More Autumnul Colours

[Tony M]

I've been looking forward to getting outdoors to capture the colours of autumn, and want to share some photos with you. C&C are always welcome.

I like the variations in tones in this one, although red is somewhat lacking in these mountain ranges near Madrid. The stone cottage blends in well, and looks, well, at home there.



Brilliant colours after the morning sun breaks through the clouds. The small yellow dot to the left of the tree is a lone leaf escaping on a gust of wind.



I like the (near) symmetry of shape and tone of this one. Am interested in others' views on this; is it a keeper?



A little higher up and the colours change dramatically.



Regards

Tony

[ScoutR]

Hi Tony, these are all beautiful shots. The lighting with the golden leaves against the dark sky in the second one is perfect, a very familiar sight here in Southern Ontario but I've never quite caught it so well in a shot.

You asked for feedback on the third shot. I too love the muted colours but if it were mine I would want to lighten up the foreground a bit and perhaps also darken the top part of the sky and the peaks in the background just to give more seperation between the layers. I like the shot very much.

I love the last shot, beautiful winter scene and nice composition.

Wendy

[dje]

Very nice set of shots Tony. #1 and #4 are the standouts for me although I do also agree with Wendy's reasons for liking #2.

IMO, #3 is a keeper but it doesn't have the same impact as the others.

Dave

[Tony M]

Thanks Wendy - it's nice to get your helpful feedback again. I'll try your suggestion on the third shot; you may have nailed my luke-warm feelings towards it.

And thanks Dave; I also like #1 and #4 the most. I tried a B&W of #4, which I may post later. I'm still not decided on whether I prefer it to the colour version, which is sufficiently unsaturated to make the little colour it has interesting.

Tony

[Bobobird]

Very nice set of shots. For me it has to be 4. 2, 1, 3.

Leave 4 alone, at first glance it did look like a great b/w but on closer inspection it is'nt. Wonderful illusion type shot.

[Tony M]

Thanks Bobo - you've made up my mind for me. I needed to hear it from someone else.

[KCBrecks]

#2 Tony, that's spectacular. The black sky sets of the tree colour perfectly.

[Tony M]

Thanks Keith. It's funny how the impromptu photos are often the best.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Tony,

Maybe it is just me, but all the sunlit ones I'd have given 1/3 to 1/2 a stop less exposure, the R and/or G histograms on #1 and #2 shows signs of clipping.

I like the atmosphere of #4, but wonder whether having a little more foreground, so we don't lose the bottom of the lampstand, might have been better.

However, they are all nice shots and the compositions work for me,

[Tony M]

Hi Dave,

Many thanks for your input. I tried your suggestion regarding increasing exposure and they do look better. With #3 I also incorporated Wendy's suggestion to darken the peaks and sky and lighten the foreground a bit, which also looks better.

And I'm guilty as charged of cropping away the bottom part of the lamp post in #4.

I looked at the R & G channels on the tone curve in Lightroom and I see no clipping on #2, and clipping on the left side of #1. How did you see clipping on #2? And how do I recover the clipping of #3? I've not done this kind of adjustment before.

I'll post my updated images after I've sorted out the clipping - and after getting some sleep.

Tony

[ScoutR]

I looked at the R & G channels on the tone curve in Lightroom and I see no clipping on #2, and clipping on the left side of #1. How did you see clipping on #2? And how do I recover the clipping of #3? I've not done this kind of adjustment before.

I'm interested in the answer to this also. At this point I only know how to check for blown highlights. I don't know how to check individual colours, which I'm sure would be helpful to know.

I'll post my updated images after I've sorted out the clipping - and after getting some sleep.

Look forward to seeing the results.

Wendy

[Tony M]

So after Wendy's and Dave's suggestions for improvements, I have been busy, and the results are below. After puzzling over how to fix the clipping of the R&G channels, I disovered that I had introduced it when increasing the contrast and vibrance of the images. I have never paid attention to the individual colour channels and it has introduced an additional constraint on post processing. While I understand that losing information in an image may be a theoretical no-no, I'm interested to know if it has any practical disadvantages. Perhaps it simply indicates that I'm portraying an unrealistic representation of the real-life image. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here are the new versions - this time numbered.

1a: I reduced contrast and vibrance to avoid clipping the R&G channels. I then used the Tone Curve to add contrast to the R&G channels, keeping an eye on the histogram to avoid clipping. The result is similar to the previous one, but there seems to be more clarity in the colours.



2a. Following Dave's suggestion, I reduced exposure, but only slightly in order to avoid clipping the blue channel (the new constraint I have discovered). I then darkened the "shadows" (LR speak), which darkened the clouds without clipping blue.



3a. Following Wendy's suggestion, the foreground has been lightened slightly, and the background darkened with a graduated filter in Lightroom.



4a. Restored the base of the lamp post after Dave lamented its omission...



I think that these are improvements over the previous images. They're quite subtle, and I'm impressed at the eye for detail that people have when commenting on photos. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to see the same detail - one day...

Tony

[Polar01]

Yes they are quite subtle in nature, have to jump back and forth a few times however you can notice the difference. How that you have a better idea of how it works you will start to apply that techinque to all your future work and it will become second nature. Then you will wonder however did I do it anyother way.

Cheers:

Allan