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Re-Edit : Zatanna by distractogirl
Continuing looking into the photo folders I’ve taken over the years, I thought I would re-edit this photo of distractogirl as the famous Zatanna from the Batman franchise.
Zatanna is both a stage magician and an actual magician, like her father Giovanni “John” Zatara. As such she has many of her father’s powers relating to magic, typically controlled by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backwards.
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited the photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
As you can see, the first thing I did was crop the photo to the Instagram ratio 1:1 as it then cuts away the extra background and helps focus more on the cosplayer.
After skin smoothing and adding additional contouring, I felt the image was good enough. It’s interesting to see the 2015 photo the image seem to be very similar compared to the 2020 edited photo. I am very proud of both photos.
Other Re-Edits
25/05/2023Re-EditsFor a long time, I have always heard people saying that people have enjoyed seeing the improvement in my work. They could be talking about the way I take a photo but I did wonder if they were talking about my post-editing process I have learnt over the years.
I’ve for years wanted to look back through my old photos and re-edit them and see if my current work-flow or any new inspirations would come to me. Also there were some photos which I now look back and have grown to dislike how I originally edited the photo and also wanted to have an excuse to re-edit those photos.
I won’t be reviewing all my re-edit photos I’ve uploaded so far, but you can always click on this link to see all the featured re-edit photos I’ve previously done and read what changes I made.
The way I set myself on this project, I would start with the original RAW photo, not looking at the previously edited photo so I was not persuaded by previous decisions on how I original photo was edited. I would use as many new skills I have picked up over the years or new one should I get an inspiration on how to edit the photo.
There has been some interesting things I have discovered during this project.
A lot of my photos edited in 2015 seem to be edited in very dark tones. I’m not sure if it the vignette I used at the time. Each photo I’ve re-edited, they’ve come out brighter.
Some of the photos I’ve changed how I crop the photo, either following the rule of thirds, making it more centre or even changing the aspect ratio of 1:1 or 16:9. There are even photos, where I was able to straighten/level out the photo.
As I am spending more time on a single photo, I get to spend more time, fixing up some aspect of each photo like remove background objects from each photo or even wrist bands when I’ve noticed it. Also, I would take the time to repair or replace anything I felt which needs resolving such as the arm on the Winter Soldier, cover up the
I like to experiment with different use of colour gradients to change how the photo looks.
Below are some of the photos I’ve edited between 2015 on the left and edited in 2020 on the right.
Check out my previous re-edit work and catch a new re-edited photo every week on our website.
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26/07/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Danielle_Quinzel, cosplaying as Harley Quinn.
Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, also known as Harley Quinn, is a character who first featured in the show Batman: The Animated Series. She first appeared in the episode Joker’s Favor and has commonly appeared in all Batman media since. Beginning her career as a doctor in Arkham Asylum, she changed and became Joker’s girlfriend and henchwoman. She loves the Joker despite being abused by him and she will do anything for his approval. Harley is also a good friend of Poison Ivy.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
After transferring the photo to Photoshop, I push the photo through my sharpen steps I have saved on my profile which includes steps such as adding a High Pass and Smart Sharpen.
I next did a selection of the iris of the eyes, created a new layer and after I desaturated any colour in the eyes, I then picked a blue colour which suited the character.
Lastly I did a selection of the background and gave it a different colour tint.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
There wasn’t much I wanted to change to this photo in the end. I selected this photo for the re-edit project that I had forgotten what I intended to do.
From what I have done, both version seem to still hold good quality wise and the updated version just adds a bit more to the old version. But overall I am still happy with the old and newer version of this photo.
Don’t forget to use the slider below to compare the two photos but also you view them individually above.
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19/07/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Elise Laurenne, cosplaying as Gwen Stacy Carnage.
