Another - best friend and horse - C&C welcomed

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

the background should have received a bit more fill light

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I wouldn't go in this direction because I think the actual rendition is offering
beautiful contrasty separation… had it been a darker horse I possibly would.

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or perhaps added during post processing; although doing so afterward could only add visible noise.

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Yep, you surely got that one right!

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Kodiak, Nice edit.

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Kim is all worth it! She's doing great progress.

Wow, what a wonderful surprise to wake up to all these comments! Thanks so much everyone! Appreciate all the feedback, and those willing to demonstrate possible changes - helps me, as well as others who view this site.

I didn't see that tilt until it was mentioned. Still training eyes. Daniel, I would like to enlarge this one for her -- how did you fix that so perfectly?

My friend was looking for a more formal shot, and she is a fan of the dark background. Daniel's comment about the background was correct. Also, this barn is empty, with the exception of birds, so believe me, you wouldn't want to see the floor and walls ;-)

I do have a number of great images from this day -- just haven't worked on them as I switched over to an iMac and time has been tight. For those looking for a more intimate connection between the two, when I process one, I will share.

Off to work -- thanks again for all the input!!

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Originally Posted by KimC

…how did you fix that so perfectly?

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…flattery will get you nowhere! ;-)

As I said, this may look spectacular to you but believe me, it is not perfect!
How I did it could be simple or difficult… all depending on you PP skills.

Kim,

One way to create the extra space at the bottom that is needed after the tilt is corrected is to first increase the canvas size at the bottom of the image. Doing so increases the number of pixels on the long side by adding them only to the bottom. You can then clone to add the dirt to the new area at the bottom.

Depending on the software you are using, it may or may not be able to increase the canvas size. You might want to conduct a search of "canvas" in the Help area of your software.

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Originally Posted by Shadowman

Daniel,

Did you use a NIK ColorEfex filter on this image?

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No I didn't. I just played around with the blacks, whites, shadows and clarity in Lightroom. Perhaps I overdid it with the blacks.

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Originally Posted by Kodiak

…flattery will get you nowhere! ;-)

As I said, this may look spectacular to you but believe me, it is not perfect!
How I did it could be simple or difficult… all depending on you PP skills.

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Perfection is in the eye of the beholder Daniel :-)

That would prob mean difficult in my case (since I started shooting RAW I have been using LR rather than PP) but someday, that will not hold true...

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Originally Posted by Mike Buckley

Kim,

One way to create the extra space at the bottom that is needed after the tilt is corrected is to first increase the canvas size at the bottom of the image. Doing so increases the number of pixels on the long side by adding them only to the bottom. You can then clone to add the dirt to the new area at the bottom.

Depending on the software you are using, it may or may not be able to increase the canvas size. You might want to conduct a search of "canvas" in the Help area of your software.

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Thanks Mike, I may have to give this a whirl at lunch time.

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Originally Posted by KimC

Perfection is in the eye of the beholder Daniel :-)

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One point for you.

You can use Lightroom to expand the canvas and do the cloning. However, my advice may have been misleading in that you will want to increase the canvas size first. Err on the side of adding too much space because it's so easy to crop later. Then correct the tilt. Then clone to fill the added canvas space with the ground. Crop at the bottom if you end up with more space there than is ideal.

EDIT: My next post explains that this post is in error.

Sorry, but I was wrong about the capability in Lightroom to expand the canvas size. I looked too quickly at a tutorial that said only in the fine print at the bottom that it applies only to Photoshop. Considering that Lightroom is not a pixel editor, I was wondering how it could be used to change the canvas size. What makes it even more confusing is that Lightroom's official name is Photoshop Lightroom. Sheesh!

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Originally Posted by truonda

No I didn't. I just played around with the blacks, whites, shadows and clarity in Lightroom. Perhaps I overdid it with the blacks.

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I wondered because NIK software has a bleached bypass filter which would render a portrait almost like how you processed your edit.

May I ask why Truonda's crop doesn't work. Is it because the whole image itself is nicer ? I didn't say that the crop is better than the first image in my previous post but I think the connection between the horse and its owner can be seen better in the crop version. So I wonder if the crop version is a good composition on its own or not. I would be happy to hear about this from more experienced people, so that I could learn more. Thanks in advance :)

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

May I ask why Truonda's crop doesn't work.

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It works fine for me. However, I give the original composition the slight edge. That's because the crop doesn't do anything for me to improve the image. The original shows the entire horse in nice light, showing off its beauty in the legs and tail that are eliminated in the cropped version.

I don't mind the crop. Personally I found the clarity and added blacks much too harsh... being a woman the same age as my friend, I don't find that it's flattering.

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

May I ask why Truonda's crop doesn't work. Is it because the whole image itself is nicer ? I didn't say that the crop is better than the first image in my previous post but I think the connection between the horse and its owner can be seen better in the crop version. So I wonder if the crop version is a good composition on its own or not. I would be happy to hear about this from more experienced people, so that I could learn more. Thanks in advance :)

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Binnur, the crop itself works (disregarding the very unflattering PP) but not as an improvement to the original image.

I can not see any way that the crop enhances connection between human and horse. To me there is a far greater connection in the original that shows the statuesque form of both subjects emphasising the owners pride.

Grahame

Hi again Kim :) My question wasn't about the post processing of the crop, I don't like the PP of the crop version either. Sorry for not being clear enough about the question, it was about the composition.

"Not as good in the new photo: connection between rider and horse, exposure (about 1/2 stop underexposed), tilted a little to the right."

I agree about the tilt; however, I love the exposure of this one. The previous image, the horse's face was overexposed and you could not see the color on the forehead. This one really shows the colors beautifully.

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Originally Posted by Mike Buckley

Am I the only one who is also going to stick up for the horse?

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:D

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

May I ask why Truonda's crop doesn't work.

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First, the horse being larger than the person in the full frame, in the crop
version the horse becomes overwhelmingly present in the scene.
Second, the full frame version is amply showing the elegance of both subject
and less their relative maturity.

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

Is it because the whole image itself is nicer?

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Yes! The full frame exploits the potential theatrical character of both actors
by placing them in front of a "black curtain" where both figures are clearly
defined from the background.

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

I didn't say that the crop is better than the first image in my previous post but I think the connection between the horse and its owner can be seen better in the crop version.

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Grahame stated:"I can not see any way that the crop enhances connection
between human and horse. To me there is a far greater connection in the
original that shows the statuesque form of both subjects emphasising the
owners pride." I could not have said it better!

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Originally Posted by bnnrcn

So I wonder if the crop version is a good composition on its own or not. I would be happy to hear about this from more experienced people:)

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I said somewhere in an other post "the best composition IS the crop factor!"

Considering the purpose of this photograph, what Kim wanted to convey,
her motivation, and the final use of the image… No, the crop version is not
a good composition on its own.

…that is, if I count among the "more experienced people"