Project 52 by Rebecca Humphries

[beckyhumphries]

Yes there is a greenish tint I didnt notice it when processing so thanks for pointing out. I was processing them inside on the laptop so I must have had the screen at the wrong angle or my eyes were colour blind!

I agree Frank about more space being better above and below the heron and stag; one edge was very close to the subject so in an attempt to make them more equal I chopped a bit of the other edge. I should have zoomed out a bit when I was taking the picture

Thanks all for your comments, they are much appreciated.

Rebecca

[beckyhumphries]

Hi everyone,

I'm a bit late doing anything with these pictures as they were taken a month ago I still have two lots of more recent outings to do something with too.

My week 18 was taken at the Jubilee River near Windsor, where we saw a herd of swans in a nearby field, who then gradually flew overhead to the nearby river. We also had a wonder along part of the river, where we saw a number of birds, and a view of Windsor Castle in the distance (shame it wasn't a slightly clearer day).


f/5.6, 1/4000sec, iso200, -1.3 exposure, 342mm


f/5.6, 1/2500sec, iso200, -1 exposure, 200mm


f/5.6, 1/4000sec, iso200, -0.3 exposure, 200mm


f/11, 1/250sec, iso200, 0 exposure, 200mm

I had the same problem with a green tint on my pictures this week. I got all the way to uploading before I went back to Photoshop and pressed the 'auto colour correction' button which really showed where the colour had gone wrong. Not sure how on earth I am making it green as I haven't been adjusting the colour at all - just cropping, levels, contrast adjustment, brightness, and sharpening.

All comments much appreciated.

Thanks, Rebecca.

[FrankMi]

Wow! That second swan shot in particular is outstanding!

[Geoff F]

Well you appear to have got the whites about right, and in an obviously tricky shooting light.

Birds flying against the sky always seem to look better than when there is foliage in the background. Even if the foliage shot is actually better. I suppose that is how we image birds should look. And you have certainly managed a good background with the second swan.

I wonder if your green tint is coming from a white balance problem with the camera? I get the same thing with my scanner. And, if I remember correctly, Fuji film tended to be a bit green while Kodak was decidedly blue.

When processing, I have never really got the hang of using levels. I find that Curves is the one 'magic tool' for me. Everything I need in one package - well almost like that if you include using Curves as an adjustment layer with masks and blend mode variations.

[jprzybyla]

All nice, well done Rebecca.

[Dave Humphries]

I'm a bit late doing anything with these pictures as they were taken a month ago I still have two lots of more recent outings to do something with too.

I'm nearly 3 months behind

The two swan shots are good captures, all that practicising is paying off

I had the same problem with a green tint on my pictures this week. I got all the way to uploading before I went back to Photoshop and pressed the 'auto colour correction' button which really showed where the colour had gone wrong. Not sure how on earth I am making it green as I haven't been adjusting the colour at all - just cropping, levels, contrast adjustment, brightness, and sharpening.

Now, that's weird - next time you're down south with me, bring the laptop and we'll see what's happening.

I still see quite a difference between the two swans, the first is cool and blue, the second quite warm and red.

I suspect using the eye dropper to establish a white (balance) on a 'not over exposed' bit of swan feather might be better than Auto Colour Correction, which may still get it wrong because it can be influenced by what is in the background.

I like the geese one too, could be the same one shot three times and overlaid as a 'flight path', but as we know, just three geese

I completely missed the castle shot, so well done for seeing it, the fluffy seed heads add foreground interest.

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

When processing, I have never really got the hang of using levels. I find that Curves is the one 'magic tool' for me. Everything I need in one package - well almost like that if you include using Curves as an adjustment layer with masks and blend mode variations.

That's odd Geoff, I've never got the hang of Curves (or layers), but levels comes naturally to me because of my (ancient) background in video signal processing

[beckyhumphries]

And you have certainly managed a good background with the second swan.

Thanks Geoff. Yes luckily in this shot the bird was just above the tree line which made for quite a nice composition. I actually did a bit of experimenting as I wanted the tree on the right to be the edge of my crop but it seemed a bit wide. So I cut about two inches off just to the right of the swan by cutting and pasting the tree section from the right hand side of the picture to shorten the distance between the bird and tree, then blended. A lot of effort for not much gain but it was a good practice exercise.

[beckyhumphries]

That's odd Geoff, I've never got the hang of Curves (or layers), but levels comes naturally to me because of my (ancient) background in video signal processing

Can levels influence the colour if I go overboard?

[beckyhumphries]

Now, that's weird - next time you're down south with me, bring the laptop and we'll see what's happening.

I still see quite a difference between the two swans, the first is cool and blue, the second quite warm and red.

I suspect using the eye dropper to establish a white (balance) on a 'not over exposed' bit of swan feather might be better than Auto Colour Correction, which may still get it wrong because it can be influenced by what is in the background.

Yes I used the auto colour on the swans as a quick last minute fix so that is probably why the colour is not consistent between the two. The pictures dont look overly green before processing. I will go through the process in Photoshop again to see if I can identify which stage it goes green. Yes I'll bring the laptop next time I visit so you can help identify whats going wrong (and teach me some new skills on Photoshop maybe?).