Carnage belongs to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as Symbiotes, which form a symbiotic bond with their hosts and give them super-human abilities. Originating as an offspring of Venom, Carnage is much more powerful than his parent symbiote because of the symbiotes’ biology and is in many ways a darker version of him. Like Venom, Carnage has had multiple hosts over the years, but his most famous one remains his first, serial killer Cletus Kasady, whose sadistic personality perfectly matches that of the symbiote. Other hosts include Ben Reilly, Karl Malus, and Norman Osborn.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
Transferring the photo into Adobe Photoshop, I wanted to continue the background banner to get rid of the distracting colours and objects. I started with a selection of the area of the left-hand side of the photo and then used the feature Content-Aware fill to cover the area and to make the banner more seamless across the photo. I then tried to start adding the logos but as there are two logos and only one logo was clear, it was going to be hard to replicate. So instead I took them away. First, I made a selection of the cosplayer and create a new layer, as this helped me cover the logos with the patch tool and spot heal tool without damaging the cosplayer.
Looking at the background I wanted to add a little something, so looking up free spider web designs, I copied a web layer into the photo and using the masking feature to brush out any web which was covering the cosplayer, to make it look like the web was all behind her.
Next, I want to make the eyes all black which for the most part was almost completely covered but I wanted to finish off the look. All I did was take a sample of the black lens the cosplayer was wearing and brush in the areas which needed to be covered up.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Looking between the two photos, I found the 2021 photo has no real depth to it, just feels like a cosplayer has been cut out and dropped into a blank background. I thought adding a spider web would help but I don’t think it adds any more to the photo.
The colour also in the 2021 photo feels a bit flat, with that one continuous red throughout the suit. I wonder if I should have added layers of different reds, maybe also orange to the suit to give the photo a more alive look.
Though I have made these observations, these changes I made, I’m not that displeased with it, just knowing I can do more with the photo.
Don’t forget to use the slider below to compare the two photos but also you view them individually above.
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12/07/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Meeversdesu, cosplaying as Wasp aka Janet Van Dyne from the Ant-Man and the Wasp franchise.
Janet van Dyne debuted in Tales to Astonish #44 as Henry “Hank” Pym’s partner, becoming the Wasp to avenge the death of her father, scientist Vernon van Dyne. She was a founding member of the Avengers, appearing in the first issue and giving the team its name. It is with the Avengers that Janet became most well known. At first, she was the weak link of the team, but later on, became one of the smartest and craftiest of its members. Though she takes leaves of absence throughout the series, she is one of the longest active members and has acted as leader of the team for longer than anybody besides Captain America.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
There weren’t many things I wanted to alter too much but I wanted to add more wings.
To achieve this, I took a selection of the cosplayer first and created a new layer. I did this so that when I added more wings, I can layer the wings beneath the layer I just created and no worry about merging all the pieces.
Next, I took a selection of the wing into another new layer and using a combination of the Patch tool and Spot healing tool to repair any areas to make and create a complete wing. I then duplicated that wing two more times and arrange them around the cosplayer. I did add a bit of Gaussian Blur to the edges of the wing just to soften the looks of the additional wings.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
I like the improved 2021 photo with the usual additional steps I’ve been adding to my photos since 2019 such as the skin smoothening. But trying to push my skills, I can see that trying to add additional objects I need to work at it. The perspective of the wings, I can see needs alternating to make look more in line with the image and not just a flat placement in the photo. Something to work on.
Don’t forget to use the slider below to compare the two photos but also you view them individually above.
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05/07/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by GingerSnap Cosplay, cosplaying as Harley Quinn from the DC’s Injustice franchise.
After the Joker’s murder by Superman, Harley started the Joker Clan, who worship him as a martyr. She and the Joker clan carried out acts that distracted and annoyed the One Earth regime, earning the trust of the Insurgency.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
I then transferred the photo to Photoshop where I started using one of the preset actions I created to sharpen the image as I felt the clarity around the cosplayer’s face just needed a bit of sharpening.
There were two bits on the cosplayers right forearm that looked off, using the Patch Tool to remove them.
Still using the Patch Tool, I went around the image and removed any markings which I felt were too distracting from the cosplayer.
I noticed on the cosplayer’s costume, you can see a fastening keeping the costume to the bra. Using a combination of Patch Tool and Spot Healing tool to remove the small fastening.
