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Author Topic: Which version is better?  (Read 4619 times)

MR.FEESH

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Which version is better?
« on: April 28, 2009, 05:18:09 pm »

Just trying to get a little feedback.  Image one is the original, straight off the camera.  Image two, I just increased the fill light so the statue was less of a silhouette.

1)

2)


My thinking was that I liked the silhouette  more because the more detail you add to the statue, the more distracted you are and look less at the intensity of the sky and birds (around the center).   When the statue is more or less silhouetted I think the eye and mind focus more on the sky.

Any thoughts?
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dalethorn

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Which version is better?
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2009, 05:32:39 pm »

For me, the statue didn't make a difference in either image, but the sky looks more dramatic in the first, but too dark overall, probably because the black statue is a large part of the image.  In #2, the sky looks less dramatic, and to make that worse, the really bright area doesn't fit with that sky as well as with the first image.
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MR.FEESH

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Which version is better?
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2009, 06:27:08 pm »

Okay- well I mean besides basic editing...

I guess my question is if the statue should serve as a total silhouette, or if you should be able to clearly make out the details such as the child's face, or the feathers in the wings.
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jasonrandolph

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Which version is better?
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2009, 07:26:00 pm »

The darkness in both images has a lot of weight to it.  Either way, the image seems a bit unbalanced.  I think a graduated ND filter would've gone a long way here.  I definitely think the statue should show detail, but unless you can even out the light between the darkness and the sun, it would be difficult to make this one into a unified composition.  More contrast in the sky might help as well.

Eric Myrvaagnes

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Which version is better?
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2009, 07:30:13 pm »

I'm with Dale on this. Number one works; number two doesn't, and it's the sky that makes the difference. I can't see any detail whatever in the statue in either image. But the silhouette idea works fine for me.
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francois

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« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2009, 03:24:56 am »

I'm split... I would keep photo #1 but would use the statue from #2. On photo #2, even if detail level [of the statue] is very low, it gives a sense of 3D while on photo #1 it looks like a piece of black cardboard.
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jtrujillo

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« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2009, 09:09:21 am »

I prefer the first one for the sky but I think you can still get detail from the statue keeping the sky as it is with a mask. It's quite easy in PS and, then seeing a bit more of the statue it is even more dramatic
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juan htt

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« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2009, 08:01:11 pm »

I don't think either one "works." The dynamic range in this scene is way, way beyond the ability of a normal camera to capture. To do anything with it you'd need to shoot it as HDR, but I think the scene would collapse in post HDR tone-mapping. The sky is dramatic in the first version but the birds are too indistinct. When you first see the picture the birds make it look as if your sensor needs a serious cleaning. I agree with Dale that the statue simply doesn't matter.

On the other hand, I think it's always worthwhile to try something like this. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I always learn a lot more from my failures than from my successes. My commercial web holds what I think are some of my successes, but you should see the humongous batch of failures that lie behind those successes.
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MR.FEESH

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Which version is better?
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2009, 08:15:05 pm »

Don't worry about the birds.  I've already had a million people tell me (I posted the same issue on other sites) my p&s needs a sensor cleaning.  I say don't worry because this is actually a huuuge picture. (Photobucket reduces it). If ever I would submit it to be seriously viewed, such as if I had it printed, it would be large enough that there would be no doubt they are birds...probably could identify the species too haha.

I've played around with this in LR for a long time.  Bringing out the features of the statue while keeping the intensity of the sky is not going to happen.  That concept is a "failure".  There simply isn't enough I can do with this-- like you said, it's not an HDR, just a normal, p&s camera 'color&whitebalance-abused' jpeg.  I think I'm going to run more with the idea that the statue can no longer be the focal point of the photo, and it will stay largely a black or black-ish profile.  I think there still needs to be a lil bit of editing done on the sky, perhaps.
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Justan

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« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2009, 08:20:25 pm »

I like the first one more expressly because the clouds at the bottom are darker. But the image is crying out for just a tad of a change…

If you wanted to play with Photoshop it would be cool continue the dark and lighter cloud formations on the bottom right of the image. Continue the formation so it merges with the statue, a bit below the sword’s guard, and then blur the bottom of statue a bit. The goal is to make it appear to be a metamorphosis between cloud and statue, or vice versa, depending on how you read the image. The image almost captures this by itself.

