Project 52 by John B. Harle

[Donald]

I always thinks it's interesting and helpful for different people to see the image through a different prism. It's helpful if the creator can take all the suggestions and then make up their own mind based on what their vision was at the time of the capture.

For instance, I see exactly what Steve is saying. But for me, the road was a vital element in the image and it explained the context and, for me, anchored the rest of the scene. To my eyes, if we crop out the road, we've got an interesting enough record of a big pink tank in a front garden. As it stands at the moment, I think we have a more complete image, telling a more complete story.

[Geoff F]

I think that a slight crop of the road may work, but not so much that we can't see where the road is heading.

Possibly crop to that bottom line across the road, about half the road width, on the bottom right corner and a corresponding amount from the right side.

[johnbharle]

Gee, thanks for all the great comments guys. I agree with Donald that I don’t always like selective colorisation. But this was a quick capture from my car window. Camera was on auto. It was pretty uninteresting until I did the SC. Steve, it was ISO 800, 55mm, 1/1250 s @ f18. I may have to go back when I’m alone and can take time to get better framing and try some different settings. I like your ideas about aperture. Donald, you put words to what I felt. I really like the road there, but can see that a less road may also work some magic. However I tried to crop the road out of this one, but then I lost part of the house and I didn’t like the way that looked. Again, good reason to make another trip and get some different angles. Also good reason to get another hamburger. If you’re in the Monaville, texas area, the Thirsty Parrot has the best burger in a 15 mile radius (actually the only hamburger in a 15 mile radius :-0)

[johnbharle]

The winter's been kind of warm this year and we have lots of clouds. I was driving down a dirt road and saw this box sitting out in a pasture. Silver Efex really brought out the clouds. ISO 200, 1/800 sec at f14. 42mm focal length.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Some really nice cloud detail there John - well done. Your scene has a whole lot of interesting tones and textures captured. I'm wondering if perhaps the clouds have been brought out a bit too much but it certainly creates a dramatic mood.

Composition wise, for me I'm thinking that I would have liked to have seen the box on its own - although whether the opportunity existed is another story. The pipes on the left and the bush at the very left edge distract a little from what appears to be some interesting textures on the box. Perhaps it's just that left bush - i'm not 100% sure.

Also, is the horizon level? I suspect there are slopes in your capture that might be creating an illusion but I keep wanting to tilt my head to the right a little when looking at your capture.

[johnbharle]

Some really nice cloud detail there John - well done. Your scene has a whole lot of interesting tones and textures captured. I'm wondering if perhaps the clouds have been brought out a bit too much but it certainly creates a dramatic mood.

Interesting you should say that Mal, as I just looked at the photo again when I got home from work and thought the clouds were too aggressive against the box. They are almost their own picture.

Also, is the horizon level? I suspect there are slopes in your capture that might be creating an illusion but I keep wanting to tilt my head to the right a little when looking at your capture.

Can't say about the horizon. We are at the edge of the coastal plain and the beginning of the rolling hills. It could be that's just the way the line ran...or I could have held the camera crooked :-)

[johnbharle]

Mal, taking your suggestions to heart, I changed the crop and the clouds. It's a little easier to look at now.
john

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Are you happy with it though? The attention is definitely on the box but looking at the two different crops I think the mood is better retained by maintaining the landscape portrait. I was thinking more along the lines of cloning out the pipes and the bush on the left, but perhaps the change to the clouds is enough to highlight the main subject?

[johnbharle]

Kinda sorta happy. I liked the pipes better, so I agree with you on the mood. Didn't really think about cloning them out. I might try that and see what it looks like. Now that I've had some time to distance myself, I'm liking the aggressive clouds again. Sigh...:-) Thanks!
john

[johnbharle]

Kinda sorta happy. I liked the pipes better, so I agree with you on the mood. Didn't really think about cloning them out. I might try that and see what it looks like. Now that I've had some time to distance myself, I'm liking the aggressive clouds again. Sigh...:-) Thanks!
john

Well Strike that! I somehow managed to destroy the tiff file with the original edit. I'll have to see if it's somewhere in my trash bin. :-%

[johnbharle]

Ok, onward and upward...I haven't quite figured out how to shoot the moon (literally, that is ). The night was cloudy anyway, so wouldn't have gotten much of the ole man. Still, I used the wand brush in LR to bring the moon down to a disc, rather than a blur. Then took it into ColorEfex. I'm ok with it, but am sure it could use something more. I'm waiting to hear.

