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Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and explain!! Keep up the great work!!!!!
That’s a step in the right direction! I learned to use PSE by playing and experimenting. Try going too far until it looks over-processed. You won’t know how much is too much until you do too much. For this image, I’d increase contrast quite a bit, and then maybe brightness just a bit to balance. Don’t give up, practice and play!
I think it needs more contrast so it pops out of the white, right now you don’t actually have any pure blacks and so it looks washed out. Also, the jay is really crowding the branch in front and it’s uncomfortable. If you’d moved just a bit to the R before capturing it would have created more space between branch and jay and further emphasized your subject. But I commend you for breaking some rules with a purpose!
Immediate foreground lacks interest but is illuminated enough to draw the eye, the branches on the R got too much light imo. Less foreground and no flash would have created some nice silhouettes framing the sunset. This is a case where less would be more. And I agree with @pmarione, a softer process would enhance the mood.
The silhouette without detail is fine, silhouettes are intended to be more graphic than documentary. However, I don’t find this image holds my attention. I immediately identified the subject, looked for something to keep me interested (colour?), got bored and wanted to find other images to look at.
The only thing that doesn’t work for me is that rather large, white thing dead centre. Too bright, too central. The rest of the composition and treatment work.
Thanks everyone for your feedback!!
Jonathan, nope, no tripod. But as you can see from the original below, it wasn’t as dark as it seemed.
Michael-Lloyd, all processing done with Silkypix RAW converter and PSE 8.
CKinil, no shots with the marquee. My subject was the sign with the perfectly burned out lights. More marquee would have made my subject smaller and thus less dominant, and introduced a competing element. “Texture”, in photographic terms, is information and detail in otherwise blank, monotone areas. For instance, in the original image below the sky has zero texture, it is negative space. Compare the two shots and you’ll see what increasing texture can do for a shot.
Here’s how I processed the image. I first added a sky layer and erased the existing sky. The sky I used was taken mid-day, lots of light blue and white clouds. I used various techniques and tools to darken the sky, and then painted in some colour on the clouds with an Overlay brush. I got the sky the way I wanted it and didn’t flatten the image until the building layer was finished.
I then made a second layer of the building with erased sky. I used the Ink Outlines filter in PSE to create the texture and contrast. Once done, it’s obvious this has been filtered, so I used the opacity slider to minimize the effect and look more natural. Finally, I used the Lighting Effects filter to make the lights pop and the rest of the image darker, thus looking like later in the evening that it actually was. After that, a bit of burning and dodging to provide a consistent feel, and a bit of selective highlight/contrast tweaking.
I’m very gratified by your responses, because this is the first time I’ve done such extensive post-production work and I was worried it would look fake. I realize some will take exception to the sky, etc since the final version is not as captured. But my approach is artistic and I view my capture as raw material from which I can create art.
Forgot to mention, I cropped a bit of boring, grey carpet off the bottom as well.
Here’s an amended (improved?) version based on your helpful feedback. Thanx all!!
Michael, it appears I forgot to sharpen in the original! Not only shot on a tripod, but with a remote release!! Is this better? And yes, 1/25.
Caimi, blur is always a matter of taste. Maybe a touch faster, but I didn’t want her too sharp and I did several test shots before this one to get the speed I wanted.
I like the subject and treatment, other than the bright spot in the foreground. Compositionally, it feels too tight. You have cropped elements L and R. To the L, the arched door frame is cut out in the middle. To the R, there are flowers cropped and wall elements that would be better with more or less. I think either a larger or smaller crop would provide fewer distracting elements from a great subject.
I seldom take portraits, so take my comments accordingly.
The light is very harsh, with lots of burned out areas on the forehead and the skin tones washed out. I find the headrest(?) to the R of the hand distracting. And while tight compositions can work, it feels cramped. I think including his whole head (including the hair which I find interesting) and a bit of space would have complimented the subject’s expression.
Composition is not bad, although personally I’d like a little more room R and B. It feels crowded there. DoF is awfully shallow, and the only point in focus is the peg which is mostly a silhouette and nearly dead centre. I’d rather see the key sharp since it has some grain that would better hold the eye. You could have used some secondary lighting to bring out detail from the front. Too much dark with no detail, especially the very front of the Mandolin, it’s just a black diagonal bar and hinders the eye from exploring beyond it. Finally, it feels washed out, lacking pop. I’d like to see the keys be a bit brighter.
Colours and soft focus work. I like the reflected lights, because it tells me there are things outside for her to focus on while she is lost in thought. And I don’t get a mood from her expression as much as being lost in thought. I find her expression kind of ambiguous, leaving each viewer to interpret it as they will. My title would be “Lost In Thought” or maybe “Inside Looking Out”. As I say, I think the image can say many different things, making it kind of universal in its message and appeal. The more I study it the more I like it.
It is awfully dark, and I imagine that your emotional connection to the evening you took the shot makes it more enjoyable for you. There is a lot to like as an objective viewer, but I don’t think the rest of it will connect the way you do. Enjoy your memories!
Thanks!! With street photography, the story is the shot. Composition and other technical elements take a back seat. However, most photographers don’t realize that. Anyway, I appreciate your comments and I really like this shot myself. I haven’t printed it yet, but it will go on my wall at some point.
