I’m posting an extra entry today, in response to a request from one of my viewers, Mark, who commented on the original Little Boy Blue image (please see the Comments section of that post, which also contains a detailed response from me).
Mark was wondering what the before-and-after images looked like (i.e., before-and-after post-processing was applied).
So Mark, this one’s for you.
Below, you will find the “before” image as it came out of the camera. This is a DNG file loaded directly from my memory card and converted to JPG in Apple’s Aperture, without any intermediate steps on my part:
(please click on the image to view)
↑Little Boy Blue (before post-processing)
_
Note how “flat” the file appears, and how I intentionally underexposed the image at the time it was shot (one of my techniques when working with digital cameras).
Now, here is the “after” shot, following my customized post-processing. This could have been processed an innumerable amount of ways, but I chose to do it this way:
(please click on the image to view)
↑Little Boy Blue (after post-processing)
_
I hope this helps, Mark. If you ever make it to Toronto from Edmonton, I would be happy to take you on a Practical Photography Teaching session!
Regards,
—Peter.
Prosophos 
Great that you did this. It is always so interesting (for me) to see how someone decides to post process.
Thanks Guy, that’s helpful to know. I guess I tend to underestimate the interest other photographers have in this stuff.
Thanks Peter, I really appreciate it!
Anyway, I was just curious if there was a lot of cropping and such. I am not really all that comfortable with the 35mm focal length…you are quite right in that it is all in how one perceives the scene. Anyway, it just goes to prove: when ya got it, ya got it!
Thanks for your ongoing inspiration.
All the best,
M.
My pleasure Mark! Thank you for viewing and commenting…
An interesting exercise. Thanks for sharing.
Is the deliberate underexposing a throwback to the days of Kodachrome and Ektachrome to ensure more saturated colours?
Sometimes. Most of the time I’m just trying to protect the highlights… the digital medium struggles with highlights but does well (especially the M9) with the shadows.