Project 52 by Bob R

[SpiderBob]

I don't know why it takes me several times to see what others do. I found the line.

[SpiderBob]

So I was playing with the image and was wondering, at least in my mind, that one sees or perceives to see it differently than the above, but more in more of a true perspective. Is this a better way to show an architectural photograph

[Goldcoastgolfer]

You found the line i think that top step is actually a lens distortion issue as well. The Adobe programs have most lens correction profiles - not sure about other software though.

I think with any photo what you're attempting to portray to everyone isn't necessarily reality but your vision of what you saw when you decied to take the photo. In the case of the two photos above, in the first photo i perceive a well maintained entry into what I think could be the entry into an up market hotel. In the second photo, I see a tired, well worn stairway that gets heavy use every day which would lead to a subway.

So the real question I think is what is that you want people to see...

[SpiderBob]

Thanks Mel for your reply, your answer makes a lot of sense. I like the first one better myself. I will also check on the correction profiles.

[SpiderBob]

Lens distortion fixed. Wow, I don't believe how long I spent on this today. In between other jobs, but still. I had fun anyway.

[SpiderBob]

Week 7 (just a tad early)

Was standing looking around when I noticed this door. It intrigued me because the reflection of the sun was hitting it (which should be in full shade) from the windows behind me. So I stood there and took about 30 pictures over the next hour. Nothing astonishing about it, except I think it gives me a sense of the different tones in dealing with B&W. I didn't play with it too much in PP as I didn't think it really needed it. What do you think? So without further ado, I bring you "The Door"

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Honestly, I love it. It looks like a very simple piece but the way the light is hitting the door for me brings an air of mysteriousness that wants to know what's on the other side.

C&C - I think you have the lens distortion thing happening again (check the bottom edge and I think the left doorway edge). I'd probably try and make it 100% symmetrical too. The edge on the left is slightly wider than the right.

[SpiderBob]

The whole building is round. The step below is the same radius as the building. So, I could straighten it out but it would not be due to lens distortion this time, last time yes. I also went out and measured the lower portion of the wall, laid a straight edge along it vertically as well, and it is at fault (the wall that is ). Again, I suppose I could straighten it out in the picture, hmmmm. I will give that a go when I get home tonight. Those things I should automatically start doing as a given. It will be a good exercise.

thank you Mal, I appreciate all you say.

[SpiderBob]

OK, so I had some time to do this now. I centered it up a bit better. Laid the grid on it and you can see where just the bottom section of wall panel is out of square but above that it is all straight. I used skew to lower each side just a tad. It still slightly shows the curvature of the bottom walkway, but slightly. That was as much as I could go without distorting the rest vertically. So I lost just a bit on the bottom, but it looks better.

Thanks Mel.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

You've improved on an already good photo I think. I really do like this capture - it seems to stir up my imagination

[Wendy Stanford]

So simple, but very effective, bottom edge looks better,
I like the way the light shines creating patterns

[SpiderBob]

I kept looking at this one saying no, but then I finally changed the cropping some and perhaps. I've been walking around the city for some time looking for architectual items and I thought what about the people that live here, right downtown. So I went to the top of Bunker Hill and looked around. There are a lot of tight spaced older style homes just a block away. With trees, lots of them, above ground electrical polls, etc. Here is an example, please comment.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

It looks like a beautiful scene. It's a shame about the power lines because I think they take away from angles in the roof lines.
For the B&W, I'm not sure this version has enough tones and textures to really grab a viewer's interest, but perhaps some selective processing of colours might increase the contrasts and range of tones? I'd have to see the colour version to know for sure. I think it needs a really slight clockwise rotation as well.

[SpiderBob]

I'll try this first, getting rid of the poles is the easy part and the lines. Being selective is the difficult part. I tried different color variations, but then that is not what I wanted to do from the start, and I was not really happy with the results. Perhaps you are right this is not a B&W. I think trying to do B&W's are a lot harder than I expected. I need to rethink what I'm photographing for B&W, perhaps look for those things that really show separation. Here is the redo I came up with,and thank you for your comments. Oh, the roof lines were horizontal with the grid when I laid it on.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Maybe it is the scene itself. If those roofs are red, from memory red and green have very similar grey tones which is perhaps why the scene is lacking that contrast. Just having greens, reds, and whites would be a challenge I think. Your redo is better from a B&W perspective, but still lacking that punch I think. Are you open to trying a monochrome rather than purely B&W such as a sepia type finish as part of your project?

It's probably just the hill that's making me think the scene needs a rotation. For this scene as long as the verticals are upright all is good. By the way, bottom left - is that a weird tree branch or a light pole of some sort?

[SpiderBob]

Good memory, I couldn't remember (and I work down here) what color those roofs were until I looked at the .CR2. Yep they sure are, OK, so I'm going to expand my 52 work goal to include sepia as well. I think I can do that. I'll have to come back with this as I have to remove the poles, lines and yes the light pole I forgot at the bottom . Be back tomorrow. I'll post the color version as well along with my new one the next time around.

[SpiderBob]

So I finished cleaning it up and added a sepia tone to it. I used separate layers for the hue and sat with the colorize. I then went back and played with the contrast to see what if any changes that would do. I didn't use much there at all. Although in sepia tones, it seems brighter or is that just me? I think it looks better, but there is still something missing but can't put my finger on it.

This is the original RAW file changed to JPG of course for upload.



The new sepia look

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Greens and reds (or variations of them) - I think that might be why the B&W/monochrome conversions are struggling. The sepia definitely seems brighter - perhaps try increasing the blacks and recovery, or even decreasing brightness or exposure. I'm just not sure you're going to get a great deal of contrast in the scene without applying either a red or green filter as well.

To be honest, it's a nice scene in colour - and that's without any PP!

[SpiderBob]

OK, another try. What do you think. I think, I got some more contrast, but.......

[SpiderBob]

OK, I'll try this one again, on this one I raised slightly the black point, with slightly more sepia, better shadows in the whites. I'm seeing blurry now. I better come back latter