Typical Tourist Snapshot

[FrankMi]

Although this is a typical tourist snapshot, I tried to follow as many of the rules of composition and post processing that I thought might apply to see if that could make a significant difference.

Level the horizon. Get something interesting in the foreground (underwater rocks and sand), middle ground (ship). and background (clouds). Check the shooting basics (exposure, sharpness, DoF, white balance, rule of thirds, etc.).

Then, unless there is time to wait for weather, sun position, and so forth, there is Lady Luck. Position of the sun, direction and velocity of the wind, type of clouds in the sky, interesting activities occurring, sun glare off the sea onto the bow, the random buoy positioned 'just so'....

Do what we can in post processing (de-noise, capture sharpening, global adjustments, layers and masking for object specific adjustments, cropping, and output sharpening).

So the question is, how did we do?





And more importantly, what and how can we improve??

[Digital]

Frank, nice photo.


Bruce

[flashback]

Frank,
We can judge better if you were to post the image SOOC. Otherwise, looks like a campaign ad photo for a cruise line.

[FrankMi]

Thank you for the feedback Bruce.

Frank,
We can judge better if you were to post the image SOOC. Otherwise, looks like a campaign ad photo for a cruise line.

Sure thing Jack! Here is the SOOC reduced in size and output sharpened so that it'll fit Tinypic requirements for posting. Feel free to play with it and repost if you wish.

[Manfred M]

Actually it doesn't look anything like tourist snapshot; the horizon is level, the ship is more than a tiny spec on the horizon, the exposure is on and so is the white balance.

You are going to have to do better if you want us to think that this is a tourist snapshot Frank...

[rpcrowe]

Hi Frank,
Although I don't enjoy cruising (I found that out during my Greek Islands Cruise this summer) I do think that cruise ships, especially the more modern ones are absolutely beautiful vessels. This is a beautiful image of a great looking ship and could be used on the line's brochures...
I did a little playing with the image.
I used Viveza II and placed control points on the blue skies and used these control points to reduce the brightness of the sky, leaving the clouds white. I also increase the structure of the sky which further served to accentuate the white clouds and separate the ship from the sky.
I did the same with the water, placing several control points and reducing the brightness just a bit and increasing the structure.
This editing gives the appearance of increasing the overall contrast of the ship against the sky and water but, doesn't touch the ship itself.
Here is my version. I might also think about a smidgen of a closer crop but, I wanted to show you the entire sky and water after PP in NIK Viveza II...

[bnnrcn]

how did you get this shot so close Frank?were you also in another boat or did you use a specific lens to get the shot and then crop it?I can see something at the top right corner of the uncropped one,so I suppose that is where you were standing.

Anyway,I like your photo,so plain and clean and meaningful:-)

[royphot]

It is a nice clean shot, but I must disagree with you about Modern Cruise Ships. Compared to the likes of QEII they are ugly. They are more like Blocks of Flats (Apartment Blocks) laid on their side.

[rpcrowe]

how did you get this shot so close Frank?

It's wonderful what can be done with a Nikonos camera and a pair of swim fins

[Mike Buckley]

Although this is a typical tourist snapshot

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Not at all typical. Far too good to be typical.

However, it does look like a typical postcard image. For a more natural look in the sky and water, back off on the saturation and whatever you did to that part of the processing. I think the same of Richard's version.

[Shadowman]

Tourist shots are the best, when friends view images from your trip you have to have a few of those sprinkled amongst your collection. Image looks good, if you had a longer lens I would have isolated a few sections of the liner, such as the boats or cabin sections.

[Wavelength]

It is not your camera, not the concept of your image, not composition etc etc that makes your image snapshot or otherwise; it is your attitude at the time click. Even a great mathematician will have to accept 3 + 4 = 7. A simple shot is not a snapshot. I like the edited image very much

[FrankMi]

Actually it doesn't look anything like tourist snapshot; the horizon is level, the ship is more than a tiny spec on the horizon, the exposure is on and so is the white balance.

You are going to have to do better if you want us to think that this is a tourist snapshot Frank...

Dang Manfred! I see what you mean but now I'll have to find a way to afford another cruise so that I can apply your suggestions. Oh well, I guess it's a labor of love of photography and somebody has to do it!

[FrankMi]

Hi Frank,
Although I don't enjoy cruising (I found that out during my Greek Islands Cruise this summer) I do think that cruise ships, especially the more modern ones are absolutely beautiful vessels. This is a beautiful image of a great looking ship and could be used on the line's brochures...
I did a little playing with the image.
I used Viveza II and placed control points on the blue skies and used these control points to reduce the brightness of the sky, leaving the clouds white. I also increase the structure of the sky which further served to accentuate the white clouds and separate the ship from the sky.
I did the same with the water, placing several control points and reducing the brightness just a bit and increasing the structure.
This editing gives the appearance of increasing the overall contrast of the ship against the sky and water but, doesn't touch the ship itself.
Here is my version. I might also think about a smidgen of a closer crop but, I wanted to show you the entire sky and water after PP in NIK Viveza II...

Thank you for taking the time to have a go at this Richard. The richer blues are one of the most noticeable differences between the SOOC and the PP images.

Although I don't use Vivwza II, I'm certain that this will be a great encouragement to those that do or are considering obtaining the product. More so, I hope that this is an encouragement to those that are thinking about getting their feet wet with post processing, regardless of the product used.

[FrankMi]

how did you get this shot so close Frank?were you also in another boat or did you use a specific lens to get the shot and then crop it?I can see something at the top right corner of the uncropped one,so I suppose that is where you were standing.

Anyway,I like your photo,so plain and clean and meaningful:-)

Hi Binnur, I was on a low dock (quite close to the water) and using the Canon SX40HS at 90mm (FFE). The item you see in the upper right corner was part of the dock. The ship was anchored offshore.

Thank you for the encouragement!

[FrankMi]

It is a nice clean shot, but I must disagree with you about Modern Cruise Ships. Compared to the likes of QEII they are ugly. They are more like Blocks of Flats (Apartment Blocks) laid on their side.

Thank you for looking and posting comment Roy.

[FrankMi]

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Not at all typical. Far too good to be typical.

However, it does look like a typical postcard image. For a more natural look in the sky and water, back off on the saturation and whatever you did to that part of the processing. I think the same of Richard's version.

Thank you very much for your views Mike. I sometimes prefer to produce views that lean a tad toward Art for the sake of the pure enjoyment and a little less stark of the strictly photojournalistic view. Both approaches are appreciated though. It just depends on the specific image for which one I feel more at home with at the time!

[Bobobird]

Suffice to say, there is never anything "typical" in the shots you put up.

[FrankMi]

Tourist shots are the best, when friends view images from your trip you have to have a few of those sprinkled amongst your collection. Image looks good, if you had a longer lens I would have isolated a few sections of the liner, such as the boats or cabin sections.

Hi John, with the SX40 I could have zoomed into 840mm (FFE) for ship detail and have on occasion. Unfortunately, I haven't yet got a zoomed-in broadside ship image that I felt was worthy to present before this fine group of viewers!

On the other hand, I have photographed exterior portions of this ship from other viewpoints. If you take a look at the bolded link you may just be able to see what part of this ship was involved.

[FrankMi]

It is not your camera, not your image, not composition etc etc that makes your image snapshot or otherwise; it is your attitude at the time click. Even a great mathematician will have to accept 3 + 4 = 7. A simple shot is not a snapshot. I like the edited image very much

Thank you very much Nandakumar. A great Attitude is probably one of the most beneficial life-long attributes a person can posses.