Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Chairman Bill on February 06, 2010, 01:24:12 pm
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Pick of the bunch from a recent day out wandering over Dartmoor. Weather was pretty grotty - low cloud, light very flat, snow showers & wind. Comments re. improving these much appreciated
[attachment=20064:Gate.jpg] [attachment=20065:Sheep.jpg] [attachment=20066:Stream.jpg] [attachment=20067:Wall_2.jpg] [attachment=20068:Wall.jpg]
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Pick of the bunch from a recent day out wandering over Dartmoor. Weather was pretty grotty - low cloud, light very flat, snow showers & wind. Comments re. improving these much appreciated
[attachment=20064:Gate.jpg] [attachment=20065:Sheep.jpg] [attachment=20066:Stream.jpg] [attachment=20067:Wall_2.jpg] [attachment=20068:Wall.jpg]
Given the weather as you say, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the one I like the most is the one with least (rather boring) sky: the second. The sheep mirroring the stones of the wall make it an appealing shot, which repays a bit of careful looking.
Jeremy
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When snow is presented as gray, there should usually be a compelling (esthetic) reason for that... I do not see that reason here.
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I also love the second one. Great composition with an interesting subject. Not sure about the reason, but I like the snow the (non-white) way it is. The low contrast somehow fits the mood.
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OK. Thanks for the feedback. A quick fiddle with white balance, and hopefully an improvement.
[attachment=20071:Sheep.jpg]
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Would that be the Dartmoor of "The Hound of The Baskervilles" fame?
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Yep, same place.
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OK. Thanks for the feedback. A quick fiddle with white balance, and hopefully an improvement.
[attachment=20071:Sheep.jpg]
It's not an improvement, in my view. The loss of contrast spoils the image. I'd stick with the original.
Jeremy
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So, how to improve the whiteness issue with the snow, without losing contrast, without burning out highlights, and retaining some detail in the snow? I'm using Aperture 2 for processing.
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When snow is presented as gray, there should usually be a compelling (esthetic) reason for that... I do not see that reason here.
I agree Slobodan, I had the same feeling. When I first looked at the pics I noticed something weired about the grey, and was wondering why.
If it would have been part of a clear artistic proposal, I would not have asked myself the question.
But I think it is an interesting topic and chalenge, technicaly and artisticaly.
I would use 3 layers with different settings and merge them with different opacity, then the mask.
Fred.
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So, how to improve the whiteness issue with the snow, without losing contrast, without burning out highlights, and retaining some detail in the snow? I'm using Aperture 2 for processing.
I'm no expert, I'm afraid. If I had an image which looked like your second version, I'd try raising the black slider in Lightroom. I imagine there's an equivalent in Aperture.
I don't have the experience to visualise the effects, though: I have to try it and see. Just a thought.
Jeremy
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I like the sheep shot. But overall I think I know why your images are on the dark saturated side. One is the light, heavy overcast. so that somber look can't be avoided. And two, as we have discussed many times, sometimes its about expression and not about accuracy of tones or colours, or correct white balance. This is not to say, I think it works on all the images, but when the graphic nature of the subject comes through, such as on the sheep image and stone fence image, I think it is appropriate. Snow is notoriously difficult to correctly depict under any lighting and I have learned that what works best is what best brings out what I want to express.
JMR
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Some fiddling with Aperture, and hopefully ...
[attachment=20163:Wall.jpg][attachment=20162:Sheep.jpg]
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Some fiddling with Aperture, and hopefully ...
It looks good to me, especially the sheep image, rows of austere criss-crossing paths and lines, including the fence and the grey band of sky itself- nice.
JMR
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Some fiddling with Aperture, and hopefully ...
[attachment=20163:Wall.jpg][attachment=20162:Sheep.jpg]
I think the sheep photo now looks better than either of the two previous renditions. The only thing that bothers me a little is that some of the shadow detail appears to have been lost: I'm looking in particular at the top stones of the wall.
Jeremy