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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hi Lisa,
Beautiful capture of the bridge! I agree with the others in the group, the colors are striking, and you captured a great reflection.
I have seen the two upper support sections form a "W" shape, but I assume they are overlapping from this viewpoint. The white lights seem a little bright; do you think a little less time on the long exposure would help?
This drive home was an excellent opportunity for a night-time photoshoot. I bet this made the drive not seem so long, knowing you found a great scene to photograph. |
Nov 22nd |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Very beautiful photo this month, Kieu-Hanh!
I have to agree with everyone here that the scene is very inviting, the color palette tells a lovely story of the fall season, and the stairway is very inviting to a viewer to want to walk right into the frame.
The sky is the only concern. Just for fun I tried to replace the sky just to see what the difference might look like. I am not a sky replacement expert by no means and this was my first attempt at doing a replacement. I also added a -5 vignette as that was what Lisa thought would also help. Re-editing a jpeg does affect the quality of the original file.
Look forward to your comments.
Have a great day,
LuAnn |
Nov 16th |
 |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Sure Michael, I would be happy to help.
Do you shoot in an aperture mode? Like aperture priority, or shutter priority, or manual? Just curious. I think I had that same lens back when I had my Nikon D7000. My lens had lens creep so I had to keep a lens band on it so it wouldn't zoom out on its own. My images weren't that sharp with that lens either. But, it was all I could afford at the time.
You mentioned the crop angle looked awkward. Was that because you capture the man's photo from the window of the bus? Your position does seem to be high.
I look forward to your edit.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 15th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Amazing scene, Ruth. At first glance it looks like a child's play area and the buildings were miniature. I do like the way you captured the house/fort in lower right side of frame. The darker lines in the rock above holds the eye lower in the frame. Very nicely done.
I tend to lean towards darker tones in my black and white images so here is a sample of what I came up with for an edit.
Hope you are doing well.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 15th |
 |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
hello Randy,
Your lily is beautiful this month! Do you have a name for this lily? Is it rare that no one has seen it bloom in the Arboretum?
I darkened the background for you to cover up the stem in the back left side of frame, and I put a fine gray pin-strip border on it because it has a black background; it helps it stand out.
Hope you like it! Hope all is well with you and your wife.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 15th |
 |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Michael,
Wow, what an excellent opportunity to visit Egypt and a wonderful capture of this broom seller.
I like the earthy tones in your image, and the man's face has lots of character. The background is nice in that it does not bring in any distractions. You can tell a good story about this middle eastern man with or without the broom.
I do agree with Ian about a tighter crop from the top of the portrait down. I also like the photo with the broom because of the bigger story it tells about the man. As far as the background, I like the original 2 background as it would fit a travel photography competition including something to tell of the location.
You did not mention what camera you used nor your settings. When I looked at these images in Lightroom, the highlights were a bit overexposed in his head covering, and the highlights on his face were bright making his face shiny. You could probably adjust this in the RAW file; these were just jpeg's.
The white vignette is not working for me. It does not look natural to the desert scene (it's too white); it's also too noticeable. If you submit this image for competition, I recommend a vignette that is felt rather than seen.
Lastly, did you take a close look at the man's eyes? The color seemed soft and not full of color. Was he blind, maybe? Could that be why he was a broom seller? I am sure he lived an interesting life. Like Lisa, I would have bought a broom from him too.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 15th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
I really like your edit, Lisa!
LT |
Nov 15th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thank you for your reply, Mary Ann! I miss fall. We just had a few inches of snow the other day. Now it will just continue to get cold.
How about you, what's your favorite season? I believe you live in California?
LuAnn |
Nov 12th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Good eyes, Lisa! I didn't see that.
LuAnn |
Nov 11th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thanks, Kiev-Hanh, for your comments. I like your idea to dodge the right side of the yellow leaf; excellent tip!
