It’s Friday! And among many good things that Fridays usually bring, one is the AfterBeforeFriday Forum, hosted by our dear Stacy Fischer on her blog Visual Venturing.
I promised myself I’d be good this week, trying to keep my imagination in my little box. I wanted to show that I can take images that don’t need a heavy hand in post-processing.
No cropping, imagine that! I really took my time to take this photo, trying to get the symmetry. But me being me, I forgot to bring down the ISO, so it turned out too bright. I slightly adjusted brightness and contrast, just to make it a little bit sharper. And that was all. You see, miracles do happen.
P.S. I just couldn’t resist, so I created another after, with a little sparkle of drama. I cropped the original ever so slightly, to make it more tight and then I went wild. Just a little bit. 
The image was taken last May in Milan, Italy. If you didn’t guess already, it is the famous Duomo di Milano, the fifth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in Italy.
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That’s it for this week, enjoy your weekend.
Snow's Fissures and Fractures 
First, what an amazing building!! I like both your edits, but I too like to go with extremes on some photos. Nice!
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Thank you, glad you liked it. It is a very beautiful cathedral.
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I love how your small tweak gives the image more clarity and depth. And the last one has great atmosphere. 🙂
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Thank you , Nancy. I appreciate your kind words.
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Sorry but there is no such thing as “a little bit wild”! That’s like a woman saying she’s a little bit pregnant! You did a darn good job in camera. So good that you almost cannot see your post processing. The third image is really good, too, but I think this time I prefer the more straightforward edit!
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I don’t know why I always choose chellenging images to post-process. Maybe because when the image is good, I don’t think it’s necessary to tinker with it. But then I realized people probably think I am awful with my camera, because I only post images that need to be edited. So I decided to show the world how awsome I trully can be. 😛
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Well, if people really think that way, then they must think I’m the worst photographer in existence because I never post a photo that hasn’t been processed at least a little. The camera lens is nothing like the human eye. And I enjoy playing God sometimes and improving on what it sees. At least I hope I improve the image.
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Gorgeous image!
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I am glad you liked it, thank you.
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My fave is the after/after. “It was a dark and stormy night…”
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Perfect words! Thank you.
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Very nice post. I like both versions for different reasons, The first “after” shows careful and skillful photographic technique while the final one conveys a powerful, foreboding mood.
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Thank you, Robin. It means a lot to see you liked it.
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Hi Snow, it is funny that we both chose photos that didn’t need a great deal of work this week, and show off the photographic skills rather than just photoshop skills! your image is great, i love both the of your final edits.
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Yes, that’s great. I get lost in all this challenges that I forget to show my better images. Thank you!
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Really cool image Lore! the subtle changes in the first “after” really make the image stronger. I wondered what had happened this week, then I scrolled down and there it was, I love the second “after”, very dramatic! 🙂
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That’s me, Drama Queen. 🙂 I am very happy you liked both.
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Although the first after is a very nice and pleasant picture, I prefer the dramatized version.Ithas more life and soul in it and it looks like your image.
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That’s surprising, Ben. It’s funny to hear “your image”, thank you for that. Half the time I am not sure what I am doing, but it looks like there is a common thread.
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Don’t you just hate when you forget to turn down the ISO?? I spent a weekend in New York City with mine cranked up to 1000. Ugh. Thank goodness for noise filters, but those will never give you the clarity of the image you would have had had you been paying attention in the first place 😦 But I see no degradation in your photo at all. So that’s happy. And I love the perspective, the symmetry, and the subtle changes you made (which is all this photo needed)! A shout-out for your slide show too. You and Emilio are channeling each other again 🙂 As for the last photo, makes me think of the Hunchback of Notre Dame (yeah, I know, different country, but still …). Fun post, Loré!
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We aim to please! 😛 When I am at home sorting through my images, I take notes on what I need to improve and pay more attention. Then I go out and mess things up all over again. I hope I’ll do better, there is always the next time. And since I’ll be going to Italy again this May, I’ll get to repeat many images I did last year. I am curious to see if I learned anything.
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Pooh, soo jealous!! Where will you be visiting? Love that country ❤️
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^^Hahaha, really hate autocorrect sometimes. It should say “ooooh” not “pooh” 😂
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I say pooh, you say ooooh. 😛 Going back to Milan and hope to visit few neighbouring towns.
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