Fully opened rose shot to the right and mooded up in pp (sort of)

[JBW]

the histogram was really good when I started pp. But as I adjusted the background it moved to the left a bit. Just for the heck of it I even included a water mark which with any luck no one will notice. I did the shooting at dusk in natural light with ISO set at 1600 if memory serves so there is a bit of grain.

[Shadowman]

Now I'm obsessed with finding the watermark. Nicely captured and hidden.

[Manfred M]

Brian - looks fine to me (with the usual caveats).

I'm fairly sure that we have had this discussion before. You like "moody" lighting in your images and you are essentially trying to fake that with PP. Therein lies the problem - when you try to fake it, you end up with an underexposed image that really doesn't look right. Underexposed is underexposed and looks it.

There is a technique that does work, but it only works under certain limited circumstances, none of which apply to these types of shots because of the space constraints your are working under. The technique tends to be reserved for portraits, but, there is no reason that it can't work for other imagery.

These shots are done later in the day, when the sun is setting and the background is getting darker. Fill light is used to illuminate the subject(s), and the inverse square law ensures that the light drops off quickly, so things in the background are dark. There is a "cheat" that is used in this kind of photography. A neutral density filter is fit over the lens to darken the whole image and enough light is pumped in via flash (high powered studio lights, not a Speedlight) to expose the subject correctly.

You've almost got that setup in this shot (if the railings(?) were not in the shot.

[JBW]

Now I'm obsessed with finding the watermark. Nicely captured and hidden.

okay a small hint. On my blog my pen name is 'The Old Man'. I Used the initials in upper case.

[JBW]

Brian - looks fine to me (with the usual caveats).

I'm fairly sure that we have had this discussion before. You like "moody" lighting in your images and you are essentially trying to fake that with PP. Therein lies the problem - when you try to fake it, you end up with an underexposed image that really doesn't look right. Underexposed is underexposed and looks it.

There is a technique that does work, but it only works under certain limited circumstances, none of which apply to these types of shots because of the space constraints your are working under. The technique tends to be reserved for portraits, but, there is no reason that it can't work for other imagery.

These shots are done later in the day, when the sun is setting and the background is getting darker. Fill light is used to illuminate the subject(s), and the inverse square law ensures that the light drops off quickly, so things in the background are dark. There is a "cheat" that is used in this kind of photography. A neutral density filter is fit over the lens to darken the whole image and enough light is pumped in via flash (high powered studio lights, not a Speedlight) to expose the subject correctly.

You've almost got that setup in this shot (if the railings(?) were not in the shot.

the 'railings' are the stem of a 'Giant Bird of Paradise' . I will work on shooting to the left. It seems a useful skill.