photos: gritty dramatic tutorial

Kyle and I have decided to try out at least one Photoshop tutorial per week in the hopes that it'll teach us new skills and potentially generate some neat results.

Today's tutorial was Dramatic Gritty Effect. Kyle chose a photo I took at the Toronto Zoo, and I chose a photo I took from the train in Cuzco, Peru. I like Kyle's result, but not mine! I tried again on my own, using a second photo of Cuzco. I think I like the second one better.

Before: Just a bit of my normal photo-enhancing techniques (contrast, levels, etc)


After: My dramatic gritty effect.


Before: No treatment.


After: Kyle's dramatic gritty effect.


Before: Some of my basic photo-enhancing techniques.


After: My second attempt at dramatic gritty effect.