Project 52 by George (geoz)

[geoz]

Starting off the new year to get my photography skills up this year, specifically post-processing. I like most styles of photos but am especially fond of ones that have an element of abstraction. Here is one of reeds in the NJ Meadowlands (probably named by an enterprising realtor.) It was a clear cold windy day.



1/200 at f/80 ISO 80 ; 37.1mm (28-100mm f1.8-4.9) Sony RX100

C&C very welcome.

George

[Lon Howard]

Very nice, George. I really like the 'peaceful easy feeling' of the wafting reeds. Regarding the sky, I like the fact that it is not darkened because it doesn't distract from the reeds. I would though eliminate the vignette in the upper corners because it DOES distract from the reeds ... I just can't keep my eye off the dark spot in the upper left corner .. same for the lower corners tho not as apparent.

Now I'll go looking for reeds !

[geoz]

Very nice, George. I really like the 'peaceful easy feeling' of the wafting reeds. Regarding the sky, I like the fact that it is not darkened because it doesn't distract from the reeds. I would though eliminate the vignette in the upper corners because it DOES distract from the reeds ... I just can't keep my eye off the dark spot in the upper left corner .. same for the lower corners tho not as apparent.

Now I'll go looking for reeds !

Thanks for the feedback Lon. I see what you mean. The thought was to give the photo some depth but it didn't work very well. Here's a simpler version.

[Lon Howard]

Hello again George. We're learning together here, chum, so bear with me. When I mentioned it was good that the sky wasn't darkened, it was the deep blue type of sky I had in mind. It seems that removing the vignette has lightened the entire image a bit too much for me and sucked the life from the reeds so I had a re-do of your re-do, in which I darkened the sky a little with the graduated neutral density filter in Adobe Camera Raw. It might add the depth you were thinking of without adding the distraction of the vignette.

If ACR or Lightroom isn't in your arsenal, a dark gradient (foreground to transparent) from the top will come close to doing the same thing.

In my short experience, I've gathered that there are some that are quite enamored with vignettes however I'm not in that group. It's not a criticism ... we all see things differently and that's perfectly OK !

[geoz]

Hello again George. We're learning together here, chum, so bear with me. When I mentioned it was good that the sky wasn't darkened, it was the deep blue type of sky I had in mind. It seems that removing the vignette has lightened the entire image a bit too much for me and sucked the life from the reeds so I had a re-do of your re-do, in which I darkened the sky a little with the graduated neutral density filter in Adobe Camera Raw. It might add the depth you were thinking of without adding the distraction of the vignette.

If ACR or Lightroom isn't in your arsenal, a dark gradient (foreground to transparent) from the top will come close to doing the same thing.

In my short experience, I've gathered that there are some that are quite enamored with vignettes however I'm not in that group. It's not a criticism ... we all see things differently and that's perfectly OK !

Thanks Lon,

The change you made has the effect I was looking for. It really brings some life into the photo. I do use Lightroom and was able to replicate what you did. A very helpful learning experience.

[geoz]

Do gulls get cold feet? Not much color this time of year so a heavy crop of partially frozen creek.

C&C welcome.

1/125 sec at f/10 ISO 80;; 37.1mm (28-100mm f1.8-4.9) Sony RX100

[Brownbear]

The photo of the reeds is very nice indeed. Love the sense of movement

[Geoff F]

Week 2, George.

I can't quite make up my mind which is which here. Is the image a bit on the blue side?

Centre band water, or ice, with shore above and below?

If so, mud having a blue cast when in shadow is something which I have often encountered. Some alteration to the white balance can help but it is difficult to avoid some blueness.

[geoz]

Christina, Thanks for the feedback on the reeds. That's what I wanted. It was worth freezing a bit.

Geoff, The band in the center is ice. If you use the image viewer you can see the gulls are standing. One is pecking at the ice - don't know what that is about. I didn't have much luck going out that day so I worked on this one. Basically a severe crop since I liked the composition and left it a bit ambiguous. I selected daylight for white balance and if you look at the original it is about right. Then after the crop it was a bit flat so I extended the tonal range by darkening the blacks and lightening the whites. Here's the original and first crop.

C&C welcome.



and the original crop

[Geoff F]

I rather like the original full size scene, George. With a slight crop to reduce the amount of sky and a balancing area from the sides; or something like 2 x 1 ratio instead.

The colour and exposure look good, without any excessive blue tint.

To give a little extra boost, if needed, I would try a little Local Contrast Enhancement (say Unsharp Mask around 20 to 30% at 30 to 40 pixels).

Alternatively, possibly an Adjustment Layer (or duplicate image layer) and change the layer blend mode. Maybe Soft Light or Overlay blend mode with an opacity around 50%.

[Lon Howard]

Hi George,

Nice shot with an attractive left to right leading line. I go along with Geoff about including more of the original scene. Hindsight being perfect I would have captured with a little more space at the bottom to not cramp the little guy at the lower left. Here's one version of the crop I'm suspecting he had in mind. Along the way I straightened the shoreline and reduced the blues using color balance. I tried to accentuate the left to right leading line with a left to right dark to transparent gradient. Little bitty Topaz Simplify (detail remover .. some like it and some don't) and sharpened with unsharp mask (100/.5/0) - I dunno, maybe oversharpened. Zapped a little white speck in the water on the left, too. I get carried away once I get going and often times have to undo things.

Nice project you've got going, hang in there!

Edit: Your original shows more space at the bottom ... I cropped it myself when I straightened it, thus also leaving crop residue on the lower left and upper right. Whew!

[geoz]

Thanks Geoff and Lon for your suggestions. The cropping did make a difference and I will take a closer look in the future. Here is my attempt with Lightroom tools which is all I have. Unfortunately the bird at the bottom had to go.

[Geoff F]

Looks like a nice well balanced winter scene to me.

[geoz]

High tension - The second has many nice patterns if you look long enough; a very overcast day, not much difference between color and b&w; both 1/80 sec at f/5.6 ISO 125

[Lon Howard]

Excellent eye; better catch, George! Hang it up somewhere.

[geoz]

Thanks Lon, Appreciate the feedback. I don't usually print but will give it a try.

[ShaneS]

I like them both and I second the good eye comment made by Lon - these towers are usually an eyesore but you made them art!

[geoz]

Thanks Shane, It was a monochrome day

[geoz]

A mallard couple in a local park before everything froze over. C&C welcome.

[Lon Howard]

George, I would just try to get the couple out of the middle of the frame, something like this. Some might differ but I would also have liked to crop out the clumpishness at the top of the frame but that would have made more of a pano, which I feel doesn't fit this image.