Project 52(late start!) by Gary (oldgreygary)

[Wendy Stanford]

Hi Gary, I like the clouds, but as others have said, just a little more of the trees would have balanced the shot a little more, do you use any PP, a touch of the Burn tool, used sparingly can give them more depth

[oldgreygary]

Hello Wendy,

Thanks for your comments. Funny you should mention about PP. I must admit that I do not do much PP. Terms like Burn are not on my radar at the moment! Partly, because I use a program called Rawtherapee which for some reason I am not connecting with at the moment. I have downloaded a trial version of Lightroom which seems to produce more effective results. After reading about adjusting clouds using Lightroom I came up with this version. It is more dramatic and any comments welcomed!



Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

Personally, Gary, I prefer the first version. Apart from adding to the tree line, it seemed very natural. This new version is over the top for me.

Terms like 'Burn' can cover a multitude of different methods, so it's one of a few terms that I prefer to avoid whenever possible.

But the main point of Wendy's comment, for me, was the expression 'sparingly'. That is a very important word when regarding photo editing.

Personally, when doing an edit on something like this, I prefer to use Adjustment Layers (often Curves) then edit a mask to selectively apply the effect. But I don't think those options are available with RT etc; although Photoshop 10 (or other software) for final editing after RT might be something to consider.

[oldgreygary]

I would agree that the first image is more natural. At the moment my PP skills are of the sledgehammer variety and lack subtlety! I think thats down to not having enough knowledge of PP software as well as not having a clear vision about what I want from the image and to be able to apply more subtle effects.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

Just as an experiment, Gary, I've had a little play around with that sky photo by just using one basic method.

To give it a bit more zip but without excessive alteration I have added a little touch of Local Contrast Enhancement. Which, if you don't normally use it, is simply Unsharp Mask but with an unusual setting.

I used 20% and 40 radius; but the actual requirements for best effect are open to variation.

You do have a little bit of slight highlight over exposure on a couple of patches so I used a mask to prevent the effect from making that worse.

Rather than post a reworking into your Project 52 post, which may cause confusion, I have placed it into one of my CinC Albums

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...2&d=1330033213

[Donald]

IAt the moment my PP skills are of the sledgehammer variety and lack subtlety!

And that, I suggest, follows the learning curve of thousands before you. Even now, when we get a new bit of software, we tend to go 'over-the-top' with it. But then we start adopting a more mature approach and ease back on the sliders, etc.

[oldgreygary]

J

Rather than post a reworking into your Project 52 post, which may cause confusion, I have placed it into one of my CinC Albums

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...2&d=1330033213

Geoff, clicking on link does not go anywhere, can you check link?

[Dave Humphries]

Geoff, clicking on link does not go anywhere, can you check link?

The link works for me OK Gary.

Just trying to eliminate possibilites;
When you clicked it, were you properly signed in?

(some features don't work if you're browsing as a guest)
(some members tend browse as a guest until they see womething they want to reply to, then sign in)
(or I could be talking rubbish )

[oldgreygary]

Hello Dave,

I stay logged in as my forum user. I am using the Opera web browser on a Linux system. Basically, I click on the link and it opens a new tab in the browser and displays a blank page. I have used Firefox and Windows Internet explorer all gave the same result.

Is it supposed to display an image when the link is clicked?


Cheers for now

Gary

[Goldcoastgolfer]

The link works for me OK Gary.

Just trying to eliminate possibilites;
When you clicked it, were you properly signed in?

(some features don't work if you're browsing as a guest)
(some members tend browse as a guest until they see womething they want to reply to, then sign in)
(or I could be talking rubbish )

Doesn't work for me - takes me to "attachment.php" in a new window which is a blank page. I'm using Safari on a mac.

[Geoff F]

Not sure what is happening here. I put that image into a Private Gallery which I just keep for things like this. I prefer to use a private gallery when items placed there aren't my own work, just a variation on somebody else's photos.

I would expect a direct link to work even to a hidden file, although there may be a technical problem with that happening.

In which case, if this is causing problems, the next time I do something like this I will place the linking image into a public forum with a suitable explanation in the name.

Here is the BB code, but this might display the image, which is what I was trying to avoid; because this is Gary's own Project 52 thread.



Just to demonstrate the effects of a little LCE.

[oldgreygary]

I think that over the past couple of weeks I have got bogged down a bit on the technical aspects. So, I decided to work on composition for the next few weeks. I have started reading a book and there are some exercises to do. This image is a result of doing the first one. The basic premise was to take a 'rule' and see what happens when you ignore it. In this case the rule was always use a tripod for a low shutter speed. So, I set the camera onto shutter speed priority(1/30) went on a walk and randomly took pictures. This image was the result of walking down the local high street and just pointing and shooting at a shop window. Your thoughts are welcomed!





