Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => Michael's Phlog => Topic started by: michael on September 29, 2014, 04:22:10 pm
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This topic is for discussion of the image and commentary found in Michael's Phlog (http://www.luminous-endowment.org/pages/phlog1.html) titled Blue Motel (http://www.luminous-endowment.org/pages/phlog14.html).
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In spite of the title, it appears that the blue part of the original raw rendering is downplayed in the final version? I also find that the opening in the upper left corner contributes to a better sense of place (in the original). All subjective, I know, I know. I guess what I am trying to say is that I prefer the original :)
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Yes, the blue is muted. Maybe I should have called it Muted Blue Motel.
The opening? No, just not to my taste – obviously. I always ask myself about a composition or framing – does this is that detract or add. In the case of the opening I see it as a major distraction.
Michael
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I like it. For moi -- This photograph is about a soft, foggy morning. Cool, but not crisp (no frost). It has a slow cup of coffee mood, the kind you linger over with small talk. No need to rush anywhere for anything. There's no angst or urgency in the cropped version. And the muted blue adds to the feeling of ease: Yes, I'm a motel, but I not the IN YOUR FACE kind of motel.
The raw -- The blue is borderline garish and unsettling. I react to it. Somebody is trying to sell me something. I'm on guard. The bright opening in the upper left is more than distracting, it puts the whole photo out of balance. I want to color it in with a marker.
Good job Michael. I wish I had your eye (working on it), your discipline and energy to put the photograph first (no matter whatever else is going on), and your skill in post (it never screams look what Photoshop can do).
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Micheal I have no clue what has happened to you but I really like it. I have been a follower of you and this site for years. In the beginning I really didn't like the photos you did in the beginning but for the last few years it seems to me you have seen the "light". I am impressed with your new found skills. Bravo. By the way nice "Blue" picture. It too brings backs memories of me at age 67. Well done. Keep up the good work.
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I too prefer the uncut version with respect to cut, but like the processing applied to the final version...........
.....not that you should/would care what I think.
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Afraid I agree with Slobodan and mezzoduomo, Michael. The original gives a better sense of place. I don't particularly like the opening in the upper left and I'd probably subdue it in post, but the right side of the tree in the upper right, modeled a bit by the backlight, is important. It's another case where the image in the camera's finder that made you go click usually can't be improved by cropping. Certainly that's not always true, but it's true more often than not.
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I'm okay with the tonality & cropping in the final version, but I'd also try out an uncropped version with the bright upper left area adjusted to match the grey tones near the upper right. Seems to me the motel itself is better proportioned in the frame without cropping.
-Dave-
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Evokes listening to your compatriot Joni Mitchell's "Blue Motel Room." Her song and your picture are moody. That is good.