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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Reply |
Bruce, to your comment about one image not conveying the enormity of what happened, I'd encourage you to create a set of a few images that speak to that together. It is not compatible with our one image format here, but it doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities elsewhere.
You don't need a whole portfolio devoted to this (unless you want to), but Lens Work magazine has long had something they have called Seeing in Sixes. As you can guess it is a series of six images speaking to a theme or topic. I've always thought that was an intriguing project format, with six not too daunting a number. That said, I admit I have not really tried to do such a six image project myself.
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Jan 18th |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Reply |
Thanks Haru. I think you have a point, as I can see my eye pulled to that corner more than you would want. Good suggestion.
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Jan 18th |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Comment |
Hi Haru. Happy New Year! Sorry that you didn't get any comments last month, so thank you for offering us a second try at providing thoughts. I'm glad to start!
I love the subtle mood that your image imparts. To me it feels very peaceful, while at the same time very delicate. I think you've done a great job of preserving a lot of detail while using a very low contrast rendering. You've also avoided cooling the temperature down which would give it a more melancholy feel.
While I love the feel overall, I think the balance is off a bit. It lacks a little bit of the harmony you would hope for. I also always feel like images with two of anything can be difficult - one or three trees would be my choice generally. I don't know that two can't work, but it seems harder. Finally, a small thing, there are some small branches sticking up at the bottom. I'd just clone those out.
I played with a whole lot of different cropping approaches, looking for something that I felt was balanced. Below is what I like best. In that I also pushed the high key look a little further to get a bit cleaner whites. And then I warmed the darks up a little bit which I felt brought a little more life into the major tree trunk. I am not sure these changes are keeping with the look you are after, but some things to think about. As I've said before, I love the images of subtle beauty that you bring to the group.
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Jan 14th |
 |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Reply |
Ha! It was Christmas, so I guess three wise men was on my mind. |
Jan 13th |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Comment |
Hi Viren. Happy New Year! What a spectacular view! The image definitely conveys the tropical feel and wildness that I associate with a volcano in Bali. The colors are amazing, and I think the fact that the lake is partially hidden adds to the intrigue. I particularly love the rays of light and mountain shadow in the sky.
I think there is room to lift the shadows a bit in the foreground jungle trees. That would give them a little more form, but also showcase how the light is just beginning to touch them.
I wondering - there is a strong black "line" running along the tops of the hills on the far side of the lake. Is that real or was that introduced somehow in your processing?
The only other suggestion I might make is to crop a little from the top and make the image more of a pano aspect ratio. I don't think the very top adds much, and the pano format makes it more of a window into the beautiful view. I took a quick cut at the crop and shadows correction below.
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Jan 13th |
 |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Comment |
Hi Kenneth. Happy New Year! The low resolution of the your image this month gives it a very painterly look - not that that is a bad thing. I like the warm colors and though it is low resolution it does not look "blurry" - the detail is crisp enough for a very beautiful painting like effect.
I don't know whether you did this or not, but one suggestion I'd make when cropping heavily is to try the new super resolution enhancement in Lightroom. It is able to increase the pixel count 2X in each direction (4X overall). And it's built into LR now. I do think there is still better software for blowing things up - like Topaz Gigapixel. But depending on the image, LR can do a pretty good job.
The one other suggestion I'd make, a small one, is to clone or crop out the "red" item that is sitting on the left edge. It is colorful and bright enough that it draws my eye to the edge. Otherwise, very nice image.
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Jan 11th |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Comment |
Hi Bruce. Happy New Year! Your image does a strong job of conveying the bleak, somber mood which appropriate to this location's history. I very much like the leading line created by the rails, sweeping into the mid ground and around the corner. Aided by the rails, but in general, there is a tension created by wanting to see around the corner but not being able to - again I think this adds to a feel matching the story. The colors are muted in the broken buildings and sky - everywhere except the small grass weeds along the rail in front - as if that was the last sign of life and beyond is only destruction. It is a powerful image.
I think there is some further editing that can make it even a little more powerful. I took a cut at that below. First, I think having the sky showing in the upper left corner is a distraction and pulls my eye up there. So I cropped to 8x10 ratio to exclude that. Then both to give it a more 3D effect as well as to further heighten the mystery around the corner, I darkened the foreground and lightened the buildings right before the corner (in the back). I think the front of the image in particular is a little soft (depth of field issues maybe), so I used a tool to enhance the sharpness (Topaz Sharpen AI) and selectively applied the result to the foreground portion of the image. Finally, I increased the contrast a bit, but protected the whites in the sky from blowing out (and reduced them some) as I did that. Oh, and I brightened and increased the saturation of the grass along the track in the foreground.
I think these little things help strengthen the amazing mood and story you already had. But it is powerful as is, so again, just some things to think about.
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Jan 11th |
 |
| 96 |
Jan 25 |
Comment |
Hi Rick. Happy New Year! This is a wonderful, colorful image to ring in the new year. I love the leading lines created by the side buildings and by the blurred lights of the river boat. I also love the fact you presumably used shift on the T/S lens to keep the buildings vertical on the sides. So very nice, and hard to find any faults.
My suggestions then are more my preference and style than anything more than that. I played with a few things to arrive at the version below. First, I darkened the hue and lightness of the sky so it was a little less prominent and to me gave more emphasis to the colorful lighting. I then shaped the light a little to further emphasize the near-far relationships. I darkened the buildings on the sides with a gradient, while lightening the distant buildings a bit. I also darkened the image a little overall. Finally, I've been playing with a digital black pro-mist filter like effect which gives a glow to the highlights. I thought that would look nice here so gave it a try.
Again, this is more stylistic than anything. But offered as some thoughts to consider or play with if you like.
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Jan 11th |
 |
5 comments - 3 replies for Group 96
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5 comments - 3 replies Total
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