Re: Blue Sky's?

On 2010-06-12 05:08:37 +0100, tony cooper said:

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:41:50 -0400, Robert Coe <bob@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:39:32 +0100, Pete
<available.on.request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
: On 2010-06-12 00:58:40 +0100, tony cooper said:
:
: > On Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:53:28 +0100, Pete
: > <available.on.request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
: >
: >> On 2010-06-12 00:19:32 +0100, tony cooper said:
: >>
: >>> On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:05:17 +0100, "Charles E Hardwidge"
: >>> <boing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
: >>>
: >>>> You're similar in character to Robert Epstein who floats around the Buddhist
: >>>> newsgroups, and others I won't mention. You'll almost likely never be an
: >>>> Alan Browne but you're much closer to Tony. His strengths are getting off
: >>>> his ass and being around people. He posts mostly crap but /some/ of his
: >>>> shots are almost /very good/.
: >>>
: >>> Well, thanks for almost-compliment. I'll take what I can get.
: >>>
: >>> Alan is, in my opinion, the most technically accomplished photographer
: >>> in these groups. I don't know his occupation, but he has an
: >>> engineer's approach to photography. His preparation and technique is
: >>> flawless. However, his subjects are often uninteresting. You view
: >>> the result and admire the technique, but the subject matter doesn't
: >>> grab you.
: >>>
: >>> By comparison, I'm lazy and sloppy. I see a subject that interests me
: >>> and start snapping. When I do get a good photo, it's usually more
: >>> luck than preparation. I do get out, though, and look for subject
: >>> matter.
: >>>
: >>> Here's today's shots: Fiddler On The Green...a man sitting in local
: >>> park. Very shaded setting.
: >>>
: >>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/Current-Favorite-Shot/2010-06-11-001/897757441_QhUi5-XL.jpg
:

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/Current-Favorite-Shot/2010-06-11-002/897757473_rdYTa-XL.jpg
:
:

Where's
:
: your
: >>>
: >>> shot of the day?
: >>
: >> Tony, you need a new monitor.
: >
: > The first one can be lightened up. I ran Brightness/Contrast and
: > lightened it up, but discarded that version. It lost the look of what
: > I saw. It lost that look of a man sitting in the shade on a very hot
: > day. The grass is that bright green shown.
:
: The grass in the foreground, the violin, and the shades are the only
: believable items in this photo. Of course, the blue areas of the bow,
: violin peg, and underside of the violin are not.
:
: The grass in the sunlight is distracting because it is too saturated as
: are the reds and blues in the shade. The trees look like something from
: a cheap stage show, the contrast and tone of the guys sneakers are
: disturbing, as is his violin case(s) and the dark areas of the red
: chair. Not many people have blue hair on their arms where I live.

I assumed that the oversaturation was intentional and found it off-putting at
first. But it sort of grows on you. (At least it did on me.) It's one of the
reasons I think the first picture is better than the second. Not every
photograph has to be totally realistic. In that context the blue tree bark and
(actually white?) socks can be considered to be just part of the mood.

Bob

I went back to the original jpeg and reprocessed it in RGB Color
instead of LAB, then used Curves and set the B/W/NG points. Tones it
down a bit.

The trees...those are Cypress trees (note the Cypress knobs)and the
color on the bark is a blue/green lichen growth on the bark that
Cypress gets. No amount of processing will change that.

Running it through Shadows/Highlights with a +15 midtone contrast
boost lightens everything, but makes the lichen even more obvious.

The violin...the blue on the underside is reflection from the man's
shirt. The blue peg is just reflecting late afternoon sun. Shiny
violin. New?

The arms...that's gray hair. The man has thicker hair on his arms
than I do on my head.

The violin case and shoes...I don't see a problem with either.
There's an odd white dotted line at the left end of the front case,
but that's in the original, not the result of sharpening or anything.
Maybe a zipper if the case isn't zipped up.

What I like...the subject, the composition, and the crop. I'd like a
little more room to the left, but the frame ends.

Can't see it in the photo, but the man was playing an Irish tune. Not
bad, either.

What I don't like...the blow-out in the grass behind the man and the
patch that I can't crop out at the top. The left hand is in sharper
focus than the face, but the glasses cover the normal center of focus.

Memo to Charles...this is why those of us who are willing to post our
efforts do so. We take our knocks and learn from them.

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/Current-Favorite-Shot/2010-06-11-003/897994321_Bnx4q-X2.jpg

That's

great, Tony. Everything I commented on in the first image has gone in this one.

It seems that your adjustments in LAB mode gave increasing saturation towards the blacks, which I found very uncomfortable to look at. Compare the histograms. The first image has red increasing towards the black while luminosity is falling - I've never seen that before.

--
Pete

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Blue Skys?
    ... Alan Browne but you're much closer to Tony. ... The grass in the foreground, the violin, and the shades are the only believable items in this photo. ...
    (alt.photography)
  • Re: Blue Skys?
    ... The grass is that bright green shown. ... violin peg, and underside of the violin are not. ... boost lightens everything, but makes the lichen even more obvious. ... Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida ...
    (alt.photography)
  • Re: Blue Skys?
    ... Alan Browne but you're much closer to Tony. ... The grass in the foreground, the violin, and the shades are the only ... the more I see too much saturation. ...
    (alt.photography)
  • Re: Blue Skys?
    ... In that context the blue tree bark and ... The trees...those are Cypress trees and the ... The violin case and shoes...I don't see a problem with either. ... The left hand is in sharper focus than the face, ...
    (alt.photography)
  • Re: Blue Skys?
    ... It lost that look of a man sitting in the shade on a very hot ... The grass is that bright green shown. ... violin peg, and underside of the violin are not. ... In that context the blue tree bark and ...
    (alt.photography)