I’d also add ravens close overhead.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 08:23:04 pm by Justan »
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dalethorn

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Which version is better?
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2009, 09:30:22 pm »

Quote from: MR.FEESH
I've already had a million people tell me (I posted the same issue on other sites) my p&s needs a sensor cleaning.

Eh?
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AndyF

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Which version is better?
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2009, 09:49:34 pm »

Quote from: MR.FEESH
Just trying to get a little feedback.  Image one is the original, straight off the camera.  Image two, I just increased the fill light so the statue was less of a silhouette.



My thinking was that I liked the silhouette  more because the more detail you add to the statue, the more distracted you are and look less at the intensity of the sky and birds (around the center).   When the statue is more or less silhouetted I think the eye and mind focus more on the sky.

Any thoughts?
1 is better; in 2, the sky is less dramatic and the eye keeps trying to flit back and forth between the statue and the sky trying to decide what the focus of the image is and finding neither is a capturing point.  What would it look like with a bit more contrast in the sky of 1, and add some lightening in the deep darkness of the lower left corner (if there is detail there) - but NOT on the figure itself, it should remain a strong silhouette since it's a minor player to the sky.

-Andy
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 09:50:26 pm by AndyF »
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jtrujillo

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« Reply #12 on: April 30, 2009, 05:35:17 am »

Quote from: MR.FEESH
I've played around with this in LR for a long time.  Bringing out the features of the statue while keeping the intensity of the sky is not going to happen.  That concept is a "failure".  There simply isn't enough I can do with this-- like you said, it's not an HDR, just a normal, p&s camera 'color&whitebalance-abused' jpeg.  I think I'm going to run more with the idea that the statue can no longer be the focal point of the photo, and it will stay largely a black or black-ish profile.  I think there still needs to be a lil bit of editing done on the sky, perhaps.
I think there's some detail in the statue that can be recovered, at least enough to move to gray with subtle detail that black silhouette that in my opinion, being so black, steals too much attention. I think it also makes the scene a bit more dramatic, (I've played with it in PS, don't know if it's appropriate to post here an interpretation of your image)
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juan htt

MR.FEESH

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« Reply #13 on: April 30, 2009, 06:20:53 am »

Quote from: jtrujillo
I think there's some detail in the statue that can be recovered, at least enough to move to gray with subtle detail that black silhouette that in my opinion, being so black, steals too much attention. I think it also makes the scene a bit more dramatic, (I've played with it in PS, don't know if it's appropriate to post here an interpretation of your image)


By all means, please do!
I'm still editing it as well, trying to get the right balance.
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MR.FEESH

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Which version is better?
« Reply #14 on: April 30, 2009, 06:37:45 am »

Quote from: dalethorn
Eh?

Ja.
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jtrujillo

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« Reply #15 on: April 30, 2009, 07:23:20 am »

Quote from: MR.FEESH
By all means, please do!
I'm still editing it as well, trying to get the right balance.
Here goes. The idea is only recovering from the statue the sky is identical to your #1.
I've color-desaturated the statue to get rid of color noise, there's still noise if you recover it more but you can always say that it's grain from the granite  

As you say probably some work on the sky will enhance it
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juan htt

MR.FEESH

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« Reply #16 on: April 30, 2009, 04:35:43 pm »

yeah when I tried it I got that same real grainy look on the statue that sorta makes it look like some one phtotshoped the entire thing into the corner of the pic.  And I think it doesn't look quite right because if you think about it, why would there be any light on the side opposite from the setting sun?  The sun is on the other side of the statue so it looks better in it's natural light, being whatever ambient light there was at the time.
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