Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on May 09, 2019, 03:02:05 pm

Title: bliss
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 09, 2019, 03:02:05 pm
?

Jeremy
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 09, 2019, 03:14:45 pm
Nice moment caught.

I would turn it into a black and white, probably via a red filter, and use significant vignetting, to throw the background into oblivion. 
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 09, 2019, 03:52:45 pm
Interesting idea, Slobodan. Something like this?

Jeremy
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: rabanito on May 09, 2019, 04:05:12 pm
I would try first to blur the background. Making a mask looks relatively easy.
The w/ the same mask darken a little the background.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 09, 2019, 07:07:48 pm
Interesting idea, Slobodan. Something like this?

More like this. But then again, that's how I would interpret it. May not be your cup of tea.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Peter McLennan on May 09, 2019, 07:29:58 pm
I'm with Slobodan.  Much better.  If that's too far from what you saw, perhaps some blurring would suffice?

The second rule of photography is "Control the Background".
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on May 09, 2019, 08:14:40 pm
I like the image a lot.
I think my preference for processing would be somewhere between your B&W version and Slobodan's.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: rabanito on May 10, 2019, 04:33:10 am
More like this. But then again, that's how I would interpret it. May not be your cup of tea.

Looks good but it reminds me of  W. Eugene Smith on Minamata.
And to my mind that's not "bliss" anymore, a different feeling, far from the original intention of Jeremy, if I may say so.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: stamper on May 10, 2019, 09:38:40 am
The original was the best. No need for changes because the red element made the image.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 10, 2019, 09:45:09 am
Looks good but it reminds me of  W. Eugene Smith on Minamata...

Exactly my thought and intention (in terms of processing, not in terms of message).  The idea is the same: to concentrate the attention to what’s important.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Rob C on May 10, 2019, 10:09:02 am
?

Jeremy


Jeremy, you see what a careless ? leaves you exposed to these days?

:-)
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: rabanito on May 10, 2019, 11:02:37 am
The idea is the same: to concentrate the attention to what’s important.

Hmmmm....
Important is IMHO in the first place what the photographer wishes to convey, what he "saw and felt".
The title says "Bliss" and I cannot (personal feeling of course) connect that with the low key picture resembling that of Minamata.
The image has changed to something different, even if it is very good.


Title: Re: bliss
Post by: RSL on May 10, 2019, 11:08:30 am
The original was the best. No need for changes because the red element made the image.

+1. Not only do I agree with Robert, but I'd suggest this shot would fit Street Showcase better than a lot of the stuff that goes on there. This is a "poetic" moment in the lives of these two primates. They don't happen to be human primates, but what the hell difference would that make?
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 10, 2019, 12:19:08 pm
The original was the best. No need for changes because the red element made the image.

Fair enough. It depends on what one wants the image to be. A souvenir from the trip ("Look, ma, I was there! - No, I am not in the picture, ma!") or a fine-art image. If latter, then reduce the clutter, remove the superfluous, select, and concentrate.

If one wants to keep the red and concentrate on the bliss, not the background, a simple tighter crop would suffice. Plus some gentle vignetting, and a local enhanced sharpness and clarity on the "bliss" face, which appears out of focus.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: 32BT on May 10, 2019, 12:45:37 pm
... Plus some gentle vignetting, ...

Hahahaha  do as I say, not as I do...

Title: Re: bliss
Post by: 32BT on May 10, 2019, 12:48:07 pm
Personally I think the contrast between the red and green make the image, but granted, there is a sense of clutter/distraction. Doing as Slobodan says, plus additionally slightly cropping:
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 10, 2019, 01:02:19 pm
Hahahaha  do as I say, not as I do...

My "gentle" vignetting was specifically referring to my color version, not the black and white, which obviously is quite heavy.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 10, 2019, 01:08:37 pm
... Doing as Slobodan says...

Both yours and Jeremy's vignetting id too obvious. Part of the reason is it is too strong, the other part is that the main subject is not centered, thus leaving the vignette displaced vs. the subjects.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: armand on May 10, 2019, 02:05:25 pm
Both yours and Jeremy's vignetting id too obvious. Part of the reason is it is too strong, the other part is that the main subject is not centered, thus leaving the vignette displaced vs. the subjects.

I guess you can solve this with the radial filter in LR.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on May 10, 2019, 02:20:10 pm
I guess you can solve this with the radial filter in LR.

This is what I did in the b&w version. I used two radial filters, actually.
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Rob C on May 10, 2019, 03:59:50 pm
Screw filters; do it with brushes, you lazy, mechanised sods!

:-)
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 11, 2019, 01:48:34 pm
Thank you all for an interesting discussion. Slobodan, I don't dislike your heavily vignetted black and white at all; it gives a very different feel to the shot. But I think it does need colour. I'm working on it - this is what I have so far.

Jeremy
Title: Re: bliss
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on May 11, 2019, 02:52:05 pm
That's the best version yet.
If it were mine, I'd be tempted to darken the background just a bit more, not touching any of the fur.