Big Oranges

[Shadowman]

Shot with mirror lens. f/6.3, 1/60sec, f/6.3, 500mm, -5ev. Seeking comments on overall image processing. Had to do a levels adjustment to tone down clipping in shadows. Used Perfectly Clear for editing.

[Aforns]

Interesting John !!! Only suggestion is trying it with better (softer light) or using diffuser !! Sharpest seems to be the one to the left edge of frame. Like having sharpest area right up front !! Processing looks good, like the color better, b&w seems sort of flat and has blown areas !

[Mike Buckley]

It's difficult for me to separate the processing from the composition, lighting and exposure, but I'll give it a try. I would try to bring out the texture in the oranges in both of them, though this may be more a factor of the lighting. (This is why I have a difficult time separating lighting and post-processing.)

In the monochrome version, notice that the areas with the blown highlights are much larger than in the color version. Try using a green filter that brightens the darker part of the oranges without increasing the area of the blown highlights. Also try raising the black point a bit to give the image more punch.

[Shadowman]

Interesting John !!! Only suggestion is trying it with better (softer light) or using diffuser !! Sharpest seems to be the one to the left edge of frame. Like having sharpest area right up front !! Processing looks good, like the color better, b&w seems sort of flat and has blown areas !

Alfred,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I worked out the highlight clipping on the color version, I guess it doesn't transfer as well when converting the b & w. My focus indicator was on the orange in the center, however this was manually focused, very difficult with this type of lens.

[Shadowman]

It's difficult for me to separate the processing from the composition, lighting and exposure, but I'll give it a try. I would try to bring out the texture in the oranges in both of them, though this may be more a factor of the lighting. (This is why I have a difficult time separating lighting and post-processing.)

In the monochrome version, notice that the areas with the blown highlights are much larger than in the color version. Try using a green filter that brightens the darker part of the oranges without increasing the area of the blown highlights. Also try raising the black point a bit to give the image more punch.

Thanks for the comments Mike. I spent more time on the color version than the b & w, this was converted using Elements and I only added a bit of contrast.

The lighting was window light, slightly behind the fruit. Good lesson on treating highlights differently.

[Mike Buckley]

John,

I'm reasonably certain that you could use the various color channel sliders in Elements to brighten the oranges without increasing the area that has blown highlights.

[rudi]

Hi John,

Nice image.
I like the color version best. Perhaps a bit more punch in the oranges. I gave it a quick try...Blown highlights are maybe a bit off a problem..Hope you don't mind. Iff you want me to remove it, just shoot me a PM.
Kind regards, Rudi

[Shadowman]

Hi John,

Nice image.
I like the color version best. Perhaps a bit more punch in the oranges. I gave it a quick try...Blown highlights are maybe a bit off a problem..Hope you don't mind. Iff you want me to remove it, just shoot me a PM.
Kind regards, Rudi

Rudi,

Thanks for giving it a try. I can see the difference between my effort and your edit.

This was photographed with the Rokinon 500mm mirror lens. I'm not sure if it was designed for this style of photography, the minimum focusing range is 6.5ft. I purchased it for astrophotography but decided to see what else i could do with it.

http://rokinon.com/product.php?id=17

[rudi]

This was photographed with the Rokinon 500mm mirror lens. I'm not sure if it was designed for this style of photography, the minimum focusing range is 6.5ft. I purchased it for astrophotography but decided to see what else i could do with it.

http://rokinon.com/product.php?id=17

Thanks for update John. As you proved, this lens can do more than 'just astrophotography'....