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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Comment |
What a wonderful opportunity you had to go to Namibia, Israel!
Lovely shot of a seal up close. I too agree with the above comments. You have good tonal variation in the black and white conversion. This image works in both color and black and white.
What I can add to the discussion for the next time you have this opportunity is to watch your edges in the viewfinder so you don't crop too tight. The top of the shoulder is off the edge of the frame by a small amount in this instance. Because this crop is a small amount it can make it appear distracting. So to compensate for that you could crop this image a little tighter to put more of the face in the frame. Does that make sense to you? When I first looked at the image my eye went right to the top to notice the shoulder.
Also, try to always take multiple shots with varying apertures especially when traveling. This is a lesson I have learned the hard way and numerous times. In this shot, if you used a smaller aperture like f/8 or f/11 you would have gotten more in focus on the body of the seal. You do a lot of portraits and with people the f/5.6 is fine but this is a bigger animal covering a different plane than a human.
I hope this is helpful, Israel. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Best wishes,
LuAnn |
Jan 19th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
Bob,
Please let us know how your image does in competition, ok? My guess would be that the brightness is reversed. The person should be brighter than the background; because the eye goes to the brightest spot. You could work on that if taking it to a salon is your goal.
If you show us a photo in this group in the future and are intending to submit it as an entry in a salon, do mention that because our critiques don't always flow for that level of discussion. Not everyone here does salons, and not every picture has to conform to strict salon rules to be a great photo.
Best wishes, my friend,
LuAnn
|
Jan 19th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
I am not familiar with that quote, Oliver, can you explain that more?
Thanks,
LuAnn |
Jan 19th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
You're so welcome, Oliver!
I am glad I have inspired you to try something outside your comfort zone. Sometimes I think we (myself included) get comfortable in our editing of images. Maybe we do this for our own stability and security because we are working in a highly competitive world of photography. We do the same adjustments time and time again. I think looking at an image and studying it to find the story really helps us see the same images in a new light, and I believe it can open our eyes to new ideas in everyday subjects.
Play and have fun, my friend!
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Jan 19th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Comment |
Bob, you nailed this one!
Excellent job. I agree with other comments. You have character, nice contrast, great focus, and we know who he is--his story, he's a conductor! Your black and white contrast and tonality is strong but not overdone.
Do you have any plans as to what you will do with this photo?
Well done, my friend!
LuAnn
|
Jan 18th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Comment |
Wow, Gary, what a beautiful image!
A Mamiya film camera is on my list of things to get this year. I have an Olympus OM-1n to get started in film photography. I love it. I just had my first roll developed by The Darkroom in California. They uploaded digital scans to the web as soon as developed so I could download them. Quick and easy. I want to learn to develop prints so I am taking a class locally to see the process. Lucky guy you are, my friend.
This dreamy photo is perfect just as it is, to me. At f/3.4 you do have the eye closes to the camera in focus, but not the nose it is on a different plane; I do not see this as a problem. You have a nice tonal balance on the colors of his coat. The dreamy, soft-focus tells the story exactly how it was when you found him, waiting for you. If more was in focus, you would lose a valuable part of the story.
Print it big and hang it on your wall!
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Jan 18th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
Oliver, I welcome to our world of Apple!! Glad to have you on board.
LuAnn |
Jan 18th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
Thanks for the advice, Bob. Oh, and yes mums the word about Oliver's equipment (lol) got it.
LuAnn |
Jan 18th |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Comment |
What a great experiment, Oliver, to convert a flower into black and white. I think it is possible. You did a nice job with your choice of using Nik software and Camera Raw.
For me, when I first look at the image, my eye sees the 2 buds but then jumps right away to the mature leaf because it is bigger in the image and brighter. I feel compelled to linger and look at the mature leaf not because of its beauty but because of the heavy contrast of the veining. The detail in the mature leaf is overpowering to me compared to the buds which are softer in their unopened state. So I believe the two elements are clashing. For me, the buds should be the subject, and the image tonality should be soft to make them stand out as the subject.
In my sample image, I tried to find a comparable setting in Nik Silver Efex like the Fine Art sample, but I wasn't totally happy with it. I went to Lightroom CC Classic and lowered: contrast, blacks, texture, and dehaze. Then I raised shadows 100%, whites a bit, and Lights in tone curve. I then gave it a tiny bit of sharpening and noise reduction.
Because the buds are unopened, I chose this soft look thus the title: Anticipation; you know like a new birth. I also helped the buds become more of the subject by cropping tightly and straightened as best I could. I know in photoshop you could straighten both buds and I think that would make an awesome image.
I look forward to hearing what you think. I know you like contrast, Oliver, this is just my humble opinion.
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Jan 18th |
 |
| 62 |
Jan 20 |
Reply |
Thanks, Bob and Oliver, for your comments. I agree, Oliver, and like your edit.
Oliver, I am concerned when you say bring down the brightness on the men. I already brought it down -20, is your monitor calibrated? Or, do you have your brightness set high? This really is concerning for me. I do calibrate and adjusted brightness according to the software specs. I will have to check it tomorrow, but I believe brightness should be set around 50% or so. I have a new Apple computer so I can't see it being out of whack just yet.
Many thanks,
LuAnn |
Jan 5th |
4 comments - 6 replies for Group 62
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4 comments - 6 replies Total
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