Lake Views - Critique please

[dabhand]

Christina,

I wonder if you might have avoided the 'left turn' on the pier had you walked a little further down it - that may also have provided you with a greater view of the lake to reflect that gorgeous sky.

Right now it's cold and raining outside and I'd love to be relaxing there with my fishing gear.

steve

[denisemaine]

Just a quick off topic: reading all the posts in this thread make me glad that I found this site yesterday. All this constructive feedback for any individual photo is great for all involved to learn and grow. Thanks!

[Mike Buckley]

And another quick off-topic post

reading all the posts in this thread make me glad that I found this site yesterday.

Seeing your first posted photo makes us glad that you decided to participate.

[Manfred M]

Hi Christina - I was too busy over the past few days to post my thoughts. You've gotten some great feedback.

First image - too much foreground and background and not enough middle ground. I think both work as compositional elements, but need to be reduced to bring more balance to the shot. I think the idea of the square format works as it achieves this balancing. The second thing that struck me is the lack of "pop" in the colours. I've also used a light vignette to draw the viewe's eye in. This might be a bit heavy-handed for some, but...




Second shot:

Some similar thoughts as on the first image, except that the bench overpowers the rest of the image and it pops out a bit too much. So I brightened the background, toned down the bright bench and lightend the boardwalk. I also found that the image went on a bit too far to the right, so a small crop there. I used a vignette, just like in the first image to bring the viewer's eyes into the image.

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Thank you. That is nice to hear. I tried 3 edits this morning after reading your post, and for some reason I just couldn't manage to get it just right (likely because I need a stronger vision) but here is one version. Increased contrast, black point and adjusted the exposure on the clouds to a middle point between the two versions, and left some sharpening on the sky (normally I don't sharpen the sky at all)



Thank you for your help. Truly appreciated.

You are catching on to this editing stuff pretty well Christina! I like the revised #1 a lot and and have one minor and not absolutely necessary change to suggest. Try to lighten the dark leftmost part of the sky slightly in that image to see if it works for you.

I really like the square crop and I will be very interested to see if others do as well. I do think that you lost some pop in your edit and that could be addressed by adding back some contrast (which will also add some texture to the sky) via an s-curve or by adjusting the black slider to that you get the same lovely pop that you achieved in your first edit.

[Brownbear]

Grahame - Thank you. I always appreciate your feedback. I'm still not sure about the 2nd image except to know that I made it to dark. With time I will figure it out.

Steve - I agree. At the time I was thinking of creating long leading lines. This lake is a wonderful locale for bird photography so I will be visiting this place often throughout the year, and when I do I will try a composition just like you have suggested. Truly appreciated.

Denise - Welcome to Cambridge! That is a lovely capture of a Snowy Owl! Looking right at you! It is a wonderful forum to receive feedback and advice. I've learned a lot since joining, and as you can see - still learning!

[Brownbear]

Hi Manfred,

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide a very helpful critique and include some wonderful examples. I love all the detail you brought out in the first image and also the emphasis on the horizon and reflection. The colours are too strong for me BUT I can see that my colours are too weak.

I like the 2nd version and the colours seem just right. I made that bench too bright in my edit. I will start thinking about exploring the use of vignettes.

Thank you for taking the time! Truly appreciated.

Hi Christina - I was too busy over the past few days to post my thoughts. You've gotten some great feedback.

First image - too much foreground and background and not enough middle ground. I think both work as compositional elements, but need to be reduced to bring more balance to the shot. I think the idea of the square format works as it achieves this balancing. The second thing that struck me is the lack of "pop" in the colours. I've also used a light vignette to draw the viewe's eye in. This might be a bit heavy-handed for some, but...




Second shot:

Some similar thoughts as on the first image, except that the bench overpowers the rest of the image and it pops out a bit too much. So I brightened the background, toned down the bright bench and lightend the boardwalk. I also found that the image went on a bit too far to the right, so a small crop there. I used a vignette, just like in the first image to bring the viewer's eyes into the image.

