Lightroom 6

[SMB2]

The barn is now perhaps a little tight in the frame which I thought might happen to get the out building cropped out.
You can try a free hand crop to keep a bit more of the fore ground. It is all trial and error and what fits one's eye.

For the Osprey, do your crop and work the bird with just a brush. "paint" just the bird and adjust the shadow, detail, sharpening, sat., contrast sliders to taste. That should bring the bird out.
(By not opening the whole image with the exposure slider, you might keep some of the graininess in the sky at bay.)
Another alternative for the bird is to convert to B&W!

Lots of fun to be had! Don't forget to feed the Discus...

[Second Hand Pat]

Stan, I reset the picture and did not touch the sky. I will need to research localized editing. This looks less overworked.

DSC_1142

Different crop on the barn. I like this better.

DSC_1390

[rickztahone]

Love both edits Pat! Great job!

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks Stan, I do see the bluest edge on the back of the wing and this is the things I want to know about as it increases my awareness...and the cool thing about LR is I can refine in the future as LR does not actually change the raw file.

The B&W is sweet. I do not think I have the feather definition in this osprey picture. Honestly the picture is not all that great.

Thanks Ricardo

[SMB2]

I wanted to just post the B&W for you to see and then take it down, but I can't edit it now.
This is your thread!

One thing I do when working on an image is start with the RAW file and hit command plus comma. This will give you a "virtual copy" that will sit on the light table right next to the original RAW. So you can always see where you started and create as many copies as you want. One for color, one for B&W etc.
This does not increase the number of images you are storing, as you mentioned, LR is only keeping the data to make those changes. When you learn something new, you can just play with the virtual copy but still have the RAW right there to refer to and not trapse back through the history.
I like having the RAW always available so I can try many different versions of one image, or refine one as I learn a new tip.

[Second Hand Pat]

Stan, I deleted the post or do you wish to just remove the picture link? I can modify the post however you wish. Since this is a learning thread for me I personally do not mind you leaving the image in as it inspires me to do better.

[Second Hand Pat]

With a little help from Ricardo and Stan, here is the osprey with a lighter touch and no chromatic aberration.

DSC_1142

and just for fun.

DSC_1142_BW

[rickztahone]

I like that silver b&w effect on that last one Pat! You have so many possibilities. You can also download presets for LR that have automatic adjustments. Many times, it is good to play through different presets to get an idea of which overal edit would look best, and then you make it your own.

[Second Hand Pat]

I like that silver b&w effect on that last one Pat! You have so many possibilities. You can also download presets for LR that have automatic adjustments. Many times, it is good to play through different presets to get an idea of which overal edit would look best, and then you make it your own.

Thank Ricardo, I do see what appears to be canned presets in the left hand menu. I think I see a way to save a preset from the picture I am looking at.

Based on what you did with the first osprey I applied that in part to this one. I couldn't tease any details from the background.

DSC_1007

[Second Hand Pat]

OK, so I played a bit and saw how to save presets from a picture. So I saved the presets from the white barn and applied them to the manor house. The blacks need a little adjustment but not a bad starting point from what I can tell.

Original...

DSC_1443_orig

Applied white barn presets...

DSC_1443

[rickztahone]

Good preset to my eyes. The vibrance/saturation may be just a smidge high, but just barely (roof color). Sky looks natural to me. The Osprey shot still looks dark. Bring up the exposure, and deal with noise reduction after the fact.

[Second Hand Pat]

Good preset to my eyes. The vibrance/saturation may be just a smidge high, but just barely (roof color). Sky looks natural to me. The Osprey shot still looks dark. Bring up the exposure, and deal with noise reduction after the fact.

Better? nicer balance between the wall and roof color and a small crop to remove the dip in the foreground.

DSC_1443

[rickztahone]

Better? nicer balance between the wall and roof color and a small crop to remove the dip in the foreground.

DSC_1443

Looks better to me. One thing I like to do in my editing is to simply edit a capture to look like it did when I took it. A camera sensor finds it difficult to capture shade and overexposed sky perfectly like our eyes can. So, we edit to bring about that real life feel we saw when we were there. When I see this pic, I think that this is what it would look like had I been standing there. Good job.

[Second Hand Pat]

Looks better to me. One thing I like to do in my editing is to simply edit a capture to look like it did when I took it. A camera sensor finds it difficult to capture shade and overexposed sky perfectly like our eyes can. So, we edit to bring about that real life feel we saw when we were there. When I see this pic, I think that this is what it would look like had I been standing there. Good job.

I think this is a pretty good representation of how the manor house to the naked eye Ricardo. Here's is a couple more

Original

DSC_1408_orig

Now

DSC_1408

Time to more to something more interesting

Original

DSC_1431_orig

Now. I was rather worried about doing people but when with my gut on this and I am not unhappy with the results. Meet my daughter Diana

DSC_1431

[rickztahone]

Great shots Pat! I like how you automatically knew which way to crop to frame in your daughter. My only suggestion is to brighten up her face a little with localized brush. This has to be a very light hand, because it is very easy to overdo brightness on people's faces. One tip that I can give you is edit a shot, move on to others, and then come back to your edit. Many times, you will see your shots much differently after you have seen your whole set. Additionally, I sometimes come back to the edit a few days later and many times I have found that I didn't quite like the wb, or the brightness, etc. It helps.