Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on March 24, 2018, 12:09:07 pm

Title: gentoo shingle
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 24, 2018, 12:09:07 pm
Thoughts?

Jeremy
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: PeterAit on March 24, 2018, 12:14:44 pm
Thoughts?

Jeremy

The penguin is nice, with the direct stare! But my thought is to crop it to remove the mysterious and uninteresting stuff in the distance.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 24, 2018, 01:57:37 pm
I think I agree with Peter.
The penguin is really cute.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: francois on March 25, 2018, 02:40:07 am
I also agree with the comments above. The top of the frame (center and right) is distracting and takes the focus away from the penguin.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 25, 2018, 04:14:09 am
Interesting comments. I find that if I crop it as you suggest, there's a void at the top which lets my eye slip out of the frame.

Jeremy
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Farmer on March 25, 2018, 04:47:44 am
Cropping the top off I think works, but do it enough to get the penguin's eyes to the 1/3 level.  I think the background doesn't need to constrain the penguin in this case.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: LesPalenik on March 25, 2018, 06:03:28 am
I would put on the penguin a very gentle radial filter with just a little bit of more brightness and contrast so he would stand out against the dark pebbles.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 25, 2018, 03:12:16 pm
I would put on the penguin a very gentle radial filter with just a little bit of more brightness and contrast so he would stand out against the dark pebbles.

Now that's a good idea. I don't use radial filters as much as I should. They're a valuable tool.

Jeremy
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: LesPalenik on March 25, 2018, 06:20:03 pm
Jeremy,

Attached is a quick adjustment (slight increase of brightness and contrast) combined with an eliptical mask around the penguin using Photoshop curves on your JPG file.
Normally, I would apply an eliptical radial filter with some feathering in LR to the raw file. You can experiment with the sliders in the radial filter to make it very subtle or somewhat bolder.
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 25, 2018, 06:29:28 pm
Now that's a good idea. I don't use radial filters as much as I should. They're a valuable tool.

Jeremy
That's another tool that I keep telling myself to explore.

Eric
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 26, 2018, 03:47:34 pm
I did this. Interestingly, the halo (visible in your thumbnail, Les, and much more visible in mine) doesn't show up in the full-size version in LR.

Jeremy
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 26, 2018, 06:27:54 pm
I think you nailed it, Jeremy.
Can I sign up for your next workshop on radial filters?   ;)

Eric
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: LesPalenik on March 27, 2018, 12:32:58 am
I did this. Interestingly, the halo (visible in your thumbnail, Les, and much more visible in mine) doesn't show up in the full-size version in LR.

Jeremy

Yes, Jeremy, LR is much more suitable for this type of highlighting. Sometimes, I combine both a radial filter and a few brush strokes to make a more precise mask. 
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 27, 2018, 03:02:35 am
I think you nailed it, Jeremy.
Can I sign up for your next workshop on radial filters?   ;)

No need, Eric - I'll supply my "wisdom" for free.

1. Draw a radial filter.
2. Fiddle with the settings.
3. Repeat #2 until it looks right.
4. er, that's it.

Jeremy
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: francois on March 27, 2018, 03:55:07 am
I did this. Interestingly, the halo (visible in your thumbnail, Les, and much more visible in mine) doesn't show up in the full-size version in LR.

Jeremy

It's often the case. Actually, I use thumbnails to check whether grads or other localized adjustments are over the top.
The radial blur idea (for this shot) is brilliant…
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 27, 2018, 09:19:21 am
No need, Eric - I'll supply my "wisdom" for free.

1. Draw a radial filter.
2. Fiddle with the settings.
3. Repeat #2 until it looks right.
4. er, that's it.

Jeremy
That's pretty much the procedure I use for almost everything, with other items substituting for #1.

Eric
Title: Re: gentoo shingle
Post by: schertz on March 29, 2018, 12:00:51 pm
No need, Eric - I'll supply my "wisdom" for free.

1. Draw a radial filter.
2. Fiddle with the settings.
3. Repeat #2 until it looks right.
4. er, that's it.

Jeremy

That's pretty much the procedure I use for almost everything, with other items substituting for #1.

Eric

You guys are giving away all the secrets... how will people sell their lightroom presets!  :P

P.S. nice penguin shot.