[Kathy O]

Ok, onward and upward...I haven't quite figured out how to shoot the moon (literally, that is ). The night was cloudy anyway, so wouldn't have gotten much of the ole man. Still, I used the wand brush in LR to bring the moon down to a disc, rather than a blur. Then took it into ColorEfex. I'm ok with it, but am sure it could use something more. I'm waiting to hear.

Love the colors in your photo, very mysterical. I also use lightroom and was wondering what you did with the wand brush to correct your moon -- I am not even sure what the wand brush is or where to find it in lightroom -- all I have ever used is the adjustment brush ( it's not the same thing is it?) I have not had the lightroom very long so I am still learning what all it can do. Thanks Kathy

[Wendy Stanford]

Very nicely captured, great composition and the colours give the image a different feel, your eye is drawn immediatley to the moon, perhaps a little cloning around the moon to remove the blurred bit

[Goldcoastgolfer]

It is a really great effect with the colours and branches composed to highlight the moon. As Wendy has said, the moon is still blurred a bit to me so it could do with a bit more work I think.

[johnbharle]

Love the colors in your photo, very mysterical. I also use lightroom and was wondering what you did with the wand brush to correct your moon -- I am not even sure what the wand brush is or where to find it in lightroom -- all I have ever used is the adjustment brush ( it's not the same thing is it?) I have not had the lightroom very long so I am still learning what all it can do. Thanks Kathy

Kathy, the wand is the same as the adjustment brush. It just looks like a wand to me. I used it to bring down the exposure right over the moon. I'm not sure I could do much more (at least at my skill level :-0). Wendy talked about a little cloning, but I'm not so good at that and not sure it would help. The clouds were thick enough to obscure the moon's details, so this looks pretty much like it did to my eye. But thank you both for your compliments.

[johnbharle]

The weather was yucky this week, so I went into the library. Took this in December and haven't done much with it to date. I went two directions here. Played with it in color and then did a selective colorization. Even though it's been done to death (no pun intended ), it brought out the yellows of the trees, which is what caught my eye when I drove into the cemetery. This was taken at Kerrville, TX.

First: As shot


Then with color enhancement in Viveza:


Then after Silver Efex:

[Geoff F]

I rather like the subdued tones in the original, John.

Maybe try a little selective sharpening on the foreground and particularly the bottom left corner tombstone which is a fraction on the soft side in the original.

Possibly a little bit of LCE might be worth an experiment, but not too much. Maybe something around Unsharp Mask at 20% and radius 30, or thereabouts?

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Nothing for me to add to what Geoff has already mentioned in terms of C&C. There's a tombstone on the right where the horizontal line looks like it's sloping a little bit so for me it gives the impression that it needs a rotation - but that could be an illusion.

Overall I think you've turned a subdued scene into a more dramatic one that implies there's a story to tell with your PP work. Nice job!

[johnbharle]

I rather like the subdued tones in the original, John.

Maybe try a little selective sharpening on the foreground and particularly the bottom left corner tombstone which is a fraction on the soft side in the original.

Possibly a little bit of LCE might be worth an experiment, but not too much. Maybe something around Unsharp Mask at 20% and radius 30, or thereabouts?

Geoff, I had to go look up LCE! Which I guess is the point of this. At least I learned something today. I tried your suggestion. Here's what came out.



I can tell a subtle difference in the sharpness and do believe it helped. Thanks for the pointer!
john

[johnbharle]

Nothing for me to add to what Geoff has already mentioned in terms of C&C. There's a tombstone on the right where the horizontal line looks like it's sloping a little bit so for me it gives the impression that it needs a rotation - but that could be an illusion.

Overall I think you've turned a subdued scene into a more dramatic one that implies there's a story to tell wit!

Thanks, Mal. I'm not seeing the sloping tombstone. It could be an artifact due to the lens angle. Or the tombstone is actually sloping :-0 Again, thanks for the C&C.