Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on November 28, 2015, 01:37:00 pm

Title: sunset
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on November 28, 2015, 01:37:00 pm
Colour? Monochrome? Neither?

Jeremy
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: sdwilsonsct on November 28, 2015, 02:58:54 pm
Colour? C O L O U R!

The colours seem extra vivid to me.

Both versions have a lot going on. I might have tried zooming in on the top right 3/4s, without sky.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: RSL on November 29, 2015, 03:17:24 pm
Scott's right, Jeremy. The color is splendid and the picture is a study of color.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on November 29, 2015, 03:49:13 pm
Another vote for the colour. The B&W is very nice, but, as Russ points out, this one really is about the colours and their relationships rather than just about the forms.

Eric
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Diego Pigozzo on November 29, 2015, 04:51:23 pm
I disagree: I think the black&white could be much more interesting with more contrast (not much).
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: stamper on November 30, 2015, 04:16:20 am
Too much blue in the colour version and because it's in the background it over whelms the foreground. Diego is correct about the contrast in the B&W version. I very much like the composition and the flow of the hills so it's worth another try at the processing.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Bob_B on November 30, 2015, 10:18:31 am
Strong composition. While I enjoy the color version, I have to agree that the blue is a bit overwhelming (to my eyes as viewed on an uncalibrated monitor). I also agree that spending more time with the b/w version, perhaps increasing the contrast as Diego and Stamper have said.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: RSL on November 30, 2015, 10:31:37 am
I don't know how many of you are familiar with scenes like this one -- live, but I'm very familiar with the real thing and I'll tell you that the reason the background is blue is because it IS blue. On the other hand, the human eye makes some adjustments, and it might make sense to make some small Photoshop reductions in the blueness of the blue. Generally, though, the picture isn't that far from what your eye sees.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: BobDavid on November 30, 2015, 11:54:07 am
Color +1. It would be nice to see a more detail in the blue shadows.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: MattBurt on November 30, 2015, 12:49:15 pm
Color. I agree with Russ about how these scenes really look. Surreal!
I love this scene, the sharpness, and colors. The composition doesn't pop for me but that wasn't the question posed.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on December 01, 2015, 02:39:26 pm
Fair points about both the blue in the colour and the contrast in the monochrome.  Russ is right: the scene really does look very blue, but of course the brain compensates when you're there in a way that it doesn't when you look on a screen.

Here are my reworkings.

Jeremy
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: RSL on December 01, 2015, 02:49:15 pm
Very nice, Jeremy. Both of 'em. But I still prefer the color version because I think that's the main point of the picture.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: brandtb on December 01, 2015, 02:52:25 pm
Jeremy - one thing to consider in the orig. color image...is that there is a really intense energy from the high chroma complimentary colors...blue and orange. Sometimes this can or may create "something" that detracts from the subject(s) whether one realizes it or not, or wants it to or not. E.g. looking at an image full of high chroma reds and greens is the usual example of the jittery energy that comp. colors causes. /B
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Isaac on December 01, 2015, 03:00:57 pm
Russ is right: the scene really does look very blue, but of course the brain compensates when you're there in a way that it doesn't when you look on a screen.

As "the brain compensates when you're there" then -- no -- the scene does not *really* look very blue when you're there. Colour is our subjective experience.

How much you should care about what the scene really looked like is a different issue.
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 01, 2015, 03:18:22 pm
I think both new versions are improved, but I'll still stick with the color one as my preferred.
The blue haze is now quite believable (to my color-deficient eyes, at least).

Eric
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Diego Pigozzo on December 01, 2015, 04:26:42 pm
Here are my reworkings.

I vote for the black&white once again. :D
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: RSL on December 01, 2015, 04:58:43 pm
As "the brain compensates when you're there" then -- no -- the scene does not *really* look very blue when you're there. Colour is our subjective experience.

How long have you lived in the American West, Isaac?
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Isaac on December 01, 2015, 05:52:00 pm
How long have you lived in the American West, Isaac?

20 years, not that it's relevant.

How long have you not understood colour?
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: RSL on December 01, 2015, 06:09:25 pm
Where in the American West? LA?
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 01, 2015, 10:37:17 pm
Where in the American West? LA?
My guess is West Side of Manhattan.   ;)
Title: Re: sunset
Post by: Isaac on December 03, 2015, 12:48:14 pm
My guess is West Side of Manhattan.   ;)

In that case, we shouldn't pay any attention to your guesses.

As it happens, back in '93 I did live some months in Brooklyn Heights and was still able to make a tour of the Four Corners.


Where in the American West? LA?

Nope, and still not relevant -- where you have lived does not seem to have helped you understand colour.