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thank you, Ruth, for your comments. I will take a look at darkening the right side of the maple leaf as you suggested. The other thing I am noticing is the light. I could have used a diffuser to eliminate the glare from the sun, what do you think?
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thank you, Micheal, for your thoughts and comments!
I started working more with Topaz within the last year or so. I really enjoy the creative side to photography mixed in with documentary genre. I don't have the ability to travel as many can and I live in a rural neighborhood so my options can be limited.
This fall photo was taken as I found it. I have been shooting with my macro lens for the last year consistently in an effort to get to understand how to use it more efficiently. I have learned some tips and tricks and now I feel more comfortable using a macro lens. I also like to shoot handheld and blur doesn't bother me. This winter I have some Lensbaby lenses that I want to experiment with so there is always something to do.
The original scene for this photo was pretty blase' so I experimented with Topaz. The software doesn't come easily I am finding; lots of experimenting and not every texture and style works with every photo. Yes, you are right you can over do the effects and color with Topaz or any software editing tool. But that is why we are in a study group is to get the opinion from fellow photographers.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Perhaps the time in your camera is off; just check to see if the time is accurate. When evaluating an image time of day is helpful and good to add to the list of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture; it's the key to good light.
LT |
Nov 7th |
| 3 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hi Mary Ann,
I am in agreement with Michael (our new group member) on this image. I love the diagonal line of the bridge coming into the frame. The suspension towers and buildings help the image look and feel balanced vertically, good job protecting the highlights on the water, and I love the monochrome image-my personal favorite.
I see you edited with Photoshop Elements, according to Lightroom's exif data. So I took your image into Lightroom, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, and Capture One Pro to see if I could develop any suggestions for you. I did not find anything. I tried the presets in LR, I tried editing the original in Capture One, but didn't see any improvement to offer. Part of the problem is that we only have jpegs to work with and not the raw file; you can only push jpegs so far. before the sky's start to look odd. But I wanted to find out why the tonality of the monochrome image appears flat to me.
Next, I looked at the histogram for the color image; there is minimal data in the blacks, a rise in midtones, plenty of highlights, and almost nothing in the whites section on the far right. For the monochrome image, the histogram shows the right amount of blacks, a little more in the midtone range, the most data in the highlight area, and almost nothing in whites.
In Lightroom, the Exif data says the time of day for the color photo was 2:00 am; this could explain the lack of quality light that I am seeing. If I see this correctly, I don't think you will pull any more whites out of the image for a brighter monochrome; at least not in these jpegs, maybe in the raw file.
This bridge image is a beautiful scene. What do you think about the brightness levels in the photo, Mary Ann?
I look forward to hearing from the rest of the group to hear what they think.
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Nov 6th |
 |
6 comments - 8 replies for Group 3
|
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
I am so glad you liked my edit, Oliver!
Best regards
LuAnn |
Nov 26th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Oliver,
A beautiful image; is this an oriental lily by chance?
As you know, I have to be different, so I created an image a little different than your B&W. As long as I have been in the study group, I have seen a constant to go minimal. So, here is my thought on your image. I envision the filaments and stigma to be the subjects.
I also tried my hand at a different crop to make this a unique photo with impact. I tried to get tight on the flower aligning the stigma on the left vertical rule of thirds. To me, the stigma seems like a prima ballerina with the filament's the corps de ballet (if I understand that name correctly), the next level ballerinas surrounding her.
I think the image has a fine-art appeal. It is just a jpeg, so the file is small. I think this would make a beautiful print hanging on a wall.
My edits were simple, LR, BW02 conversion, a little clarity, B&W color sliders adjusted a little, and -15 vignette. Then I used Topaz DiNoise AI to tone down the noise.
What do you think?
Best regards,
LuAnn
PS: I spent several days looking at this image; my final edit took some thought.
|
Nov 15th |
 |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Hello Bob,
I am sorry to hear about your Lightroom problem; I hate it when that happens. No fun indeed.
