[smarti77]

Hi all,

I've got a little project taking shape and I will be asking for critique / suggestions / reworks on a few images starting with this one...



Be harsh, be honest. Feel free to edit the image.
Thanks for looking,
Shane

[Wedding Shooter]

Shane - it is really beautiful. I wish it was one of mine. I would probably be tempted to saturate/add contrast to the sky a little.

[navis01]

Awesome photo really ticks all the points and rules and has a lovely feel to it. I would suggest is to bring out the detail in the foreground wood a little bit more using shadow/highlight perhaps and agree a touch more contrast / saturation. I find the stump on the left distracting. Here is a quick edit to show what I mean, I am not a Photoshop expert but hope you can see what I mean. I still think this is an amazing shot and would lve to take pictures this quality myself, well done.

[Irma]

This is a beautiful picture Shane....
I agree about working a bit more contrast...

I know that much has to do with what you saw and want to express. However, I worked a bit with colors and contrast in this one. I lost detail you have in the original but it is a bit difficult in this size to mask details...

Anyway, it is just to give an idea...

Here is my try...

[matthew]

Shane, that's a great photo, and thanks for letting us play with it. All I can say for the composition is that I wish the camera angle was changed slightly to let the tallest of the posts rise above the level of the could. I think this would have unified the elements a little better. Otherwise, I'd change nothing. I love the sweeping leading lines of the stumps in the foreground especially. Can I ask where this was taken? It won't mean much to me now, but I can look it up on a map -- and I'll be in Adelaide in about six weeks.

Here's my tweak:



This was done with Lightroom, so it's not a simple change. I increased the exposure by .2 stops, pushed the highlights down by 30 points and pulled the fill light up by the same amount, and pulled the blacks down by three points. For the tone curve it's highlights +36, lights +11, darks -11, and shadows +9. My Saturation setting was +3, and vibrance was +48. I also changed the saturation of individual colour channels, but that gets too involved to type. I may have over-done the blues in the cloud.

[matthew]

Here's a second try: I've calmed down on the blues and darkened the shadow tones. I also used the WB settings to warm the image slightly. I also forgot to mention that both this and the previous version have had vignetting added to darken the corners. In this version, I've cloned out some of the small pebbles in the foreground.

[NT73]

When I first put the photo on it was cut just below the large foreground rocks (until I used the slider)
When I got the foreground it looked a little messy/busy. I like the more square format.

Irma's version looks a little gothic, and the others just seem to change tones (sorry guys)
Matthew has lightened the face of the short wood stumps in his first attempt but lightened the rest a bit.
But then they are just quick versions, Are they not?
It is a great photo to start with, and it is what you like as navis said.

[smarti77]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and edits. Its always very interesting to see everyones personal preferences. At the moment Im leaning towards the more contrast / less saturation edits - looks more 'real' to the actual scene. I dont think I will ever by completely happy with the sky... Another excuse to reshoot on another day...

Matthew - This location is at Port Willunga (about 30 minutes south of the city of Adelaide).
On the Esplanade of Port Willunga you will find the Star of Greece cafe. There is a walkway from the carpark down to this spot!

latest edit




I'm pretty happy with a plain black and white too...