A view of Canberra

[Camellia]

I'm looking for feedback on this photo. I've done some PP to it to make it pop. Does the image work for you? I can't judge because I see this view regularly. To me, it's a standard shot of Canberra. Do the colours look ok? Is there any PP that could improve it?

Thanks!

[carregwen]

Raylee

There seems to me to be a slight blueish haze over the hillside trees. Is that just the weather conditions? I think with a symmetry shot such as this you ought to have that cupola dead-centre - at the moment it's slightly to the left so needs a bit cropped from the right side. What PP did you do? Do you want to post a RAW file of it? http://uploading.com/signup/

[Camellia]

IMG_0894.CR2 - 18.1 MB

Thanks Rob. Hopefully this works. I think the blue haze is caused by the gum trees. Peter might be able to help me out here.


Should I be able to see the raw image here? [IMG]<a href="http://uploading.com/files/aae7m4da/IMG_0894.CR2/">IMG_0894.CR2 - 18.1 MB</a>[/IMG]

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Raylee,

Yes you can get a bluish haze from evaporation of eucalypt oil from the gum leaves but I do think that there is a slight bluish tone here that has a little more to do with the white balance. I find my Nikon shoots slightly cool on WB auto (around 200 MIR (MIR being part of the Kelvin scale). I normally have to add slight warmth to most shots.

My main concern really is not the colour but I find that the mountain is the main subject and it is pretty uninteresting. If I do find the building in the centre I find the second building on the left competes for my interest so I am not sure what I am looking at. I think the shot here is the building in the centre with the flying objects either side. You can also use the seats or whatever on the grass in the foreground on the other side of the lake that leads up to the steps, etc. Cropping in so close will also remove most of the mountain and sky leaving your main subject.

[Camellia]

Thanks Peter. I've had a go at cropping and increasing the temperature a bit.

[Donald]

Thanks Peter. I've had a go at cropping and increasing the temperature a bit.

That's a far, far better image. I'd still lose the bit of roadway/pathway at the bottom.

[russellsnr]

HI. I like the image except one thing for me and that is the pylon (if that what it is) on top of the hill sorry but it looks out of place. JMO

[Camellia]

Donald

Have I cropped enough of the lake?

[Donald]

Have I cropped enough of the lake?

Lake? Aahh! Oops! Sorry.

I'm asking myself what it adds to the image. For me (and remember, it's only one opinion), it distracts. If I scroll my browser window down to hide it, so that the bottom of the image is the start of the grass just at the edge of the lake, then, I think, much more attention is thrown onto the buildings/structures and the hill behind them.

[Camellia]

Lake? Aahh! Oops! Sorry.

I'm asking myself what it adds to the image. For me (and remember, it's only one opinion), it distracts. If I scroll my browser window down to hide it, so that the bottom of the image is the start of the grass just at the edge of the lake, then, I think, much more attention is thrown onto the buildings/structures and the hill behind them.

I see what you mean Donald but I think it does add context. Our lake is man-made. Not like the lochs in Scotland. To quote The Police (Sting) in Synchronicity 2:

'Many miles away
Something crawls to the surface
Of a dark Scottish loch'

We don't have anything like Nessie but there were books available during my childhood about Alexander the Bunyip who ate Canberra. I loved those books.

[carregwen]

Raylee

Thank you for the RAW link

This is the best I could do. I used the grad tool in RAW to darken the sky a bit, then used the tone curve tool to try and get some contrast back in. I think it looks less blue, but it's still there.

[Camellia]

Raylee

Thank you for the RAW link

This is the best I could do. I used the grad tool in RAW to darken the sky a bit, then used the tone curve tool to try and get some contrast back in. I think it looks less blue, but it's still there.

Thanks Rob

I can see that as a tourist ad for Canberra! Come to the National Capital! And you've cropped the lake off as Donald suggested - interesting.

I find it a bit hard to get excited about the scenery I see everyday but I know to other people it's interesting. Something new. Thanks for the advice.

[carregwen]

I can see that as a tourist ad for Canberra! Come to the National Capital!

Lol! Perhaps you have found your metier in life - a tourist guide-book photographer.

[Camellia]

Lol! Perhaps you have found your metier in life - a tourist guide-book photographer.

Go away!

[carregwen]

Go away!

Well, at least you have found yours - I'm still looking after 58 years...

[Benjy]

Hi Camellia,is this what you mean,taken yesterday 5 minutes from Loch Lomond Scotland?

[Camellia]

Hi Camellia,is this what you mean,taken yesterday 5 minutes from Loch Lomond Scotland?

That's hilarious! I'm in love with Scotland.

[Benjy]

photo taken yesterday...covered in snow today..Brrrr

That's hilarious! I'm in love with Scotland.

[Dave Humphries]

Raylee

Thank you for the RAW link

This is the best I could do. I used the grad tool in RAW to darken the sky a bit, then used the tone curve tool to try and get some contrast back in. I think it looks less blue, but it's still there.

Hi Rob, Raylee,

This is better, but I think it still looks a bit flat.

Unfortunately, with a public link to the RAW file; "the daily limit has been exceeded" is all I get now, so I can't see what's (im)possible for myself

I think the portrait crop is one way to go, but sadly it loses the nice blue speckled sky that you captured. I like the compressed effect on the street lamps giving lead in lines to the centre and the added detail there, such a shot (zoomed in) would also have been worth taking from where you were. Hindsight is wonderful

Cheers,

[Camellia]

Hi Rob, Raylee,

This is better, but I think it still looks a bit flat.

Unfortunately, with a public link to the RAW file; "the daily limit has been exceeded" is all I get now, so I can't see what's (im)possible for myself

I think the portrait crop is one way to go, but sadly it loses the nice blue speckled sky that you captured. I like the compressed effect on the street lamps giving lead in lines to the centre and the added detail there, such a shot (zoomed in) would also have been worth taking from where you were. Hindsight is wonderful

Cheers,

Maybe I need to go out tomorrow with the camera?