PVGP2011: B&W MG Wheel

[ktuli]

All,

I know I've shared a bunch of my shots from the PVGP, but I wanted to share one separately to see if I could get some more detailed C&C on it.

This one is my favorite shot from this year (oddly enough, one of my favorite shots from last year was also from an MG), and I did a conversion to B&W which is something different for me. I just used the B&W adjustment in PS:CS5, and personally I think it looks ok, but could certainly use some pointers in that area.

Please, let me know what you think... especially concerning the B&W conversion. I know the conversion didn't do much, but I felt it was especially helpful in removing the blue sky, green grass, and my own reflections from the shot (technically my reflection is still there, but you basically can't identify it as a person any more).

If it helps at all, I can certainly share the original...

Thanks for looking and critiquing.

- Bill

[KTHXBAI]

Bill,

The shot is a great shot. As for the PP for me (and i'm no expert) I like to first use Lightroom for color and BW conversion. For some reason I find LR a bit more friendly for color/bw processing. It's also nice to paste the same adjustments into multiple shots from the same set making them all uniform.

I then take it to PS for removing dust etc with the content aware feature. When I'm done there I always try to use the unsharp mask last. I just think that is something you have to play with and try to master. I do think it is necessary to have ESPECIALLY with chrome parts. They have a different shine when they are sharpened! If you search youtube for CS5 Unsharp mask I’m sure there are loads of tutorials. Remember avoid the halos!

[jiro]

Bill, I think your subject and this kind of image would benefit with a little bit more of contrast and some sharpening. Something like this:



I like the way you composed the shot putting the center hub at the right focal line. I wonder why you chose the right and not the left side? Just curious. Good shot, Bill.

[ktuli]

Bill,

The shot is a great shot. As for the PP for me (and i'm no expert) I like to first use Lightroom for color and BW conversion. For some reason I find LR a bit more friendly for color/bw processing. It's also nice to paste the same adjustments into multiple shots from the same set making them all uniform.

I then take it to PS for removing dust etc with the content aware feature. When I'm done there I always try to use the unsharp mask last. I just think that is something you have to play with and try to master. I do think it is necessary to have ESPECIALLY with chrome parts. They have a different shine when they are sharpened! If you search youtube for CS5 Unsharp mask I’m sure there are loads of tutorials. Remember avoid the halos!

Mike,

Thanks for the pointers - I will give that a try tonight and see if I can produce a better conversion. If I can get this one right, I think it might end up as a gift for my father-in-law who's birthday is coming up next month!

- Bill

[ktuli]

Bill, I think your subject and this kind of image would benefit with a little bit more of contrast and some sharpening. Something like this:



I like the way you composed the shot putting the center hub at the right focal line. I wonder why you chose the right and not the left side? Just curious. Good shot, Bill.

Willie,

Thanks! I am going to try Mike's suggestions, and I'll keep your higher contrast and sharpening in mind. I like your touch-ups on the image, and so will see if I can get something similar myself... that might help me improve my PP skills.

As for the placement, I decided on the placement pretty much by necessity. I looked through the viewfinder with the center hub on the left line, and found that that cause all of the spokes to be out of focus and mostly obscured by the hub. If I wanted both the spokes and the hub to be in focus, I needed to have the hub on the right side. I know that it causes the hub to be pointing out of the image, and generally that would be a bad thing, but here I think it works. I felt that the overall circular shape of the wheel kept a contraint on things (even if it isn't completely within the bounds of the image), and the bit of the edge of the right side of the wheel did indeed seem to stop my eye from continueing on the line that the center hub causes. Once my gaze is stopped there, I find it tends to loop up to the top of the image and then get sucked back down by the criss-crossing spokes. Eventually, I just find my gaze continually wandering through the shot, but never being lost by that "exiting" line that the central hub produces. Do you agree? Generally I try to avoid being that detailed with how my gaze flows through a shot because I want each viewer to have their own path, but you asked...

Thanks so much for looking and doing the quick edit. Your B&W stuff is always so spot on, so I really value your opinion here!

- Bill

[KTHXBAI]

Jiro did mentioned it and I forgot to. I think it could benifit from some contrast but it is all a matter of personal taste. Myself I always try to make sure to have an absolute white & black on the photo. With Jiro's edit the aditional contrast takes a little bit more of the grey out of the MG logo. I feel that is a good thing, but again it is all in your taste.

[ktuli]

Hrmmm - I will have to check and see what the true logo looks like. I don't want to make it more white on the logo if it isn't accurate. My father-in-law would probably pick up on something like that hehe!

- Bill

[KTHXBAI]

Hrmmm - I will have to check and see what the true logo looks like. I don't want to make it more white on the logo if it isn't accurate. My father-in-law would probably pick up on something like that hehe!

- Bill

Why not try something like this?

[ktuli]

Why not try something like this?

Nice shot, Mike, but I am almost certain that that isn't a stock MG wheel...

Have you considered trying to rotate the center Porsche logo in that one?

- Bill

[KTHXBAI]

Actually I did try... it doesnt look that great. I just wanted to give you an idea for the wheel and that was the only rim shot I had. I think I was originally going for the red brake pad and didn't pay attention to the logo.
Oops. Hmm I will give it a shot to rotate it their has to be a way. My brain told me that the logo would be incorrectly skewed if I did.