Gordon James

Mario, I think with the first image you have lightened the whole image, rather than just the face. You don’t say what version of LR you have, but in v5 (also v4?) there is a radial filter – go back to your initial, dark image and use the radial filter to just lighten the l/h face. That way you keep the whole low-key presentation.

If you haven’t…[Read more]

Nice B&W conversion. Composition too central but the cloud behind him makes it work, just about!

Cropping the hand at the bottom is a real shame, but my biggest issue is FISHERman? Nothing here gives any credibility to that as a title. It either needs more context in the image, or a better title.Check It Out

What a difference! Now the people dominate entirely and the rest of the ‘problems’ subside into a supporting role. You have cloned the people very skillfully, but I think there are a few issues with the sky – the duplicate cloud and something ‘wierd’ happening over the right hand side.Check It Out

OK, thanks @nanyar. The issue with the original was, to my mind, the lack of contrast between the mannequin and the background – once reduced to tone only it was all very similar. It also doesn’t particularly look like a night shot – dull, yes, but not nocturnal.

I was rather hoping that streetlights might have offered an orange background,…[Read more]

I think you have got the spirals and faces spot on in this second shot, but you need to deal with the highlights on the heads and the chest.
I know, no one said this sort of work was easy!Check It Out

Hi @nanyar. I take your point about this still looking a little flat. Could you post the original colour version? It could help us see what other options you might have? Also, what processing have you used so far for the conversion?Check It Out

@erik-fransmen Erik, I have been looking at this image on and off since you posted it, and wondering quite what to say! I do understand your intent with the small figures in silhouette,, and without doubt that area of the image is highly successful.
Yet I couldn’t help but feel the image wasn’t working for me and it has taken me some time to be…[Read more]

Ah, Lujean, now I understand better what you were trying to do with your ‘sunset’ image!

With these sort of shots you do have to be very careful that your deliberate overprocessing does not end up causing other problems. Here you have obvious artifacts around the birds, even at this small image size. You also have that very bright area of sky,…[Read more]

Very pleasing image, @capetown99. At this size I don’t feel able to say much about sharpness, although at the setting you used I feel it should all be reasonably sharp.

The only thing that disturbs me is the overlap of the gondolier and building. In a perfect world he would have been a little further away, or you would have moved a little to…[Read more]

I think the answer to your question, Lujean, depends on what you were trying to achieve. If you were attempting a traditional landscape/sunset then sorry, I don’t think this is capable of achieving that. It has way too many problems, some if not all in post-processing, and my advice would be simply bin it and start again another day.

If, on the…[Read more]

Personally, I like the fact that it is not a B&W conversion – at first glance it looks that way then the eye starts to pick out subtle shades to contradict than initial assumption.

I would consider cropping in from the left, to the point where the rear of the read horse meets the front horse. I don’t think this adds significantly to the image…[Read more]

Another cracking image, @aarongeis! Don’t you just hate compromises? I like the separation of body and building better, but the loss of that curved leg by shooting lower down weakens the second image.

All I can say it that I’d be pretty happy with either of them, and hope one day to get a chance to shoot the spider (it was fenced off by…[Read more]

Or is this what you mean by ‘streaking’

http://www.lightstalking.com/forums/topic/spigot Check It Out

@veleryp – I think there are some interesting alternatives being offered, but I believe there is more to be got from your initial, high-key idea.
It’s a common misconception that everything in a high-key image is mid-tone or lighter! That gives a very flat image, which works for some subjects but by no means all.
Try increasing the contrast and…[Read more]

Streaking added using the Blur tool in Photoshop?

As far as I know, only panning and zooming produce streaking in-camera, with an apparently static subject. Anything else is likely to be prost-proc.Check It Out

Mmmmm. I can see what you were trying to do, @fcalesso, but I don’t think this quite works as it stands. The lights on the ground are interesting, but not strong enough to compete with our innate interest in ourselves, and my eye really goes pretty much straight past the lights to the people on the platform.

Also I don’t think the fences and…[Read more]

Lovely image! This place really is a photographer’s playground. You’ve got great depth of field for this shot.

It would have been nice to shoot from slightly further to the left, to get separation between the spider body and the building, but I’m well aware there are other buildings over to the right that might spoil that idea.Check It Out

@nanyar – if that’s your first attempt at editing for low-key I think you’ve done a pretty good job. Many people make the mistake of assuming ALL the tones have to be darkened to mid-tome or the left, resulting in a very flat image. Here you have retained some lighter tones to lift the image a little.
Dead black works OK for the background, but I…[Read more]

Hi lunac73. Yes, I meant take a little more off the bottom – between 1/2 and 2/3 the way to the base of the bale. Doing so drops the horizon a little of the centre line and further reduces the prominence of the bale.Check It Out

@lunac73 I think that final edit does it, although I would echo the suggestion above about a crop off the bottom to lower the horizon in the frame.
With this edit the trees, sky and sun are clearly the main subject, the bale playing a support role.
For consideration on a further shoot, I could wish you had taken a couple of paces to your right…[Read more]