Next, I took a selection of the eye, created a new layer so that I can change the eye colour to blue. I did this by desaturating the layer and then slowly adding colour back in as well as adding brightness to the layer to get the right shade of blue which suited.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Between the two photos, there are elements on both versions I like. The blacks in the 2017 edited photo seem so much better compared to the updated version as it gives a more punchy and sharper look to the photo.
The 2021 photos has a bit too much of a warm tone to it which to me gives the photo a softer look. Saying that, elements in the 2021 I did like such as the clarity in the cosplayers face so it’s a lot clearer to see.
Don’t forget to use the slider below to compare the two photos but also you view them individually above.
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29/06/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Platinum Android, cosplaying as Qrow Branwen from the RWBY franchise.
Qrow Branwen is the younger twin brother of Raven Branwen, biological uncle of Yang Xiao Long and honorary uncle of Ruby Rose. He is a former member of the Branwen Tribe as well as a former teacher at Signal Academy. In his youth, Qrow attended Beacon Academy with his sister, and together they were on a team with Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, known as Team STRQ.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
Transferring the photo to Photoshop. I decided to work on the comic-con wristband and remove it. I initially thought I would need to use the Patch Tool to remove the wristband but I just used the clone stamp around the area up to the watch. I did imagine the watch rim would be hard to sort out, but the wristwatch angle wasn’t as bad as I first thought.
The next thing I did was to change the eye colour to match the character’s attributes. Again, I did this by firstly create a selection layer of the eye, then desaturate the layer so that I can add in a colour of my choice.
The following step was to add a gradient filter in the left corner of the photo of a blue shade.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Though I didn’t do many steps to the 2021 edited photos, I prefer the updated photo as the photo is upright and not leaning, the temperature of the photos looks more natural, and adding the blue shade helped with the cool look in the photo.
Don’t forget to take a closer look at the two photos above.
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21/06/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by LieChee Cosplay, cosplaying as Tinkerbell.
In Walt Disney’s 1953 film version of Peter Pan, the character is blonde, wears a green dress, white slippers, and yellow panties. She is animated and has no dialogue. As in the original play, Peter verbally interprets her communications for the sake of the audience, and bell noises are used when she makes gestures.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
I then rotated the image so the cosplayer is sitting horizontally straight, this created blank spaces in the corners of the photo which I can fill in using “Content Aware Fill” in Photoshop, which afterwards, use patch tools and clone stamps to correct any mistakes I could spot.
The grass area in the original RAW showed patches of white dead grass which I wanted to change. I took a selection of the grass area and made it into a new layer. From there using the same technique I would do for changing someone’s eye colour, I de-saturated the layer and then put the colour back in, to match the grass colour in sitting next to the cosplayer.
While I was working on the grass on the ground, I wanted to bring the grass to cover the concrete paving. I started with the Clone Stamp as well as the Patch Tool to cover up the concrete area. Towards the edge, I lightly erased to give that faded look. Underneath the trail of the costume, I added in shadow effect by brushing in black tones underneath the trail.
Next I took a selection of the iris of the eye, created a new layer and then changed the eye colour of the character to match the eye colour of the character described on various web pages.
Following that, I added a Gradient Filter, across the top left corner of the photo with a blue hue, to give an illusion of a light source and also add a bit more depth to the photo so that the whole photo isn’t too green.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
I just love how the photo turned out with the new skills I have learned over the years and recently learned for these re-edit projects. Like previous re-edited photos, the photo looks much brighter compared to the original photo.
Making the photo more horizontal level makes the photo looks better, that she is comfortable sitting there instead of sliding backward. Filling in the content from rotating the photo was a lot easier then I thought.
I feel the colour balance is better in the updated version compared to the 2017 edited photo with the hints of blues and greens in the photo. Also, the photo looks softer to view whereas the 2017 photo there are dark areas that make the photo seem quite contrasty.
Don’t forget to take a closer look at the two photos above.