Cheers for now

Gary

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Gary,

Just to get it clear in my head, does that mean that you ignored the rule by shooting at 1/30 hand held? What are your thoughts on what you learnt about doing this exercise?

[oldgreygary]

Hi Gary,

Just to get it clear in my head, does that mean that you ignored the rule by shooting at 1/30 hand held? What are your thoughts on what you learnt about doing this exercise?

Mal,

Correct first question. For me it seemed an obvious one to do as I don't have a tripod! The learning objective is to begin to take a sideways look at things. My overall objective is to try and free the mind and think more about creative options. I guess it's about not putting barriers in place that stop me from trying something.
There's nothing wrong with having rules but that doesn't mean to say that there aren't creative possibilities outside of that rule. I think that is one of the things that I have learnt by doing this exercise. I guess its asking myself the question, what if? The other main learning point was about observation. That is also something that I would like to develop. On a day to day basis I don't really look at the ordinary. So maybe there are also creative opportunities there as well?!

Cheers for now

Gary

[oldgreygary]

I think this image probably falls into the 'happy accident' category. I was doing an exercise that was basically about doing 20 shots from the same spot. Trying to come up with different ways to do this. I decided to go down to my vegetable patch on the allotment. It was a misty early morning with the sun rising. This was one of the last shots that I took. It was underexposed and all I have done in PP is to adjust the exposure and recover some highlights. Hey, you know what, I really like this image. I can't say it was planned but hey I will take them when they come along. I think that over the last week a couple of things have stuck in my mind. One, is that it can help to visualise before I take my images so that I have some sort of feeling of what I am expecting. Also, restricting myself to a subject and a theme can lead to more creative results. But, in this case I think I just got lucky. The combination of mist, early morning sun and underexposure has given me something that I like. If you want to comment then happy to hear your thoughts

Cheers for now

Gary

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Some interesting shapes in your capture. Just looking at the horizon and it looks like it needs a clockwise rotation, but with the mist and other objects in your photo I'm not 100% sure.

[ScoutR]

Mal,

I guess its asking myself the question, what if? The other main learning point was about observation. That is also something that I would like to develop. On a day to day basis I don't really look at the ordinary. So maybe there are also creative opportunities there as well?!

Cheers for now

Gary

Hi Gary, I like how you are pushing yourself to be more creative. I think you will find that there are many creative opportunities in the ordinary and I like your approach to trying things out. It will be very interesting to see where you are by the end of the project.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Very nice atmosphere here Gary, but it seems to me you are lacking a subject and I'm wondering how this would have been if you would have honed in on one of the many objects in the scene so as to have a subject but still have been able to keep the nice pastel colours and foggy background. I guess I'm thinking closer range with a wide angle.

I'm also thinking it could use a bit of sharpening. I know you're not much into PP at this point in time, but just thought I'd mention it for future reference. I love the fog and the colours, and the setting, but somehow or other it needs some rearrangement to keep my interest. Beautiful time of the day morning!!

Wendy

[oldgreygary]

Mal, Wendy,

Thanks for your comments.

Funny you should mention about the lack of focus on a subject. I think that is the starting point that I am missing at the moment. I think I read somewhere that instead of trying to include everything in the image, do the opposite and move in closer.

I am not sure why but I seem to have a bit of an issue with sharpening in PP. At the moment not sure whether that I am correctly understanding what it does?! My concern with this image was that by doing sharpening I would lose the 'soft' edge it has. I see things around me and they are all shapes and texture. I guess my concern is by doing sharpening things start to look unreal. But, perhaps that is just that I don't understand the whole PP thing?!

Early mornings are magical. It does mean getting up early but the payoff can be huge. Being around when the light changes can be a real buzz. I guess that is where you need to be focused on a subject otherwise trying to capture what you are seeing and feeling can be a bit overwhelming!!

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

I think, Gary, that ideally with this scene I would like to see a sharper foreground but leave the background gradually fading into the mist.

But how to achieve that effect with your camera is the problem. It would be easy with manual focusing but I never found that gave good results with the G2.

I suspect that metering for the overall scene then entering those settings into the manual setting option and auto focusing on the foreground; then holding focus and recomposing would work.

You should be able to end up with a scene that was metered on one point but focused on another.

Alternatively I might try creating a duplicate layer, adding a gradient mask then sharpening that layer so the sharpening effect was selectively applied. But that requires suitable software.

However, I do like the soft misty distant background so I would be careful about applying excessive overall sharpening, as you mentioned.