Need comments on photo

[Paddy]

QUOTE(jcarter @ Dec 22 2011, 10:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes that is a neat photo, the second one is sort of like what I got with PS. I LOVE Lightroom, but havent bought it yet, just used the trial version.

Lightroom is probably my favorite application. I do 95% of my post-processing in it - a lot of photos never get opened in Photoshop these days! My Color Efex filters are for Lightroom - you can buy them for either app now.

[jcarter]

I took a class in Lightroom a couple of years ago, its wonderful
I just might buy it soon!
All I hear about it is great.
Jane

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Dec 22 2011, 06:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Argh. The "K" was upper case, not lower case! That's what you get for typing, rather than copying and pasting! Fixed the link. Here it is again,

http://paddyduncan.com/files/Kimsunset.jpg

Okay, don't bang your head, but to my eyes (and on my monitor), I don't see a lot of difference between my original photo and this one. I did see major changes in the other versions, so don't despair.

QUOTE

...cropped a little to get closer to rule of thirds (horizon should be around 1/3 or 2/3, not in the middle)...

Normally, yes, but sometimes I prefer to not use the "rule of thirds". Just a matter of artistic license.

QUOTE

BTW - if your camera is capable of shooting in RAW, always use that! It gives you the most latitude for playing around afterwards. And also make sure your edits are done on TIFFs or PSDs, not JPEGs. JPEG is a "lossy" format - every time you save, more data is lost through the compression algorithm. TIFF and PSD are non-lossy.

As far as I've dug around, RAW isn't a possibility with my camera. It's quite a camera for being a "point and click, fit in my purse", but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I always open my photo, save as a PSD, and then work/play.

QUOTE

And if you like to play around with your photos, I can't recommend Nik's Colo rEfex Pro software highly enough...

I own several Topaz filters, and really enjoy them.

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Dec 22 2011, 07:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The key thought here, however, is that what you see on your Mac may not be what anyone else sees on their Windows machine. Did you check your Gamma setting in the Display->Color->Calibrate (last screen)? Probably wouldn't hurt to use the Calibration functions even though they are pretty basic. At least they are free and you've already got them. And it will get the best on the monitor, environmental (lighting) conditions and eyes you have. It's kind of the bottom of the 'food chain.' Get that set and work your way up. Mainly, keep taking pictures!!!

Wow! Didn't realize this gem was there; but now I'm afraid to run it until I figure it out. I don't want to brighten my screen to the point where I can no longer adjust it darker.

[attachment=2418:Screen_s...51.02_AM.png]

Because y'all have been so patient and helpful, here's another version:

http://spatulagraphics.com/images/sunset-1218-2702b.jpg

Thanks, thanks, thanks!

[jcarter]

Thats my favourite!

[dolphin]

Personally Kim, I like the last one the best.  I can see distinct definition in the trees now.

QUOTE

Normally, yes, but sometimes I prefer to not use the "rule of thirds". Just a matter of artistic license.

I understand your "artistic license", comment completely. However; my photography instructor would have handed us our heads, had we not used the "rule of thirds"  

[beacher]

Good job, both Kimmer & Paddy!  The first photo was waaaaaaay too dark on my setup, but I liked both of your revisions!  Much better definition.  As for the "rule of thirds", an artist learns the rules and THEN figures out how to intelligently break them to come up with their own results. . .

[jchuzi]

The rule of thirds, as with all rules, must be broken if the artist deems it necessary. I fancy myself to be fairly good at composing (i.e. cropping) a photo and I follow Peter Schickele's statement (which he applied to music): "If it looks (sounds, in the original quote) good, it is good." Feel free to ignore rules if you get a good photo, but don't fool yourself while doing it. It's very easy to be self-indulgent in art and music.

[Xairbusdriver]

Of course, the advantage of digital images is that you can usually make multiple crops to generate any number of variations. While cropped out the extra sky to get the 'hidden' water features, Kimmer might have cropped out the extra ground to get more of the sky features, assuming there and been some. I think we amateurs sometimes spend too much time cropping in the viewfinder and cheat ourselves out of having more image to work with later. Of course, a 'real' professional can do that kind of camera cropping and save all the time I'd spend making edits. But that pro might also be making more images while changing the manual settings to capture more of the dark areas and/or toning down the bright ones. I know these things not from experience, of course!    

Rule of thirds: If the first two attempts don't work, the third one won't either!

[krissel]

I, too, like what you did with the last version, Kimmer.  

I didn't hear about the "rule of thirds" til years after I had been showing my art work successfully. Somehow my teachers never mentioned it.  

Sometimes you just have to go on what looks or feels right, bag the math.

[chriskleeman]

I really like that last one as well Kim! Really nice shot. I like that you can see the foreground as it's reflective of the sky and water, and the definition gives it so much more depth overall.

I also like what you did to it too Paddy, but the lighter foreground in Kim's shot is just a bit more to my liking.

And Rule of Thirds? Well, in this case, IAW Kim, as the overall composition for this shot is really cool. Makes me want to be there!

Hey Jon, how about the circle of 5ths?  (Being a somewhat self-indulgent musician...)

CK

[jchuzi]

QUOTE(chriskleeman @ Dec 24 2011, 08:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Jon, how about the circle of 5ths?  (Being a somewhat self-indulgent musician...) CK

According to one story, Einstein (who played the violin), had played for Piatigorsky. He asked Piatigorsky, "Did I play well?" Piatigorsky replied, "You played relatively well."

The rule of thirds is relatively good.