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14/06/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Seleknight Cosplay, cosplaying as Anti-Gwenom.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
Transferring the photo into Photoshop, I began with the liquify tool to push in the bumps on the cosplayers right wrist. I then use the Patch tool to remove as many of the seams and creases in the outfit to give a more single piece of an outfit.
I next using the dodge tool to lighten up the face on the cosplayers as it was a fair bit of shadow which I wanted to remove as much as I can without making it look fake.
I noticed the eyes the cosplayer had were red contact lenses. I did think about removing the red contacts and replacing them with pure white eyes. But spending time on removing the red and then trying to replace it with white and adding some shadow to give it the curve look, didn’t seem to work. So decided to work with the red contact lens and made sure they were colourful and bright enough to be seen.
The next step I did was to make a selection of the cosplayer’s hair and change the colour. Though the character’s hair is usually depicted as a blonde white, I wanted to make it purple to match the purple in the suit. I did this by first desaturating the hair colour and then add colour back into a colour that I felt was close to the purple colour on the suit.
Something I wanted to try was to add ‘tattoo-like’ markings on the cosplayers face giving the character more to look at. Following a tutorial online and also finding suitable markings which would suit the cosplay, I laid over the markings, erased out marking which didn’t fit on the face or covered facial features such as eyes, change the opacity, and other steps which were described in the tutorial I followed.
As the photo is very white, I thought I add a gradient filter as I remembered I did that in my original edit and felt that addition was also needed. Again to match all the other use of purple in the photo, I used that purple and covered half the photo. Any parts which were covering the cosplayer, I just simply erased out.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Comparing the two photos, I like the 2021 edited photo the most but there aspect of the 2017 photo I still like more.
The crop seems to be better in the 2017 photo as the 2021 photo doesn’t seem to follow any of the conventional rules of composition such as rules of thirds, centring the cosplayer in the photo, etc.
The shadowing in both do fit within it’s own photo but I somewhat prefer the shadowing in the 2017 photo as gives the character a more mysterious or menacing look to the character.
I do like the tattoo-like overlay added to the 2021 photo and wish to learn more of to make it more natural looking and not layered on as I have done.
Don’t forget to take a closer look between the two photos above but also a slider below to show the difference between the two photos.
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07/06/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Bendy Benz Costuming, cosplaying as Bombshell Jesse Quick.
Jesse Chambers is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Chambers, who first used the superhero name Jesse Quick and later Liberty Belle, is the daughter of Golden Age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. She inherited both of her parents’ powers.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
I rotated the image to make the cosplayer upright which caused blank areas to appear. But I knew once I transferred the photo into Photoshop, I would select the area which is blank and used the feature “Content-Aware Fill” which I made further changes to the area to make it look more natural.
With the rotation, it also exposed more of the roller-skates on the front foot but the wheels and stopper but the Content-Aware Fill didn’t quite fill in correctly. Using the clone stamp from the other roller-skates and fill in the missing gaps of the front roller-skates.
Parts of the background I made a selection and desaturate that part of the photo to not take away too much of the attention away from the cosplayer.
Around the stomach area, there is a crease in the bend so using the Patch Tool, to make it look smooth to look at.
The next step was to make the photos sharper as the cosplayer was moving and at the time, my settings was not correct at the time. So using various techniques such as “High Pass” filter to increase the sharpness. I made this into a masking layer and painted in the areas which needed to look more sharper to the rest of the photo.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques to both face and collar area of the cosplayer.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
I really love how much I have improved over this photo. The photo still looks a bit unfocused but a lot more sharper compared to the 2017 version.
Making the photo more upright instead of “leaning” is a vast improvement, as it doesn’t make the cosplayer look like she’s falling over in the photo.
The colour and brightness seems so much more compared to the 2017 version with its dark vignette border I used to put on photos.
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01/06/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Zombea, cosplaying as Venomise Gwenom.
