The Gambler

[Marty E]

This has been bugging me for a while. How do you decide when to remove small black or white “particles” that are distracting. I don’t want me end result to look too Photoshopped (aka perfect), but I also don’t want to look like I didn’t tend to necessary cleanup. Where do you draw the line to keep things looking “natural?”

Here’s a recent shot I submitted for this week’s challenge. I removed some of the small white spots, but there are still some left. I’m reminded of Kenny Roger’s Gambler – “you’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away & know when to run” lol

• This topic was modified 1y, 9mo ago by Marty E.

[Dave Watkins]

Hi Marty. My Readers Digest explanation of what I do is before I resize and export the image I sit back from the screen about 3 or 4 feet and look it over.  Any spots or highlights that draw my attention get removed or burned to make them less noticeable.

[Marty E]

Hi Dave, thanks for this great suggestion! That makes perfect sense, I’ll make that a part of my post-processing routine. Sometimes I miss the forest for the trees!

[Frank]

Hi Marty, Remember that our eyes are pulled to the brightest areas of the image, so if you do not want us to look there, they bright spots are distractions pulling us away from the subject you want us to look at. So, here I would definitely get rid of the bright spot at the mouth of the fish,  I really like the glow effect of the label.

[Marty E]

Hi Frank, thanks for reminding me about the bright spot distractions demanding attention. How rude of them! I usually try to heal or clone out all of them but don’t want my final result to look over processed. I’m starting to see that post-processing is an art in its own right. I appreciate your feedback & am glad you like the glow in the label shot with natural light. 😊

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Hi Marty, in my opinion, natural imperfections like on this subject can be used to tell a story. I usually remove distracting things like dust, dirt, and any other bright spots due to light that distract from the subject 🙂

[Marty E]

Thanks, Dahlia! I’ve heard people say “looks photoshopped” to “nothing’s perfect in nature” but sometimes reality can be a distraction lol

[Robert Apple]

This image has been bugging me since you first posted it Marty, Its the Fish shaped bottle. It looks like a carp, a bottom dwelling scum eating trash fish, much like a lawyer or politician which are often the same thing. I don’t know anyone that eats them but have heard they taste like sewage, fish, not Lawyers.

So is this a statement of what the wine tastes like?

Is it best served with baked carp ?

Was it brewed with water carp swam in ?

Does it taste so bad it makes the carp seem edible ?

Is it only fit to serve to a Lawyer ?

Pondering all of that and seeking to understand the marketing purpose of this bottle I don’t really notice the bright spots.

Then there is your title and the explanation, Know when to hold them or fold them maybe that’s slang for allowing yourself to throw up, or maybe this fine Carp Wine causes the runs, in relation to the second line of the verse. Either way it doesn’t sound pleasant.

Will stick with whiskey. 🙂 🙂 🙂

[Marty E]

Ouch, Robert! Sounds like you had a bad run with a few carp in your life. No marketing intended, just posting early attempts at the shadows assignment.

[Robert Apple]

Oh I new you weren’t, unless this a family label 🙂 , It really wasn’t a critique of your photo.  More of a humorous look at a strange wine bottle, definitely not indicitive of the fine blown glass the Italians are known for.

[Marty E]

I guess without context, we each make our own meanings. 😊 For the record, this is a favorite memento from our wonderful Italian-American eating experiences on the Hill in St Louis. We like to refill it with olive oil to use in cooking. I happened to notice the shadows that were changing quickly & I grabbed the bottle as a possible item of interest. I’ll have to try it again with a bit more storytelling for context.

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