[Zig]

In other words, thinking at the raw stage about the image you're aiming for..that is, if you have to leave it till this late to decide what shot you're aiming for! In simple terms, this involves being a bit more creative than just, er, batch-slapping :| in your default converter.
...(what's that..?..."I'm a professional: I can't afford to be creative..."?) Just ma leetle joke...

Actually, all these involved choosing a final image "feel", working out how best to process towards that feel, then ensuring I didn't do anything too daft at the raw stage. For example, if I wanted a final image to have a range of tones and some colour depth, I wouldn't blat the contrast up and the saturation down, 'tis all...nothing complicated.

1. This chap is actually lifeless: he's a wax model, perched at a mock-up of a platform signal-room, looking out onto a reconstructed platform in the museum: thus, I thought that distressed sepia was the way to go, if predictable:




2. I wanted here that sort of old school "Matchbox/cigarette card" flavour to the colour, giving it a suggestion of "yesteryear":




3. There was a walkway underneath this locomotive, so as to see and investigate the dangly bits of this great leviathan. Yeah, I know.
The boy was running just quick enough to generate a wee bit of blur, which was quite a strange effect. I wished to heighten this sense of the slightly dislocated by boosting contrast, so I went for a "red filtration" look. Now, given the colours there and the contrast this would entail, I guessed that the kid's legs would disappear into the floor, given the same tonal value. I could therefore afford to raise the contrast and boost the amount of reds at the conversion stage....reds of course becoming lighter and the complementary colour(green) becoming darker. O-level physics Jim..




4. I just love that steam/pipes stuff and the touch of Heath_Robinson implicit in Victorian engineering; now, I wanted the feel of a black and white but with a "scientific" or drawn flavour. I adjusted my own little curves presets(worth doing this in my book, you monochromers...beats spending the money on Nik's, plus you get to learn what it is you're doing...yeah, I'm being deliberately maddening), aiming for a sort of platinum-feel with an added "bleach-bypass look". (And here I must apologise: I often know exactly what look I want, but can't quite put it into words). The added touch, to get that "line drawing" feel, was to posterise the edges in good ol' Filter Gallery: now, in CS2 I can only do that if I down-rez to 8-bits/channel...I'm assuming that Adobe have finally sorted this out, yes?



Gorsh...it's now tomorrow, so i must away...

[Toad]

At first glance, I think you have some great results here - the last 3 particularly sing out to me. I am frantically packing for Iceland, but I will try to get back to these before I go and say something more meaningful. Great thread, either way...

[Toad]

Ah Zigfried...my time has run out - I'm basically out the door, and yet no *real* comments on this thread. So frustrating. So let's add something here and apologies for the lack of considered-at-length thought.

#1 - Meh. Its interesting that this is a mannequin but I would never have known and without that context not much left - some clown taking a photo of the train. So much for the negative in this post.

#2 - brilliant - the cigarette box metaphor is spot on - I love it. In theory, you could crop the top rail and above for tighter graphic presentation but not required.

#3 - this is *really* good on so many levels, but I think you have summed it up in your description

#4 - this is my favorite. I love the delicate Steampunk vibe. Its not a computer, dammit - its mechanical!! The processing completely delivers on the thought.

Sorry for shortness - couldn't let this one pass. I'm in my last pre-Iceland 24 hours.

Later, babe...