Here is another adjustment example. This one includes rotation and color balance.

The image on the left is the original and on the right the adjusted version (click on these to view the full-size images):
   
This particular image is the best out of a bracketed set that I took of the window. There is a huge contrast between the outside brightness and the inside brightness, so I wanted to have some leeway. The challenges here are getting more detail into the dark and light areas (trees and wall), improving the color so it is more natural, and straightening the lean to the left.

The first thing I am going to attack is the color. It's too blue outside and the curtains are bland. So I adjust the color temperature a little in the White Balance section to reflect the morning light that was actually present:

I find the sliders hard to use on a slow machine, so usually either opt for typing in the numbers (double click to select, type, but TAB out of the field -- if you hit Enter you select the Compare image), or clicking and option-clicking the little triangles. Option-clicking increments in smaller amounts.

I also increase the saturation a bit:

and that results in the following:

Next is to play with the Highlights and Shadows to get the wall and trees looking better:

Then finally rotate it to get the center straight. To do that add the Straighten adjustment from the + menu first:

I find that numerical is the only way to go with this tool. It is just too slow on my hardware. And the method of straightening is really clunky. Much better would be to let me draw a line that should be horizontal or vertical one the image is straight and let the computer calculate the amount. The result of the slight rotation is below:

This image is smaller than what I started with. Why? Because straightening automatically crops off the odd triangles that result.

Tags: Aperture, Adjustments