Bonding to the Venom symbiote, Gwen Stacy embraces her dark side after seeing her father has been beaten into a coma by Aleksei Sytsevich on the order of Matt Murdock. Rampaging through New York’s seedy underbelly, Venom is given Aleksei’s location by Otomo of the Hand and sets out to kill him, but their battle is interrupted when Frank Castle kills Aleksei himself.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
2017 Edited Photo2021 Edited Photo
Moving the photo to Photoshop, I started with removing some of the makings on the wall near the hard just to remove any distractions from the cosplayer. Also, remove the bright video billboard on the left side of the photo to reduce the distractions in the photo.
I next remove the pole from behind the cosplayers head by using a combination of patch tool and Spot Heal Tool as I didn’t want anything protruding out of the cosplayers head that it shouldn’t be.
Following that, I then started with Liquify the image only to smooth out any bumps in the material to make look smooth to the bodyline and also on the cosplayers wrists to make it closer to the cosplayers body. While I was liquifying the photo, the fence in the background got distorted, so resolved this by taking a sample with the patch tool of the affected area and replacing it with a nearby area.
The next step I took was to make a selection around the cosplayer and created a new layer. Using the same technique to make latex shinier, I increased the ‘clarity’ and brightness to make the details in the suit stand out more.
Any creases in the suit which could be removed and look natural, I removed with the Patch Tool again as it deals with replacing the area well compared to Stamp tool or Spot Heal Tool.
Around the eyes of the character, I used the Dodge Tool to increase the white in the eyes but also to add a bit of depth to the eyes, I brushed in shadows lines on some of the edges of the eyes.
While I was adding shadow lines, I proceeded to do the same along the side body of the cosplayer. It’s not something I do but wanted to try and see if it did improve the photo which I think it did.
Last step I did was to use a new feature in Photoshop where the sky can be replaced and the steps were quiet simple to do.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
I find the look of the suit looks much better in the 2021 version of the photo compared the original 2017 photo.
I like the Sky Replacement feature in Photoshop which I’ll need to play around with the get it looking more natural in future photos I edit.
The colours in the 2017 do seem slightly softer compared to the 2021 edited photo which as a slightly more purple hue which maybe I should I thought of while editing.
Overall, I like the 2021 edited photo with all the improvements, I have learnt over the years and also while doing these Re-Edit photos.
Don’t forget to take a closer look between the two photos above but also a slider below to show the difference between the two photos.
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24/05/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Calssara, cosplaying as Bombshell Raven designed by Ant Lucia.
Born of a German mother, Azaria and a Mountain Spirit father, Das Trigon, Rachel Roth was brought up in a small village in the Alps. Her grandfather taught her how to control her supernatural powers by controlling her emotions. But as soon as the Joker’s Daughter heard of her existence, she attacked the village with Killer Frost, killing everyone in the village, including Rachel’s mother and grandfather. Joker’s Daughter kidnapped Rachel, trying to make her into her successor, before putting her into a magical sleep and burying her under the cabaret.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
Top Photo 2017 / Bottom Photo 2021
I moved the photo into Photoshop and started with the liquify tool. I wanted to just smooth out any of the bumps I saw in the latex, such as in the cosplayers hands and arm area as I wanted to be tight on the cosplayer as they depicted in the original drawings. Also, in the thigh area, push in some areas to make the leg more smooth.
Following that, I did a selection of the latex material and created a new layer so that I can increase the shiniest of the material by increasing the clarity levels and other settings such a brightness, shadows and more.
In the background, there are areas of strong colours. So I decided simply to select the area of the background on the right side, create a new layer and desaturate the layer enough to blend with the stoned area. I also did the same in the stairs area where there were black and yellow hazard markings.
Next, I took a selection of the iris of the eye, created a new layer and then changed the eye colour of the character to match the eye colour of the character described on various web pages.
After adding the new eye colours, I added two coloured gradient on each side of the photo to add a bit of depth to the photo.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Comparing the two photos, there aren’t too many differences that can be seen. You’d have to either really look for the changes or know of the changes that I have made.
The updated photo looks cleaner in look and in detail in the cosplay and cosplayer. Having a tighter crop on the cosplayer seem to be better.