[Mike Buckley]

Manfred's use of the vignette is perfect; you would never know a vignette was used without him mentioning it but you would know it was missing if it was removed.

[Brownbear]

Yes, indeed. I can't see the vignette at all but I can see a definite difference in the images.

Manfred's use of the vignette is perfect; you would never know a vignette was used without him mentioning it but you would know it was missing if it was removed.

[ShaneS]

Christina, Manfred has given you something to strive for in terms of editing for sure! I do think his is a bit overdone but that is really personal preference. In your edit I think that your increase in exposure has completely removed the detail that is present in the clouds on the first (square crop) image.

To keep it pretty simple try this in Photoshop:

Select the sky portion of the image and create a curves adjustment (mask will show white in the sky portion of the image).
Copy that layer before making any adjustments and invert the mask so the foreground is now white and the sky black.
Adjust each curves layer independently so that the overall image is to your liking.
Then, fiddle with a vignette or gradient to further enhance the sky as needed.
Lastly, show us what you come up with...

[Brownbear]

Yes, indeed he has!

Shane, that was a great exercise that taught me all about the possibilities of clouds and editing them with selective curves. However, it seems that I need to learn exactly what it is I wish to bring out in the clouds, and to do so with more finesse (no clipping, noise, etc). I deleted several of my attempts. This one is still not there but I like this image so I will revisit and work on it some more later.

For me the clouds convey the mood of the scene was a bright and sunny (happy) after several days of rain. I increased the saturation/vibrancy and I also added a vignette which hopefully cannot be seen.




Thank you. I hope that you can see an improvement. If not, then know that I learned a lot from doing this exercise.

Christina, Manfred has given you something to strive for in terms of editing for sure! I do think his is a bit overdone but that is really personal preference. In your edit I think that your increase in exposure has completely removed the detail that is present in the clouds on the first (square crop) image.

To keep it pretty simple try this in Photoshop:

Select the sky portion of the image and create a curves adjustment (mask will show white in the sky portion of the image).
Copy that layer before making any adjustments and invert the mask so the foreground is now white and the sky black.
Adjust each curves layer independently so that the overall image is to your liking.
Then, fiddle with a vignette or gradient to further enhance the sky as needed.
Lastly, show us what you come up with...

[Mike Buckley]

This last version is excellent, Christina. Vibrant without being overcooked.

Mark this for future reference as a fabulous candidate for monochrome. Donald is probably salivating.

[Brownbear]

Thank you so much Mike... Encouraging and very nice to hear.

I will mark it for b&w but I can't imagine why one would wish to make this b&w... However it is very nice to think that Donald might think so, too.

This last version is excellent, Christina. Vibrant without being overcooked.

Mark this for future reference as a fabulous candidate for monochrome. Donald is probably salivating.

[ShaneS]

I can't help with your vision Christina...I'm still trying to find mine I will say that this edit is well done and you have enhanced both the upper and lower portions of the image.

I think that you could be a bit more dramatic with the sky but as you said that can wait for another day and it is really nice as is.

Nice work!

[Brownbear]

I understand that perfectly, and I too, hope to find mine, soon.

When I was working on it I could see all the possibilities for drama in the clouds but I couldn't bring it out with any quality... I will do just that.

Thank you. Truly appreciated!

I can't help with your vision Christina...I'm still trying to find mine I will say that this edit is well done and you have enhanced both the upper and lower portions of the image.

I think that you could be a bit more dramatic with the sky but as you said that can wait for another day and it is really nice as is.

Nice work!

[Mike Buckley]

Manfred has demonstrated very well that more drama can be brought out in the sky. However, despite the common tendency to make dramatic skies, skies such as in this version by Christina are equally nice in my mind (just different). Consider all the wonderful skies in Donald's landscapes that aren't dramatic for evidence of high-quality skies.