Activity for User 69 - Tom Pickering - info@photopicks.net

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1433 Comments / 1336 Replies Posted

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Group Round C/R Comment Date Image
53 Jan 21 Reply There's your assignment for February - More Dinosaurs! d;¬{D Jan 18th
53 Jan 21 Reply I did to some extent. I didn't want to go too far and make them look weird. Maybe I stopped too soon. Jan 18th
53 Jan 21 Reply Here's some adjustments to cool things down: Jan 17th
53 Jan 21 Reply You might consider trying a final color wash or texture to balance the warmth of the lights with the coolness of the mountain. Jan 17th
53 Jan 21 Comment I think your choices make for a wonderful piece that exudes warmth and comfort and would be great on the wall of a doctor's office where the atmosphere is often cold and agitating. A beautiful piece, indeed, just as it is.

Can you share with us some of your thoughts as you made your choices along the way? You have such a sense of color and texture and I think we could all learn from your process.		 Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply I do agree that the details in the original make for a very nice scene as you've presented it, Mariam. Nice post-processing! d:¬{D Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply How about a flying dinosaur? Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Comment I'm so sorry, but this composition just does not work for me. The Christmas lighted trees are cool and the mountain is great, but they're just not working together as a composite. My suggestion is to focus on the mountain or the trees, and I'm a sucker for that mountain, so here's my rendition without the trees: Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Comment What a great find. Even using your zoom lens, the viewer gets the experience of being right there! The background is somewhat of a distraction, but the moose's head is what the eye is drawn to.

I do think, in general, this is a bit overexposed and lacking in contrast. And, yes, there's some noise in the background. Here's my rendition, for what it's worth:		 Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Comment While seeing the face is important, I think the eye is naturally drawn there anyway. To lose that marvelous tail seems too severe.

I went with a different approach, removing the patches of distracting blue and evening out the bokeh background even more. What do you think?		 Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Comment Dan did what I would have done, to pop this interesting door, which is like a storybook for kids - what lies behind this door - open it and see. d;¬{D Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Comment Very moody portrait. The single light image elicits a definite emotional response and a sense of mystery. I do think the left side (image right) of her face needs to be brightened, but nothing else. Her left eye is a bit too hidden and we want to see that. I think the shadowy back could be further darkened to really concentrate our attention on her face. Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply I think you're on the right track, but I feel you took it a bit too far. This blows out some of the brighter areas and loses the sense of mystery. Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply Seeing as I messed up the mask on the shoulder, I'm sure you could do better. d:¬{( Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply Actually, not that close. Was a long telephoto lens. And, yes, it's a silverback. The shot was taken mid-day, so the sun was pretty much directly overhead. Jan 13th
53 Jan 21 Reply I think I screwed up the mask, actually. I need to work on that some more. Darnit! d:¬{| Jan 13th
6 comments - 10 replies for Group 53
95 Jan 21 Reply Are you talking about painting black in the mask? Jan 18th
95 Jan 21 Reply I prefer to use the original ratio when I crop, which is why I also took some off the bottom. The centerof the flower is the focal point and what the eye is drawn to. Jan 18th
95 Jan 21 Reply NIK Denoise is what I used for years before I got Topaz Denoise AI. It typically does a great job. Jan 18th
95 Jan 21 Comment Your result reads like the viewer is seeing the paperwhite through an ice-covered window, and it quite pleasing (though a bit chilling). Your blend has worked well and, I for one would love to see your original images and learn more about your process. Care to share? Jan 16th
95 Jan 21 Comment Beautiful flower well captured! Whenever your shooting on a tripod, set your ISO as low as your camera will allow. For me, because of my shaky hands, it's rare for me to shoot without a tripod unless it's with my smartphone. In any case, I can't remember when I change my ISO from 200, the lowest on my main DSLR.

I passed your image through Topaz Denoise AI, then I cropped a tad off the bottom left, added a touch of clarity & vibrance, and finally boosted the yellows and darkened the lavenders with an HSL adjustment. What do you think?		 Jan 16th
95 Jan 21 Comment Wonderful capture, with great detail where it's needed. I do agree that you have included too much of the soft-focus area, which does not add to the composition. Looking closer, I also see a fair amount of noise in the smooth areas.

I passed your image through Topaz Denoise AI, did a serious crop from the left and bottom, added a hint of clarity, and finished with some targeted dodging and burning. Thoughts?		 Jan 16th
95 Jan 21 Comment Orchids, while beautiful, can be difficult to capture because their petals have little texture. They tend to appear soft, even when the focus is correct. Many will emphasize that softness further for a more “artistic” rendering, but we macro junkies want sharper detail or we appear to have failed, even if we didn't.

When I'm photographing orchids, I always add some clarity to help with that. I did that here with your image (click on the thumbnail under this comment to see):		 Jan 16th
95 Jan 21 Comment Wonderful detail in this image, Bill. The silk shines so well in the light of the flash and, as Carol stated, the triangle works well in a composition.

There are some distractions here: the 5th partial seed and the bright green of the leaf. I had a go at correcting those, as well as rotating the image slightly to emphasize the triangle of seeds. What do you think?		 Jan 16th
95 Jan 21 Reply Using equal distances gives the software the best chance of smooth merges. I played around with Helicon Remote a week ago and the results were quite good in my test subjects. With just a macro lens, though, since it actually changes the focus of the camera, you cannot achieve 1:1, but with extension tubes, I'm hopeful it will be a fruitful endeavor.

It was cool controlling my camera from my computer, including seeing the LiveView image on my monitor as I focused by pressing keys. d;¬{D		 Jan 13th
95 Jan 21 Reply It's quite surprising to me that everyone is seeing this as abstract. <...scratching head...> Maybe I'm more of an artist than I thought. d;¬{D Jan 13th
95 Jan 21 Reply Highlights down on right - got it! d:¬{D Jan 13th
95 Jan 21 Reply I think if there's any soft spots, it's due to the cheapie rail I was using. It was hard to advance the camera in even increments.

I have since purchased a better one ( https://www.adorama.com/ianisinm180.html ) that allows for much finer control of movement. It was a little pricey, but I'm thinking it will be worth it. I'm still figuring out how to best incorporate it into my DIY macro rig.		 Jan 13th
95 Jan 21 Reply Guess I need to look closer at my stack. d:¬{0 Jan 5th
5 comments - 8 replies for Group 95
11 comments - 18 replies Total

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