So I went out to purchase a tripod....

[ScoutR]

and ended up with a new lens.Below are some shots taken with my new 18-200 f3.5-5.6 Nikon VRII. Dave, I think it's the same as yours except for the VRII as opposed to VR. Dont' worry I don't think you will miss the extra VR setting. It seems it is for taking photos when you are in a car or on a train or whatever. When the lens is set to the "Active" VR setting it does not take panning into account. I don't know if it will be very useful for the extra $100 Cdn. I would have been happy with the plain VR, but the stores around here never carry the old models when a new one comes out. They must make more $ on the new stuff???

Anyway, I digress. The photos below are actually getting closer to what I want to do. I know to some they are probably sticks and wire in the snow, but.... I'd like to know what you all think and get some critique on how to improve.

The lighting on scene seemed more dramatic to me and some of that seems to have been lost firstly in the "capture" (I fill silly using such terms, but I think that's what you guys call it) and secondly in the conversion from DNG to jpg.

Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas on how to get the drama back into the lighing. Colin, If it is exposure, don't think I have not been taking your lessons to heart. I have, and I'm studying, but it will take awhile to put into practice. Short term memory and eyesight issues.

#1 Original with just some minor adjustments to brightness and contrast



#2 Converted to B&W



#3 Toned down the blue in the original

[Donald]

The photos below are actually getting closer to what I want to do. I know to some they are probably sticks and wire in the snow, but.... I'd like to know what you all think ...

A woman after my own heart. Brilliant concept, well executed.

The lighting on scene seemed more dramatic to me and some of that seems to have been lost firstly in the "capture". (I fill[feel] silly using such terms

You get used to it and since we all use them then we all know what each other is talking/writing about.

I think the third is the best image. It doesn't need a B&W conversion because of the starkness of the colour versions. But it does look better, I think, with the blue cut back.

The old posts look at bit blurry to me (is it my eyes?), although the wire is sharp. I wonder if some local contrast enhancement and a small sharpen on the posts would make them 'pop' a bit more?

[arith]

Yep; I like the bottom one it looks great.

[ScoutR]

The old posts look at bit blurry to me (is it my eyes?), although the wire is sharp. I wonder if some local contrast enhancement and a small sharpen on the posts would make them 'pop' a bit more?

Thanks Donald: I will use the third photo and try to work on sharpening the posts. They do look a little dull. On scene, the lighting was much better (richer) on the posts and the highlights and patterns in the snowdrift in the back stood out more.

Anyway, I will give it a go, I don't do much in the way of local editing yet. I've tried and I always leave telltale traces of my work. I'll use this one to practice and see what I can do.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Thank you Arith, I appreciate your feedback. #3 wins That is the one I will work on.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

I had a go at the Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE) and sharpening, what do you think?


LCE USM 10%, 150px radius, threshold 2, then;
Sharpen USM 60%, 0.4px radius, threshold 2.

These were applied to the whole picture, a better result is probably achievable if the wire and posts are treated separately.

.. and a minor clone job on the larger 'flower' in the centre of the background.

EDIT: Hmm, the picture looks a lot sharper in Elements on my screen than after saving as jpg, uploading and displaying at same size

Hope that's helpful,

[Donald]

EDIT: Hmm, the picture looks a lot sharper in Elements on my screen than after saving as jpg, uploading and displaying at same size

Mmm! That's happened on the two images I've posted today. Something going on?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Donald,

Now you say that, have a look at the PBase hosted original;
http://www.pbase.com/image/120252264
I thought it looked OK there.

Then the penny dropped, I had enlarged (zoomed in) the CiC window to fill the screen width.
Now I have set it back to default (Ctrl+0 (zero)), it looks OK.

Is it possible you've done the same?

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

and ended up with a new lens.Below are some shots taken with my new 18-200 f3.5-5.6 Nikon VRII. Dave, I think it's the same as yours except for the VRII as opposed to VR. Dont' worry I don't think you will miss the extra VR setting. It seems it is for taking photos when you are in a car or on a train or whatever. When the lens is set to the "Active" VR setting it does not take panning into account. I don't know if it will be very useful for the extra $100 Cdn. I would have been happy with the plain VR, but the stores around here never carry the old models when a new one comes out. They must make more $ on the new stuff???

Hi Wendy,

I have that "Active" setting too (my book says it is for use in high vibration situations - e.g. shooting from moving cars, etc.), so you're right; I won't miss it

I think the differences between VR and VRII are:
a) an improvement in the performance of the VR
b) you have a zoom lock (at 18mm) to stop it extending if camera is carried lens downwards
c) Your VR logo on barrel is gold and mine is red

I don't know if the optics are supposed to be any better on yours though.

Cheers,

[ScoutR]

I had a go at the Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE) and sharpening, what do you think?