Bot too sure how I feel about the addition of the eye colours. I perhaps needed to make it less human-like eye colour and made them artificial-looking, like make them more cartoon looking.
Don’t forget to take a closer look between the two photos above but also a slider below to show the difference between the two photos.
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17/05/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Lulu-Nyan, cosplaying as Latex Supergirl.
Kara-Zor-El is the heroine known as Supergirl. Born on Krypton to Superman’s uncle and aunt, Kara was rocketed to Earth by her father to save her life. Supergirl was adopted by the Danvers and became the protector of National City. In her secret identity, she is Kara Danvers, a run-on-the-mill high-schooler. Possessing vast powers given by her Kryptonian physiology, Supergirl is one of the most powerful heroes in the world
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
Top Photo 2017 / Bottom Photo 2021
Transferred the photo into Photoshop and started working on the latex to give it, even more, shine and detail to the material. I did this by selecting around the latex outfit from the cosplayer and photo, create a new layer, and increase the clarity, highlight, and brightness on that layer.
While I am adding layers, I wanted to create a layer of the background and decided to desaturate parts of the photo so that the strong colours didn’t distract from the main focus from the cosplayer.
The next step was to use the “Dodge Tool” to add some illumination to the cosplayers eyes so that you can better see the colours in the eyes. Though I could see better the colours in the eyes, I felt I needed to take a further step to make the blues in her eyes more. I took the selection tool around the iris of both eyes, created a new layer. I then first desaturate the layer as it helps with the next step add colour back into the eyes to a shade of blue I was happy with.
I added a gradient filter to the top left corner of the photo to create a new light source and help highlight the cosplayer more.
Another task I did was to remove some of the creases in the latex specifically in the foot area with a combination of “Patch Tool” and “Heal Tool”. I didn’t take out all the creases as when I did, it didn’t look natural to me.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Comparing the two photos, I enjoy the look of the updated 2021 photos, with it being more upright and level, the latex looks shinier and has more details in the outfit.
The colours in the 2017 photo seem to be much stronger and visible between the two photos which I seem to like more. Not too sure my muting the colours in the background in the 2021 photo affected the colours on the cosplayer.
Check out the slider below to compare the two photos yourself as well the two individual photos above. Don’t forget to write a comment about when photos you prefer.
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10/05/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Littleviviel, cosplaying as Lunafreya Nox Fleuret from the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV franchise.
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, also known simply as Luna, is the main heroine in Final Fantasy XV and one of the two main characters in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. She has a major role in Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-, which depicts an alternate ending to the saga.
A former princess of Tenebrae, she is a captive of the Niflheim Empire. Able to talk to the gods, Lunafreya is the youngest Oracle in history. Despite it being under Niflheim’s control, Tenebrae has some autonomy thanks to her. She is the younger sister of Ravus Nox Fleuret, and Prince Noctis’s betrothed. Lunafreya is the daughter of the Queen of Tenebrae, Sylva Via Fleuret. She has two dogs: the white Pryna and the black Umbra.
2020 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
Top Photo 2017 / Bottom Photo 2021
Transferred the photo into Photoshop and began using the liquify tool to tidy up the shoulder part of the cosplay to make it look neater and more natural fitting to the body. I tried not to over-process the liquify making changes too artificial.
Looking up the character’s attributes, I saw that the character has light blues eyes, so creating a new layer of the iris, I desaturate the colours out and then put the colour back in and to make it lighter increased the brightness into the iris. I also made sure the pupil was not affected by the changes and erased them out in the layer.
The next thing I wanted to do was remove the post on the left-hand side of the photo. Using the “Content-Aware Fill” tool to select the area first before applying the tool and then using the clone stamp tool to tidy any misrepresentation of how the Content-Aware Fill processed the area.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Comparing the two photos, I am at odds if I have really made an improvement. The main issue for me is how the cosplayer was originally lit in person. I tried to overcome this by applying changes in the shadow settings and adjusting the highlight of the photo but in my eyes, the changes do not look natural enough.
