Stairs

[Tony M]

The entrance stairs to the art gallery whose stairwell I previously photographed is different in style but equally interesting. Digital PP tools such as Color Efex Pro, Viveza and Topaz Clarity offer so many ways to process it that I had to restrain myself from employing their more radical effects. In the end I applied a gentle contrast in Topaz Clarity.

The challenge in taking this photo was composing it so that unwanted objects around the edges did not appear, especially at the top of the stairs where there was the handrail and a bookshop in the background. The instinct with a wide-angle lens is to take in as much as possible; however, I had to sacrifice some of the subject at the right side of the frame in order to keep the edges clean.

Comments and criticisms are of course welcome.


1/20s, f/4, ISO 400, 23mm, Canon 6D, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Sam W]

Well done as always. How would you compare Topaz Clarity with LR's clarity tool?

[rpcrowe]

I really like this image and I think that the composition is really great!

I am guessing that the Topaz Clarity Slider is a bit (or very much) like the structure slider in NIK Viveza. I increased the structure globally 40% using Viveza and this is what I ended up with..

[Tony M]

I really like this image and I think that the composition is really great!

I am guessing that the Topaz Clarity Slider is a bit (or very much) like the structure slider in NIK Viveza. I increased the structure globally 40% using Viveza and this is what I ended up with..

Richard, I also have Viveza, and will spend more time with it to compare it to Topaz Clarity; I haven't used either for very long. The increase in structure that you did is very nice, and I also had done the same. But when comparing against the original (after sharpening with Photoshop's smart sharpen tool), I decided to be conservative.

With these kinds of PP, I need to leave the image alone for a while and dwell on it before deciding how I want the final result to look.

Thanks for posting your version, as it serves as a vote for pushing the structure a bit more.

Tony

[IzzieK]

Maybe being a bit more gentle in the structure slider in Viveza is better as the softness of the first image is more better than the vivid noticeable structure used in Viveza. Good to see the differences ... comparably, the softness of the steps is akin to looking at smoothing water in an ocean or similar. I am not a fan of milky water but in this image, the smoothness of the steps is actually beautifully detailed enough. The composition rocks!

[bnnrcn]

Very nice composition

[Wavelength]

Oh, i lost myself....

[Mike Buckley]

Aside from your comments about the difficult of composing the image due to THE bookstore, this composition strikes me as both very effective and still very difficult. It's effectiveness might make it seem like it was easy to make, but I know better. You made a very complex set of lines and angles come together in a way that is both pleasing and makes it easy to appreciate the three-dimensional nature of the scene.

[Tony M]

Thanks to you all for your comments. I have just been using the Topaz Clarity tool again on the original image (after sharpening), and it is indeed quite powerful. It has much finer-grained control over structure than Lightroom and Nik Viveza (unless I haven't learned its full capabilities).

In the end I have decided on smoother steps, while increasing structure in the high-contrast areas. Like Izzie, I prefer this effect. I also reduced the highlights in Topaz Clarity, as I had unwittingly blown them during my last PP. (I found the histogram tool in TC today )

Below is the result. And below that is a screen-shot of the Topaz Clarity settings that I used, to give you an idea of what it can do.





Tony

[IzzieK]

I like this last edit Tony...the change is more subtle in colour and smoothness + add the toning which makes it stand out more and not slippery-like. Oh so beautiful rendition! These three versions are like music chords...well, not really but I like to think of it that way.

Thanks to you all for your comments. I have just been using the Topaz Clarity tool again on the original image (after sharpening), and it is indeed quite powerful. It has much finer-grained control over structure than Lightroom and Nik Viveza (unless I haven't learned its full capabilities).

In the end I have decided on smoother steps, while increasing structure in the high-contrast areas. Like Izzie, I prefer this effect. I also reduced the highlights in Topaz Clarity, as I had unwittingly blown them during my last PP. (I found the histogram tool in TC today )

Below is the result. And below that is a screen-shot of the Topaz Clarity settings that I used, to give you an idea of what it can do.





Tony

[Rebel]

I love this Tony, well done!

[mugge]

I love the last edit. This is a picture you could come back to later. There are so many lines and angles to play with. Please do it again. Great shot.
Cheers Ole