions, position your mouse over the image below.
(NOTE: it may be necessary to hold your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds to allow the web browser to change the picture)

Lightening the front of a backlit locomotive is easy to do with the right technique and easy to mess up as well. The four pictures below show the original front end and three lighter versions. It’s a matter of personal taste whether ‘Lighter 1’ or ‘Lighter 2’ is best, whereas the fourth picture labelled “Too Light” is just that.

Part Twenty One

Part Twenty Three