Buildings and flower centers for C&C please...

[IzzieK]

1. I think this is a nice building but I do not know how to make it better so I experimented putting vignette around it...



2. Experiment on Black and White: I want to know how I did here. I use Silver FX for the first time here...the bird was incidental here. I did not see him until after I processed my image.



3. This flower is supposed to be subtle pink but I like the effect when I first saw it. I think it is nice....



4. And this purple flower is my favourite...Sorry members who do not like flowers. I need to satisfy my own needs too...



This are it for this week which was supposed to be last week's submission. I was late because of my eyelid operation. It had only been two days that I felt better so I did some pp last night and I am not sure if I did well in these...

Thank you all for looking and commenting and I'd truly appreciate any feedback so I can improve my images.

[Stagecoach]

Nice set Izzie and I have no problems with flowers. I found the bird in No 2 finally, but No 4's my favourite.

What I can tell you is they all look awful on this rubbish laptop thingy I'm using but everything else does as well

Grahame

[Geoff F]

Personally, Izzie, I'm rarely keen on vignettes; and particularly on landscapes etc. It does emphasise the building but at the expense of looking unnatural. Depends, I suppose, on what was your intention.

#2 is fine, although I wonder if it would have been possible to show more steps? Maybe with a 4 x 5 ratio. But it doesn't really matter if you had to avoid something unwanted in the scene.

The yellows in #3 are fractionally over exposed but nothing to really worry about and so difficult to avoid - as I know from too much personal experience.

The last one is potentially excellent but there is a problem with an over bright area in the centre. Probably not a lot can be done with that area now. It is something which could have been changed so easily at the time of shooting, but I spend a lot of time on my flower backgrounds and still miss obvious problems!

I do find that tripod shooting makes all the difference in spotting potential problems like this. It gives me time to stop and think, while carefully looking all around the scene before pressing the shutter. Then reviewing the shot, noticing something wrong, doing a bit more pro shoot gardening and shooting again. Sometimes I take 10 or more failed shots before getting something which I find acceptable. But too often I still fail to spot a problem until I'm looking at my computer screen.

[Shadowman]

1. The vignette is fine but I would crop closer and eliminate most of the gate.
2. Conversion is okay but image lacks tonality of the building, the shadows areas are fine but could be adjusted a bit.
3. Not very vibrant, looks soft.
4. Nicely done.

[Rita]

Hi Izzie, I couple of thoughts on #1. If it is possible to reshoot this one, or if you have another version of it, it would be nice to see the entire gate and path leading to the building with the building less centered. In regards to the vignette, if you really want it there is it possible to make it a little less obvious. Just my thoughts. By the way it is really nice seeing you posting more images lately

[Barbara Ponder]

Izzie I like #4 best and #2 although I think it might be a tad bit dark. To me #1 looks like the top the building is floating and needs more of the bottom of the building to "ground" it. #3 seems a little soft but I like the idea of it.

I did not know you were having eye surgery. I hope you recover quickly!

[ied]

Izzie, I can't offer any CC but I'm learning from what is being shared by others.
Having said that, I do like the last one. But then I love purple . Now this I would
suggest and maybe I'm wrong but how about cloning out the light coloured splashes.
The one below the flower and in the upper right does draw the eye.

Irene

[IzzieK]

Sorry Grahame...I can understand the laptop thingie problem...but it is a good tool to communicate at least...

Nice set Izzie and I have no problems with flowers. I found the bird in No 2 finally, but No 4's my favourite.

What I can tell you is they all look awful on this rubbish laptop thingy I'm using but everything else does as well

Grahame

[IzzieK]

Personally, Izzie, I'm rarely keen on vignettes; and particularly on landscapes etc. It does emphasise the building but at the expense of looking unnatural. Depends, I suppose, on what was your intention.

Me too, I have not done any much lately because I like pure images pure at the sides but I had done a lot of PP in this image, I'd like to emphasize the building itself. Here is the original which I just cropped to size for uploading:

#2 is fine, although I wonder if it would have been possible to show more steps? Maybe with a 4 x 5 ratio. But it doesn't really matter if you had to avoid something unwanted in the scene.

Not really...I just thought I would imitate a DubaiPhil image of his entrance door submission made in Black and White. That is why I was asking...here's the original shot...what can I do to improve this one? It is also the first time I used Silver FX on Nik's software...

The yellows in #3 are fractionally over exposed but nothing to really worry about and so difficult to avoid - as I know from too much personal experience.

The last one is potentially excellent but there is a problem with an over bright area in the centre. Probably not a lot can be done with that area now. It is something which could have been changed so easily at the time of shooting, but I spend a lot of time on my flower backgrounds and still miss obvious problems!

I honestly did not see that one coming, but I tried to edit it this morning and I do not think I did a good job not looking at my options there for a while...here is a redo. Tell me what you think...

I do find that tripod shooting makes all the difference in spotting potential problems like this. It gives me time to stop and think, while carefully looking all around the scene before pressing the shutter. Then reviewing the shot, noticing something wrong, doing a bit more pro shoot gardening and shooting again. Sometimes I take 10 or more failed shots before getting something which I find acceptable. But too often I still fail to spot a problem until I'm looking at my computer screen.

