Redo Peaceful Nights

[selig1656]

RSF_7983 corrected version by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr
Relooked at the capture and made adjustments I hope this is more acceptable and pleasant to the eyes. Thanks again for the input.

[Geoff F]

My first thoughts about the original image were that there was too much black at the bottom. This version looks much better to me.

[Manfred M]

Raymond - a very marginal improvement over the original. This one still does not do much for me.

[lunarbo]

I feel I am missing something here. This image has 18 faves on flickr and I'm not sure why it is of such appeal. It's a hearse outside a rest home/chapel of rest/private home, right? So rather a sombre topic at the best of times
If you dropped the highlights a tad so that they didn't jump out at us, and lightened the shadows a bit so that the hearse is emphasised as the subject, I believe that would help
I would also remove the bollards and the bright stick in the middle of the hearse, and give it a little clockwise tweak so that the buildings' lines are horizontal.There might be a case made for cropping the window on the extreme left of the image which would then give you symmetry.
That would for me represent a big improvement- but then 18 others might disagree !

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Raymond,

I have not yet seen the original, but here were my thoughts on the post processing I would do if this were my image, you may not agree and that's fine.

1) Level it
2) Re-title it - What is the subject? What are am I trying to convey?
3) Crop so it does not include as much extraneous bright illumination at the edges of frame
4) Downsize it for web viewing full screen, 5833 x 3224 is way too big
5) Localised tonal adjustments (basically brighten the building and vehicle, not the lights, nor the dark background)
6) Remove the white light thing apparent reflected? in the bottom of left hand window
7) Remove the two traffic cones
8) Remove the bright off vertical highlight in centre foreground (post?)
9) Remove a few other visual distractions (a couple more bright reflections and a bit of tree branch)

More on the title - perhaps you're used to seeing this place in busier times, but for the casual viewer with no knowledge of the building or its purpose, it seems meaningless. It just looks like an architectural night shot of the building with a vehicle in the way - and something bright in the centre foreground.
Only when I zoomed in and panned around the vast (and wide) image was I close enough to recognise the vehicle as a hearse, now I can appreciate the building is something relating to 'rest-in-peace' - only now does your title begin to make sense. This is context a casual viewer does not have.

I enjoyed and learnt from the experience of providing these examples of my thoughts, which I will remove if you prefer I not show them, but I hope you and others may find them helpful.

Levelled, cropped and downsized


As above, with most eye-catching distractions spot healed or cloned out.


I believe the crop aids identifying the vehicle and hence helps with the context for the original title.

You can then decide, by flipping between these two versions in LyteBox, whether the 'distraction removal' improves the image enough technically to offset the 'deception' (as some may view it).

I suggest the photo could have been taken when the cones were not there and some of the reflective highlights might have been minimised (with far more time and effort) before the shot was taken.

Please don't feel I am criticising in any way, we have all seen a floodlit building at night and thought what a great shot it would make - and it can, with a bit of extra work to address the issues our naked eye often does not see at the time.

All the best,
Dave

PS EDIT:
I honestly only saw Barbara's reply (which appeared while I was working on the shot) after I had posted.

[lunarbo]

I honestly only saw Barbara's reply (which appeared while I was working on the shot) after I had posted.

Well OK then, Dave !!

[Dave Humphries]

Well OK then, Dave !!

I think it is a case of "great minds ...."

[selig1656]

Dave , I am always open minded and thank you.

[selig1656]

Point, subjective perception is so varied, I am as always open to ideas, this capture is not done yet, as improvements will follow as to my message of the capture. Thank you for your input.