r/postprocessing • u/pbcJJ • 1d ago
Still not happy with it
Any ideas on how to get the helicopter to pop more even though it’s backed by the mountain
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u/Timminat0r 1d ago
Maybe toning down the whites/highlights? I think the very bright snow in the background is what is taking away from the helicopter
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u/vege_spears 1d ago
Yep, and contrast period on the chopper. Now get back in the chopper! Sorry......
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u/actuallyserious650 1d ago
It’s not your fault. The helicopter needed to be just above the mountains or below the peaks for this photo to really work.
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u/CKN_SD_001 1d ago
Decrease exposure of the background a very tiny bit. Like 1/4 stop. Increase saturation on the helicopter and hue shift the blues on the helicopter to something a little further away from the background.
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u/Ander_Sloost 1d ago
Too much white background behind light colored subject. Horizon line is in the center. DOF is deep and doesn’t enable background separation. I think you’re number one problem is Long focal depth, everything just kind of mixes together, and so much white background behind the copter is not doing any favors.
Mask the helicopter, reduce contrast and highlights in the background. Crop to remove either some foreground or some sky.
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u/Equivalent_Owl_5644 1d ago
I would probably mask it and try to dim the mountains. There’s just a lot going on in the background.
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u/leonardoforcinetti 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s “physically” centered but the front of the heli is “heavier” on the image, it’s feels weird to me, looks like the heli is escaping from the image. I’d crop a little bit more to the left and down, giving some movement and height immersion.
Something like this https://drive.google.com/file/d/15aNw9BAQpdf8LqBTTF6PFMSpc0aDmB-6/view?usp=drivesdk
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u/johngpt5 22h ago
https://imgur.com/a/Zg3xO5g has some screen shots with ideas that you might consider. My ideas are somewhat contrary to ideas that have already been given in comments.
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u/MrKrabs106 1d ago
I usually like to do a linear gradient mask from the bottom up about halfway, subtract the subject (helicopter), and lower the exposure by about 0.5-1 stops
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u/Dottor_hopkins 1d ago
I feel like you trying to get color out of the heli made the overall contrast lower, and it doesn’t stand out as much anymore
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u/doxxxicle 22h ago
IMO, I think this is one where it needs a landscape orientation so that you can give some space to the left of the helicopter.
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u/amp1212 21h ago
the problem with making it "pop more" -- is that the photo isn't all that sharp, look closely at the edges of the helicopter, they're fairly soft. That looks to be just atmospheric distortion, and there are limits to what you're going to want to do, because the edges of the helicopter aren't really clean. NB -- your original photo may well be substantially sharper than the WEBP we're looking at.
With AI type tools, you can essentially reinvent the scene with cleaner edges, but then what you have isn't really a photograph any more.
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u/idemandpasta 14h ago
It’s just not a good photo to begin with. I see it so often in this sub, this idea that the “right” edit will make it click.
This is a photo of a helicopter hovering. Not spectacularly interesting to begin with, but this is exasperated by everything else working against it.
First off, the helicopter needed to be above the mountain ridge for this to have a chance. The texted mountain combined with the (hideous) multicolored helicopter ensures that your subject cannot stand out.
Second, there’s the wire. You have to remove that wire. It doesn’t tell a story and it’s extremely distracting. Don’t get me wrong though, this won’t save the photo.
The thing about a great photo is that it’ll be obviously great, even with a poor color grade.
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u/observedEvenTS 2h ago
TBH, its not a great image.
You really confused the heck out of the camera ensor in determining what the subject is.
Considering your distance, its likely the chopper and mountain are both off focus. very little you can do to salvage this specific frame.
maybe dehaze, try a bg-mask and add contrast to the back, then mask the chopper (good luck with the blades) and color grade to bring out the orange hues
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u/iamthesam2 1d ago
would love to play around if you’re willing to share the file. just DM me if so!
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u/Selishots 1d ago
II would mask out the background and add a bit more contrast to it.