Jasper Arkansas Sunday

[shutterpup]

[attachment=14429:Lorraine...Photo_47.jpg]

These horses had just been taken to the Buffalo River to cool off.

[dalethorn]

The foreground is good human interest - accurate depiction of animal behavior, but that background has some major potential.  I'd really like to see more of that rock face from different perspectives.

[shutterpup]

The foreground is good human interest - accurate depiction of animal behavior, but that background has some major potential.  I'd really like to see more of that rock face from different perspectives.

I have about a dozen photos of these limestone bluffs that line the river. I posted this as my first photo here because I thought the others may be too bland; that's what I get for thinking. Right now, we're having a severe thunderstorm and my desktop, where my photos reside, is turned off. When the storm passes, I'll post another photo that showcases the bluffs themselves.

[oldcsar]

I think this shot could have been improved during capture if the camera were angled a little more to the left. The reason I say this is that your subjects are walking to the left... it is not always the case that your primary focal objects should be oriented in the center of the frame. If you had aimed your camera more to the left, the audience would be able to get a greater sense of the landscape that your subjects are walking towards. In other words, I believe this should would have been more powerful if you had oriented the people closer to the right of the frame, and provided a slightly larger view of the land on the left side. If you take a similar shot in the future, I would suggest you try taking a number of frames in this manner then decide if it is more effective or less effective than keeping your focal objects directly in the center.

Additionally, your photo could use some local contrast enhancement (use a high radius, low amount unsharp mask in photoshop (or equivalent) or increase clarity in lightroom). Slightly raising the black point might help as well... I think the photo is good, but as far as easily correctable post-processing goes, it needs more contrast.

[shutterpup]

I think this shot could have been improved during capture if the camera were angled a little more to the left. The reason I say this is that your subjects are walking to the left... it is not always the case that your primary focal objects should be oriented in the center of the frame. If you had aimed your camera more to the left, the audience would be able to get a greater sense of the landscape that your subjects are walking towards. In other words, I believe this should would have been more powerful if you had oriented the people closer to the right of the frame, and provided a slightly larger view of the land on the left side. If you take a similar shot in the future, I would suggest you try taking a number of frames in this manner then decide if it is more effective or less effective than keeping your focal objects directly in the center.

Additionally, your photo could use some local contrast enhancement (use a high radius, low amount unsharp mask in photoshop (or equivalent) or increase clarity in lightroom). Slightly raising the black point might help as well... I think the photo is good, but as far as easily correctable post-processing goes, it needs more contrast.

It's funny you should say that about including more to the left. Here's the uncropped version of this shot.
[attachment=14438:Lorraine...Photo_47.jpg]

I have always been one to crop in close, but from what I've been learning about composition, this uncropped version really is better. What do you all think?

[byork]

It's funny you should say that about including more to the left. Here's the uncropped version of this shot.
[attachment=14438:Lorraine...Photo_47.jpg]

I have always been one to crop in close, but from what I've been learning about composition, this uncropped version really is better. What do you all think?

Much better....but I would have left out some of the empty foreground.

Cheers
Brian

[shutterpup]

Much better....but I would have left out some of the empty foreground.

Cheers
Brian

Ok. Tried taking out a little of the foreground and upped the black point value. How's this? More like it?
[attachment=14439:Lorraine...Photo_47.jpg]

[dalethorn]

Ok. Tried taking out a little of the foreground and upped the black point value. How's this? More like it?

This is really good - subject, background, everything.

[byork]

To my mind that's the perfect composition. I love the horses walking across the frame, and with them closer to the bottom edge, it accentuates the height of the rock face. Also the extra space on the left gives an indication of the scale of the land underneath it. The black point has been pushed a little far for my tastes though...makes it too contrasty. That's personal taste so others might disagree.

[shutterpup]

To my mind that's the perfect composition. I love the horses walking across the frame, and with them closer to the bottom edge, it accentuates the height of the rock face. Also the extra space on the left gives an indication of the scale of the land underneath it. The black point has been pushed a little far for my tastes though...makes it too contrasty. That's personal taste so others might disagree.

I was really nervous about posting a photo here at all. I am so tired of forums where people say nothing to help you improve both the photo at hand and the next shot that you take. I thank everyone for their time and thoughtful, helpful comments. You'll be seeing more from me.