The changes are very subtle, but yes, I think the snow has more texture and the posts look better, it's very difficult to see to much difference on my screen though.

and a minor clone job on the larger 'flower' in the centre of the background.

LOL you must have known how much that was bugging me! Did you use Photoshop Elements to remove it? If so is it very difficult? I can't do it in Lightroom, and I can't afford the full version of Photoshop, so I've been considering Elements. Another thing I can't do is to blur certain areas (it was called Gausian Blur in Capture NX and it was quite useful) Does Elements have anything for bluring?

These were applied to the whole picture, a better result is probably achievable if the wire and posts are treated separately.

Below is my clumsy attempt to sharpen just the posts. I think it's overdone, but I'll post it anyway for critique. I need lots of practice at PP so don't worry about hurting my feelings I need all the help I can get. This stuff is not easy. Do you every start out with a shot you like and by the time you try to perfect it, you're not so crazy about it any more.

[ScoutR]

I think the differences between VR and VRII are:
a) an improvement in the performance of the VR

Well, I can't compare between the 2, but it does seem to work pretty good. I expected to absolutley need a tripod for the 200 mm setting and I'm surprised at the results. I still want a tripod, but will be able to get by without one on a sunny day.

b) you have a zoom lock (at 18mm) to stop it extending if camera is carried lens downwards

And it's needed too, on this one anyway. Good grief, anything much off horizontal and the zoom moves. I guess that was worth the difference in price.

I don't know if the optics are supposed to be any better on yours though.

I doubt it, or they would have made a big deal about it in the advertising. I'm curious about something though. Where was your lens manufactured. I was thinking of purchasing one at Amazon.com and they say that their lenses are Made in USA. Anything I've looked at here in Canada is Made in Thailand.

Wendy

[Dave Humphries]

~ Did you use Photoshop Elements to remove it? If so is it very difficult? I can't do it in Lightroom, and I can't afford the full version of Photoshop, so I've been considering Elements. Another thing I can't do is to blur certain areas (it was called Gausian Blur in Capture NX and it was quite useful) Does Elements have anything for bluring?

Yes I did and no it isn't difficult.
Yes, selective blur is also easy.
I'd recommend Elements in your position.

~ Do you every start out with a shot you like and by the time you try to perfect it, you're not so crazy about it any more.

Yep

FWIW I think this is worth the effort.

Cheers,

[Dave Humphries]

Mine is made in Thailand.

I wonder if the "Made in America" (for US marketing) a method of getting around import duties/embargos/quotas?

Cheers,

[Donald]

Do you every start out with a shot you like and by the time you try to perfect it, you're not so crazy about it any more.

That's the time to remind yourself how you felt when you started out, walk away from it for a while, do something else, maybe even undo all that you've done up to that point and ask what it is that you're trying to achieve. But don't forget that feeling of 'this is good' that you started with.

This one is definitely worth the effort.

[ScoutR]

Yes I did and no it isn't difficult.
Yes, selective blur is also easy.
I'd recommend Elements in your position.

Sounds good, Elements goes to the top of a quickly growing list of ways to empty my bank account. I'ts really not very expensive though.

Yep

FWIW I think this is worth the effort.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll have another shot at it tomorrow.

[ScoutR]

That's the time to remind yourself how you felt when you started out, walk away from it for a while, do something else, maybe even undo all that you've done up to that point and ask what it is that you're trying to achieve. But don't forget that feeling of 'this is good' that you started with.

Thanks Donald: That sounds like very good advice. Thank you for the encouragement. I did like this one when I started, so I will stick with that feeling, leave it alone for awhile and then go back at it with a fresh eye and more patience. and see if I can fix it up a bit.

Wendy

[Benboxer]

I love the black and white! The absence of color, especially the warm colors of the posts, pulls my eye through the photo. Also, compressing it with your telephoto unifies the composition.

[ScoutR]

Thank you for the feedback Ben. I kind of like the black and white too. I'm still fighting with this one. I know I got the exposure wrong for snow, and that's why it came out so blue in the original. However, I did some reading last night and checked out some before and after shots on the internet. Almost every time I liked the before shot better. I guess I just don't like bright white snow. I get to see too much of it.

The black and white kind of solves the blue issue, of course now it's a grey issue but.... sigh, at least I think I'm making progress on some things.

Thanks again for the kind feedback.

Wendy

[Colin Southern]

I know I got the exposure wrong for snow, and that's why it came out so blue in the original.

Hi Wendy,

The exposure won't have directly affected the colour of the snow in a shot like this -- it's probably just the automatic white balance of your camera getting it a bit wrong, which is quite normal.

The joy of shooting RAW is that you can fix it with one click in ACR - or use the WB / Tint sliders to make it any colour you want

By the way - snow usually under-exposes - so you don't normally need to worry about blown highlights unless there's specular highlights (areas of direct reflaction).