Also, the photos are very “white” colour heavy which makes it hard to add depth to the photo without artificially adding colour which does not belong there.
I think what I have learnt from this edit is that, I need to make sure I get the basic fundamentals of getting the photo right in camera first, get the lighting correct, angles right and get the posing correct so that my post-editing can enhance the photo and not rely on post-editing to get me out of the situation like this where I am unable to get the photo to a standard or look that I expect for myself.
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04/05/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by SugahFox, cosplaying as Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise.
Lara Croft is an English archaeologist, treasure hunter and tomb raider. Born to an aristocratic family, Lara is generally disinterested in upper class society, finding it stifling and boring. She takes far more interest in delving into the secrets of the past and finding what is believed to not even exist.
Lara’s expeditions have led her to search for some of the most powerful and dangerous artifacts in the world as well as uncovering some of the most mysterious places in Earth’s history.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
Top Photo 2017 / Bottom Photo 2021
I really struggled to get the correct crop within the 2×3 aspect ratio as I was either cutting too much out or keeping too much in. But once I changed to a 1×1 aspect ratio, it felt more balanced in the photo.
After transferring the photo into Photoshop, I started work with removing the wristband on the cosplayer, with a combination of Patch Tool and Clone Stamp.
I create a Gradient Filter over the image with a light white shade to give an illusion that the day was warmer and shinier.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
Comparing the two, there are still aspects which I can see in both photos which I wished I saw such as along the top you can clearly see a security camera which would have been very easy to remove.
I find the 2021 photo to be more level then the 2017 photos, with the background looking more straighter and level between the two photos.
Also in the 2021 photo has a much warmer and lighter tone compared to the 2017 photo where in the original photo, it’s a lot darker and contrast. You can better see the details in the cosplayers outfit and face in the 2021 photo with it being a lighter photo to look at.
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26/04/2021Re-EditsThis week’s Re-Edit is cosplayed by Yousei Cosplay, cosplaying as Keyleth from Critical Role franchise.
Keyleth is a half-elf druid in the group Vox Machina and current headmaster of the Air Ashari. She was played by Marisha Ray.
2021 EDIT PROCESS
I started with the basic changes I always do, by adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, HSL, and etc. Throughout this project of re-editing my older photos, I do not refer to the original edited photo so I can see if I would make the same steps or make alternative decisions.
Top Photo 2017 / Bottom Photo 2021
I transferred the photo into Photoshop, so that I can start making changes such as the background. I wanted to make the people in the background not so noticeable so I created a new level of the affected background area and desaturated the colours out. Next, I used a clone stamp to make the area more fitting and close the surrounding area. I change the flow rate of how much of the cloned area is painted in, making it look more natural.
Using the Liquify tool, I saw any small bumps in the clothing and pushed it in to make it more smoother on the cosplayer.
Next, I took a selection of the iris of the eye, created a new layer and then changed the eye colour of the character to match the eye colour of the character described on various web pages which talk about Keyleth.
I wanted to add something new and learn something new. I decided to add falling leaves to the photo. I had to find an Overlay I can use to add to my photo once found one which I felt suited the photo, I imported the overlay into the photo as a new layer. I cheated by create multiple layers of this overlay to give it more leaves in the image. To give it that bokeh effect, I selected the layers and applied a Gaussian Blur.
In the original photo, the cosplayers face isn’t as sharp as I would like it to be. I applied a sequence of steps I’ve already created as a task within my own Photoshop program. I ran the task, but then created a group and masking layer so that I can brush in the more sharpened area to one part of the photo and not the whole photo.
My last step was to apply the skin smoothening and contouring techniques I do in Photoshop.
COMPARING THE TWO PHOTOS
I love the colour tones in the updated version of the photo and making the photo as clean as possible from any distraction is really pleasing to me.
I do wish I can improve the sharpness of the cosplayers face as you are still drawn to the cosplayers hands. I might look into more tutorials on different techniques to sharpen a photo.
Don’t forget to take a closer look between the two photos above but also a slider below to show the difference between the two photos.
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