[RSL]

Pup,

The final version is very pleasant. One thing you might do though is keep the size of your posted pictures down a bit -- to, say, around 500K. Going up to 1.4M doesn't really help the quality of the picture on a 72 ppi monitor and it really slows down loading.

Keep on shooting.

[shutterpup]

Pup,

The final version is very pleasant. One thing you might do though is keep the size of your posted pictures down a bit -- to, say, around 500K. Going up to 1.4M doesn't really help the quality of the picture on a 72 ppi monitor and it really slows down loading.

Keep on shooting.

Thanks Russ. The sizes for photos on different forums vary.

[oldcsar]

The revised version is a lot more pleasant to look at. Am I correct to assume that the initial photo you posted was a crop of what you have now posted? If so, we are compositionally on the same page. Altering the black point has helped, although I might even say that it could be scaled back just a touch (to 75% of what you have done in the revision in comparison to the original post). I respect your attitude, and look forward to seeing more of your stuff. Thanks for posting.

[shutterpup]

The revised version is a lot more pleasant to look at. Am I correct to assume that the initial photo you posted was a crop of what you have now posted? If so, we are compositionally on the same page. Altering the black point has helped, although I might even say that it could be scaled back just a touch (to 75% of what you have done in the revision in comparison to the original post). I respect your attitude, and look forward to seeing more of your stuff. Thanks for posting.

Yes, you're correct. The initial photo was a crop. So you think the contrast is too high?

[oldcsar]

Well, I don't think the contrast is too high when compared to the original post. My assumption is that you are posting in User Critiques to learn, so I am only making suggestions. If I were to do the adjustments myself, I would scale it back just a touch, but for the purposes of learning, do you agree or not that an increase in contrast improves the photo? When comparing the original to the more contrasty revision, which one do you think works better visually? In my opinion, the texture of the rocky cliff is more pronounced and attractive in the revision- however, it doesn't hurt to experiment and attempt to discern which amount of contrast is most pleasing to the target audience.

[dalethorn]

Well, I don't think the contrast is too high when compared to the original post. My assumption is that you are posting in User Critiques to learn, so I am only making suggestions. If I were to do the adjustments myself, I would scale it back just a touch, but for the purposes of learning, do you agree or not that an increase in contrast improves the photo? When comparing the original to the more contrasty revision, which one do you think works better visually? In my opinion, the texture of the rocky cliff is more pronounced and attractive in the revision- however, it doesn't hurt to experiment and attempt to discern which amount of contrast is most pleasing to the target audience.

Excellent advice.

[shutterpup]

Well, I don't think the contrast is too high when compared to the original post. My assumption is that you are posting in User Critiques to learn, so I am only making suggestions. If I were to do the adjustments myself, I would scale it back just a touch, but for the purposes of learning, do you agree or not that an increase in contrast improves the photo? When comparing the original to the more contrasty revision, which one do you think works better visually? In my opinion, the texture of the rocky cliff is more pronounced and attractive in the revision- however, it doesn't hurt to experiment and attempt to discern which amount of contrast is most pleasing to the target audience.

I agree completely about the increase in contrast improving the photo. I use Aperture to do limited post-processing. I could see that the contrast was not the best, but until you suggested a black point increase, I didn't know how to fix the contrast. I like contrasty photos in general, so this last revision suited my taste.

[byork]

Altering the black point has helped, although I might even say that it could be scaled back just a touch (to 75% of what you have done in the revision in comparison to the original post).

I agree, and this is what I was getting at earlier....the revised framing and added contrast have improved the image quite a bit....I just felt you went a tad too far with the contrast. Anyway, I think you've got a very nice photo there.

[shutterpup]

I agree, and this is what I was getting at earlier....the revised framing and added contrast have improved the image quite a bit....I just felt you went a tad too far with the contrast. Anyway, I think you've got a very nice photo there.

Thank you to everyone. I learned a lot by working out this photo with you all. And it was all things that I can use in other photos as well.

[peteh]

Yes, you're correct. The initial photo was a crop. So you think the contrast is too high?

The shot is nice .I like the rocks in the back but too much contrast and "Black point " a little high.At least on my monitor.Fully calibrated Nec 2690.