You have me chuckling, I would never yell at you, my friend. I will have to give a texture a try; that is an awesome idea! The white in the background is the sunlight on the pasture. I was thinking the brightness behind the gate brought depth to the image since the gate was a darker tone.
I wish you well and a quick recovery from your broken Lightroom. I don't know what is worse for a photographer to have your camera stolen or your editing software broken.
Best wishes,
LuAnn |
Nov 12th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Israel,
What a wonderful gift you are giving to Israel's soldiers, and an amazing opportunity as a photographer to be able to make these images. God bless you and all of Israel!
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 11th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thank you, Oliver!
You have inspired me.
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Nov 11th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thanks, Leah, for your comments. I am glad this image was so well received.
You know, every time I look at this image I think I see an Angel fish with the spider web in its mouth. Crazy I know.
Have a great day. We just received a dusting of snow tonight; wonder what kind of monochrome images that will make.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thanks, Leah, for your comments. I am glad this image was so well received.
You know, every time I look at this image I think I see an Angel fish with the spider web in its mouth. Crazy I know.
Have a great day. We just received a dusting of snow tonight; wonder what kind of monochrome images that will make.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Israel,
I love Israel's flag on this steam roller machine! Great image very unique and original.
I too tried my hand at a fun edit. I am experimenting with Silver Efex too. I like the film textures you can add so I used Agfa Scala 200x, I added a white frame vignette, and a small border. The vehicle has great character and I am sure it brought a chuckle to Oliver's face.
Best wishes,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
 |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Great image, Bob!
Your D200 is 15 years old this month, do you still have it?
For 1/30th shutter it is a nice sharp image, and the tonality in the blacks is perfect.
Yes, the bumper is close to the left side of the frame, but that doesn't bother me too much because the wheel catches my eye and it is far enough away from the frame to make this a non issue for me.
You captured nice detail in the pealing and cracking paint, I am surprised the tire isn't flat. And I love the atmospheric perspective. All the elements of an image with impact (originality, unique point of interest (we usually see old small trucks), great story, and emotional response from a viewer). Well done, my friend!
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Leah,
Great image with a nice nostalgic feel. This would look great printed on metallic paper and a square crop.
Here is my sample image. I played with Nik Silver Efex too; Oliver got me hooked on this software. I love antiques so I tend to like monochrome in a border. My basic settings were tone1, vignette black frame 2, border 8, size of grain 46.
Best regards,
LuAnn |
Nov 10th |
 |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
I love your edit, Oliver! You did this in Nik, what color did you select? The texture really pops. What do you think about brightening the headlight a little?
LT |
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Emil,
At first glance on my 2019 Imac, I thought your image tonality seemed soft. But I just brought the photo into LR, and now looking at it on my computer, the details pop-interesting.
Nice image; you have great light just in the right places. The top horizontal bar of the grill is in perfect alignment horizontally. I like that the two logos are diagonal; the headlight also is a touch bright to give it a foreground influence. There is great texture and lots to ponder in this photo. I even see some pine needles at the base of the light.
The only thing you may want to consider is the brightness. The original is brighter; would you want this image to have a little more brightness? |
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Comment |
Hello Emil,
Thanks for your comments. I too enjoy simple shots.
As far as how many people walked by this metal part? Probably not many. It is the front gate of my horse pasture so it is on private property. I have 3 more gates maybe they will look different. Maybe with the 7" of snow we are suppose to get this gate will look different tomorrow.
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Nov 10th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Thank you, Jack, for your kind words and visit to group 62! |
Nov 7th |
| 62 |
Nov 20 |
Reply |
Excellent, Oliver, I really like your edit! A tighter crop on the left took the bit of light off the post and really improved the balance of light in the image. I have taken a second look at using Nik Silver Efex and after watching some video's I am figuring out how to use it better. I really like the film simulations features.
Best regards,
LuAnn
|
Nov 1st |
6 comments - 9 replies for Group 62
|
12 comments - 17 replies Total
|
