Edinburgh streets

[Dovrob]

In Edinburgh today and here are a couple of photos I took. Looking forward to receiving any feedback.

[Geoff F]

Some interesting scenes there, David.

The first 3 have some slight exposure problems but there wasn't a lot that you could do about it at the time of shooting due to a mixture of very light and dark images in the same shot.

I would try to selectively adjust the brightness levels slightly during editing; but I do mean slightly.

[Dovrob]

Thanks Geoff, usually only tweek the colour balance during editing, might start using the other tools.

[Geoff F]

It depends a bit on what software you have but making tweaks using Adjustment Layers which have an editable mask would be something worth learning. It sounds more complicated than it actually is.

There are a number of articles here which may be of interest, although they do sometimes tend to get a bit technical rather quickly.

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/s...highlight1.htm

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/s...lections-1.htm

And there is a lot of other information there. But don't overlook the excellent tutorials here on this CinC site.

[Donald]

David

Have you ever thought about getting into Black & White conversions. I think the first and last images would lend themselves well to that.

In the first one, I think the colour is actually distracting.

[stg]

Tighter is better

Cheers!

[Dovrob]

Thanks for the replies, that's what I joined this site for.
Geoff, slowly getting into layers, though only got Elements 4, so hopefully you'll see an improvement as time goes on.
Donald, never thought of black & white, must give it a try
stg, thanks for the conversion, though it makes me realise the lack of colour from the sky, top right, is very distracting.
I'm here to learn, so keep it up.

[Donald]

Donald, never thought of black & white, must give it a try

David

I hope you don't mind, but just to give some idea of what could be done by starting to think in B & W. This is a very quick conversion on a small file. But hopefully you get the idea.

[kdoc856]

David

I have been using PSE for about 5 years. I HIGHLY recommend PSE9, 10 is out but I think it adds very little. In version 9 they added layer masks with no work around, and you can move seamlessly from Raw editing into PSE.
I also highly recommend doing VIDEO tutorials until you are really familiar- I hate to think how much stuff I read didnt stick till I started following along with the videos

Best of luck

Kevin

[Dovrob]

Thanks Donald for taking the time to work on my photo. The top right is still annoying me. Taking more time in composing the shot would definitely help me. I like the colours, though without the guy I think the black and white would give it that aged feel and would work. I appreciate your input.

Kevin I'd like to step up to a more recent issue of elements, but need to wait till cash flow improves. Luckily I am at college I am able to use Photoshop 3, so hopefully I'll be able to have a shot with it on my photos. The video tutorials are a must for me as with the feedback I am receiving my photos hopefully improve.

[Lexie in NZ]

Kevin I'd like to step up to a more recent issue of elements, but need to wait till cash flow improves. Luckily I am at college I am able to use Photoshop 3, so hopefully I'll be able to have a shot with it on my photos. The video tutorials are a must for me as with the feedback I am receiving my photos hopefully improve.

Hi David,
students can buy Adobe products at massive discounts - I paid NZ $250 for Photoshop CS5, compared to the normal price of around $1200 - $1400

I'm not sure how it will work in the UK, but in NZ I bought the software and loaded it using the free 30 day trial, then had to apply for recognition of my academic status (applies to students and teachers, doesn't have to be university students either, could be secondary school) and was sent the product code to load/register the full version. It was all very straight forward, I simply had to e-mail a scan of the acceptance letter from college to prove I am a student.

If you want any more information, let me know.

I'm loving your shots of Edinburgh, spent many happy years there as a student, more years ago than I care to admit
Lexie

[Dovrob]

Hi LexieThanks for your reply. When I started my course I heard about this. When I investigated it I think your course had to last for at least 2 years, where mine is only a year long. I may have picked it up wrong so thanks for reminding me and I'll have to have another search for the information. Glad you like the photos, will post some more from various Scottish cities.

[speedneeder]

David, I agree with Donald on the first one.
The second one the subject is very interesting - the crazy hair and the expression I like. I'm sure this was a shot taken during a passing moment, though less super bright sky above her head might help the shot. The third one I love the juxtaposition, but there is definitely some exposure challenges in that light, and I don't understand the blur of the guys on the bench, particularly the guy on the left end of the bench? What shutter speed were you using? The calm posture of the psycho clown fitting in with the regular humans and then the crazy face is good.
Thanks for posting

[Dovrob]

Thanks Brian. Noticed the lassie from 2nd photo outside Edinburgh University. Asked if she minded if I took a photo, she readily agreed, but it was a one shot then she went off. I'm ok asking people if its ok to take a photo, getting them to pose I'm still working on. The clown photo was taken at a distance and then cropped. The area he was in is a favourite hangout for open air drinkers, so cameras are sometimes not encouraged. Donald's idea of black and white for the picture is growing on me, I guess its not a medium I'm all that familiar with. I've converted the final photo to greyscale and darkened it slightly using levels, what do you think?

[tb72]

Some interesting scenes of life that I suggest also to convert into b&w

[speedneeder]

The color TOTALLY adds to the juxtaposition in #3 - at least I think so