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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Alison, here are some answers to your questions.
HDR - you can do it in camera or you can bracket three or more images and do the HDR in Photoshop or with plug in software. I don't often do HDR so perhaps you can search for a tutorial on line.
COMPOSTING - I'm learning this myself. For some good tutorials, in Photoshop click HELP>tutorials>Beginner>scroll down to Layer Masking and see the tutorials which get one started. Probably Help in Lightroom would also have tutorials. Also good, but more comprehensive and complicated is Matt Kloskowski's book 'Layers'. Matt also has tutorials on line for a fee. Or just do a Google search for Photoshop composting to find a whole range of tutorials.
You and Jack are having fun! |
Jul 16th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Hmm, Catherine you bring up an interesting decision point. For a still life, the vase and flower should probably be central and the background completely out of focus. For something beyond a still life, the background, blurred, could be included to set the scene. I need to redo this both ways and see what we both think of it. Thanks! |
Jul 16th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Jamie, I agree with you that I cropped too tightly and will redo it. |
Jul 16th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Alison, thanks for posting your interesting research and eliciting Pakhar's interesting response. I hope he will continue to tell us about his people and country. |
Jul 16th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Prakhar, I am so delighted that you are in our group and able to elaborate all of this information about your country, people, and religion. |
Jul 16th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Nice Catherine! I like your low angle which includes the grass which adds a feeling of depth of field. I like the curve of the bridge leading into the background and the clouds in the sky. The car lights catch one's eye and become a center of interest.
Now, photographer's taste. You have lightened the image from the original which I like. For my personal taste I would even lighten it slightly more but that's individual taste.
Alison and Andrew have some worthwhile comments. |
Jul 14th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Hi Alison, what a wonderful portrait of Jack at the table before the window. You have captured his rapt interest in whatever he is holding! The single window light source, partially reflected off the table top highlights softly his face. And what fun you had finding the perfect location for location portraiture.
Ok, now to your lighting question. Your test shot and your portrait of Jack, were they taken at the same time of day? The sun's position could have been different, providing more light on the room background than in the Jack image. So try shooting at the same time of day.
Light modification: you could use a white sheet or spring reflector behind Jack out of camera view to put more light into the background without changing the light on Jack. However I wouldn't use fill strobe flash as that would change the soft feel of the window light.
Another way: you probably know the details of this but I will be detailed in case you don't. Set your EOS 5D III on aperture priority, set it to bracket three stops, 1 stop under exposed, one correct exposure, and one stop over exposed, set the drive to high. Set the camera on a tripod or be reasonably steady, depress the shutter release and keep holding it down. The camera will bang off the three bracketed shots and stop. (I know this because I have the same camera and do it often.) Now in Photoshop (and probably Lightroom which I am not familiar with) make a composite using the correctly exposed image of Jack and the background exposure you like. Of course you can bracket as much as you want and as wide as you want. So the result is the correct exposure you want for both Jack and the background. If you wish I can send you some tutorial references for composites and the EOS instruction manual's pages for setting your camera.
To get the correct exposure for Jack's face, you might want to use spot metering on his face. If you do, add one stop exposure adjustment (because normal caucasian skin is about a stop lighter than the camera's gray scale reading) and have the spot metering dot reading his face.
If you are familiar with composting, this bracketing method is quick and easy. No reflectors to trip over.
Have fun!
Now I have read Manfred's response which brings up some other worthwhile points of view.
|
Jul 14th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Ah, Alison, as I have said before, you have a wonderful way of setting us to thinking. Let's see if I can answer your points.
Textures: I wasn't consciously thinking about textures when I did this - it just came together. Now I will think of this as I set images up.
Cropping: yes, I think it was too tightly cropped too and will work on this when I redo it.
The brightness to the right bothered me too but I will try your suggestions of PS CC sliders and some masking which I am not proficient at yet.
Thanks for the bokeh reference articles which I will search out. I was trying for bokeh but had conflicting physical problems: I wanted to be close to the sunflower and needed some depth of field to keep it sharp. I used a wide angle zoom setting which increases the depth of field and then tried various f stop settings to soften the background. I chose f11 as keeping the foreground sharp and the background soft. I will see if your article references give me some more solutions. |
Jul 14th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Reply |
Thanks Andrew. As this was done at the family cottage of my wife I can revisit it if I can find some sunflowers. I agree that it is a little too tightly cropped. I will work on the ripple area. |
Jul 14th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Prakhar, this is a stark,spare, simple image that catches the eye! It is one man, one color, one background. The viewer, against their own background of experiences and viewed images, has to interpret the image in their own mind.
To me it says India, perhaps along the Ganges or some other river. What is the man doing? Why are his eyes in shadow? What is the significance of the orange piece of fabric? What do the steep steps lead down to in one direction and up to in the other direction?
Some viewers might complain that there should be other objects to the middle and right. To me the blank right is a balance to man on the left, perhaps what is sometimes called positive and negative spaces.
Congratulations on a beautiful austere creation!
I just went back over your submittals of the past 12 months. Many of them exhibit this wonderful austere spareness view that you have. Keep it up!
|
Jul 14th |
| 40 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Andrew, I like the way this works, the concentration of the sailor, his position leaning out, the goal of getting around the yellow bouy and the splash of water on the sailboat hull. Really good action.
In glancing at the final image I thought it would be nice to include more of the sail by not cropping down as much. But then I looked at the original and saw that the background of shore wasn't as interesting and detracted from the center of interest, the sailor. So I think your cropping is right on. Nice work!
Alison has some interesting thoughts as does Jamie. Focus point, auto or your manual focus, was probably on the bouy which is slightly in front of the sailor. But I don't think the very very slight soft focus of the sailor detracts. |
Jul 14th |
4 comments - 7 replies for Group 40
|
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Lisa, you are as creative in this as you always are!
How could I possibly suggest anything further to this? |
Jul 14th |
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Magnificent result Kathy! The sky and the lights impart an eutheral feeling to the image that is light, bright, and cheerful. This is a painting derived from a photo.
I have no suggestions. |
Jul 14th |
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Sue, I really thought Coco was among all the baloons having an exciting time.
If you try it again, could you find a different background? I find the ventilation opening or whatever it is rather distracting.
Kathy and Brad have good suggestions. |
Jul 14th |
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Maryellen, your compost experimenting is really great. I like that the bird and lizzard tails hang out just a bit from the edge of the frame. The colors and the positioning of the elements are right. Keep experimenting! |
Jul 14th |
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Kathy, you and Brad really have combining images down to a fine art! You have the trees, the flowers, the path working into the background all well integrated and posted.
My personal preference would be to have the image lighter and brighter, not so dark but then again going to the ball is a nighttime event so maybe this is correct. |
Jul 14th |
| 41 |
Jul 19 |
Comment |
Brad, great composting! I really like the footsteps in the sand of your daughter leading into the distance.
Your daughter growing into adulthood - a snow scene evokes in my mind, cold beak short days and long dark nights. How about some other background that evokes happiness, excitement, challenge like climbing a challenging peak?
Well, now after reading Kathy and Sue's comments I understand what you are conveying. |
Jul 14th |
6 comments - 0 replies for Group 41
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10 comments - 7 replies Total
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