I haven't really used curves or the eye dropper. I must go get the book you gave me on Photoshop to find out more about using these.

Thanks for the comments, Rebecca.

[Dave Humphries]

I actually did a bit of experimenting as I wanted the tree on the right to be the edge of my crop but it seemed a bit wide. So I cut about two inches off just to the right of the swan by cutting and pasting the tree section from the right hand side of the picture to shorten the distance between the bird and tree, then blended. A lot of effort for not much gain but it was a good practice exercise.

It certainly isn't obvious (I never noticed anything), well done.

[Dave Humphries]

Can levels influence the colour if I go overboard?

In a word; no.

I am beginning to be suspicious of the GH2's Auto WB accuracy.
Next time you are in controlled/predictable lighting, it might be worth using a fixed setting and see if they come out more consistently.

Another remote possibility is that (I believe) it has some 'fine tuning' offsets for WB and I wonder if there is some green offset being applied.

Cheers,

[Donald]

Yes luckily in this shot the bird was just above the tree line which made for quite a nice composition.

I would suggest that luck had nothing to do with it. You decided when to press the shutter and, whether consciously or unconsciously, you did so at the right time - the moment when the bird was just clearing the tree line in the background.

So many times we see ( and I am one of them) people going for 'the shot' and not thinking about the background. As I say, it might have been unconscious, but you clearly knew what was going to work and went for it at the moment you did. That wasn't luck.

[beckyhumphries]

In a word; no.

I am beginning to be suspicious of the GH2's Auto WB accuracy.
Next time you are in controlled/predictable lighting, it might be worth using a fixed setting and see if they come out more consistently.

Another remote possibility is that (I believe) it has some 'fine tuning' offsets for WB and I wonder if there is some green offset being applied.

Cheers,

Phew I have hopefully solved the mystery of the green pictures. I checked my photo properties (as the original photo was definitely green) and somehow I had turned it to 'manual' white balance on these and the previous set of photos. On my more recent photos it was switched back to 'auto' white balance and hurray these are not green So glad it was my error and not a problem with the camera. Thanks for pointing out WB so I knew where to look.

[beckyhumphries]

Thanks for all the comments everybody.

I would suggest that luck had nothing to do with it. You decided when to press the shutter and, whether consciously or unconsciously, you did so at the right time - the moment when the bird was just clearing the tree line in the background.

So many times we see ( and I am one of them) people going for 'the shot' and not thinking about the background. As I say, it might have been unconscious, but you clearly knew what was going to work and went for it at the moment you did. That wasn't luck.

Thanks Donald. Luckily I am a happy snapper so when it comes to processing my pictures I tend to have quite a few to pick from, where I can be more selective about backgrounds and compositions. I am slowly learning what makes for a 'nice' photograph. Thanks for your kind words.

[beckyhumphries]

Hi all

My week 19 comes from a combination of two trips out with the camera. The first was taken at Chasewater Steam Railway near Birmingham on the last bank holiday weekend and the second was at Bray Lake near Maidenhead.

For this shot of the steam train I have tried something a bit different in Photoshop, using a fading of colour around the outsides for a few reasons: Firstly the grass in the foreground was very bright green and I though it was distracting the focus of the picture away from the train but I didn't want to crop in any tighter on the train in order to keep the lake in the background and a sense of the train moving towards you. Secondly in my mind it shows the historic steam train coming out from the past into the colour of today, and lastly I wanted to experiment a bit more with the features in Photoshop. All opinions much appreciated on whether this works or not.

f/5.6, 1/1300sec, iso200, -0.3exposure, 30mm (35mm equivalent)

I haven't done too much to this second picture. There was a house in the background which I have attempted to clone out, and I've done some contrast enhancement and sharpening on the windsurfer.

f/5.6, 1/2000sec, iso250, -0.3exposure, 550mm (35mm equivalent)

All comments much appreciated.

Now to get on with Week 20 which I am especially looking forward to as it will be of horses

Thanks, Rebecca

[dje]

Nice shots Rebecca, I particularly like the train shot which I think has very good composition. The steam looks great and the pp works well.

Dave

[FrankMi]

Hi Rebecca! Both shots are well composed and appropriately detailed.

It is difficult to be sure but the second one looks like it is tipped slightly CW.

[Geoff F]

Difficult to say what is strictly level on the sailing scene.

If we regard the water line as being level, then it is definitely rotated too far clockwise. But that isn't an actual horizon so it may well be correct as it is. River and lake banks are so difficult to work with because receding shoreline is never totally level. And the shoreline is a bit 'wavy' as well.

A slight anti clockwise rotation would place the board more level. But I wonder if that would then become too square. Possibly it looks more natural when slightly heading away from the viewer.

Perhaps, try it and then decide which looks best.

[beckyhumphries]

Hi Rebecca! Both shots are well composed and appropriately detailed.

It is difficult to be sure but the second one looks like it is tipped slightly CW.

Thanks Frank, yes I think you are right about it being skewed slightly, something I missed in PP