I agree with you on that point...but at the time I was so rushed to being dragged out of the house that day, I decided on one camera just for the heck of it and use it as it came...after my trip, disappointed as I was on some of the results because I did not have a wide angle lens with me, I decided to pack up my backpack and put all three cameras there with each lens I might need to use...and another little bag for accessories like cleaning brush and all that. I have also made ready my tripods whichever one will suit. I will be ready for tomorrow's shoot I am sure. If I ended up with rubbish shots, I have only me to blame anyway...

Thank you for looking and commenting. I do appreciate it very much.

[IzzieK]

1. The vignette is fine but I would crop closer and eliminate most of the gate.
2. Conversion is okay but image lacks tonality of the building, the shadows areas are fine but could be adjusted a bit.
3. Not very vibrant, looks soft.
4. Nicely done.

Thank you John for looking and the feedback. I do appreciate it very much.

[IzzieK]

Hi Izzie, I couple of thoughts on #1. If it is possible to reshoot this one, or if you have another version of it, it would be nice to see the entire gate and path leading to the building with the building less centered. In regards to the vignette, if you really want it there is it possible to make it a little less obvious. Just my thoughts. By the way it is really nice seeing you posting more images lately

Sorry Rita, no re-shoots. I have a full schedule this week and my outing for tomorrow is already made up yesterday as we only have two days of sunshine this week and the rest is rain, rain, rain until Monday...today my eye surgeon (btw, he looks like a model for Men's Warehouse in a scrub suit...) will remove the embroidery he sew in my eyelid...I kinda like the stitches there myself...it is bad enough having that operation, tomorrow I can test my eyesight more...as I had said earlier, I was dragged to get out of the house so I was very, very unprepared. I had uploaded some of the original shots in my response to Geoff...

Thank you for the feedback, I truly appreciate it very much...

[IzzieK]

Izzie I like #4 best and #2 although I think it might be a tad bit dark. To me #1 looks like the top the building is floating and needs more of the bottom of the building to "ground" it. #3 seems a little soft but I like the idea of it.

I did not know you were having eye surgery. I hope you recover quickly!

I HAD eye surgery, just a cosmetic one on my left eyelid. Nothing to it...my optometrist call it ptosis but I guess most people have uneven eyes, one is smaller than the other or something. If you ever need to have yours done, Medicare covers it but you have to see your optometrist first for the referral.

Anywho, I had uploaded two originals in my response to Geoff. Take a look and tell me how I can improve on it more...thanks for the feedback and comment. Truly appreciate it very much...

[IzzieK]

Thanks Irene ... this Project 52 thing is quite addictive...it makes me go out and do something with my camera and have some thoughts on where to go and what to photograph, look at some events and stuffs though I'd rather go it alone than in with other people...I do not title mine Project 52 but I do submit some shots every week from the first week...it is really very motivating once I got started. I had submitted an update of the purple flower in my response to Geoff..

Thank you for the feedback, mate...I do appreciate it very much.

Izzie, I can't offer any CC but I'm learning from what is being shared by others.
Having said that, I do like the last one. But then I love purple . Now this I would
suggest and maybe I'm wrong but how about cloning out the light coloured splashes.
The one below the flower and in the upper right does draw the eye.

Irene

[Benjy]

One and four for me Izzie,well done...

[chauncey]

Izzie, that there purple flower (what is it?) deserves more attention from a reshoot.

[rachel]

I love flower centres. Flowers that at first glance look identical can have completely different patterns inside, a bit like fingerprints.

[JohnRostron]

These are all nice shots, but I would add:

#1 I prefer the version without the vignette.
#2 I prefer the coloured version. Like Grahame, I eventually found the bird. I was distracted by what looked like a squirrel perched on the chain.
#3 is my favourite, just as it is. I think the colour looks just right.
#4 is improved by the cloning. You only notice it because you are looking for it.

John

[flashback]

Hi Izzie,
For me it's #4, looks like a happy flower. One suggestion is to tone down or clone out the burned out highlights on the pedal (at about 2 o'clock). [Oops - I just saw that someone else pointed it out and you already took care of it, looks great!]

I'm not a fan of vignettes, unless you're going for that old timey look. I know the argument is to 'direct the eye' but my eye doesn't work that way.

Your B&W conversion doesn't look too bad, you should shoot more often for conversions.

The building doesn't really work for me as you can't really see it. It's more of a garden shot than anything.
Anymore birdy shots?

[bnnrcn]

Hi Isabel IMO #1 looks better without a vignette. I prefer the color version of #2. #4 looks better after cloning. I also like #3 but the reds in the middle are too strong and they distract, I would reduce the saturation on them.

[Rita]

izzie, hope you don't mind but I had a little play with your image. I used Nik detail enhancer to bring out the sky more and removed the effect from the rest of the image. Played with brightness & contrast on the building and then sharpened the image using high pass filter. Don.t know if you will like it or not but thought I would post for you.