Tiny Tree Dwellers
by melismatica

Comment by KarenB:
a bit brighter..... .. nice shot though!

Neon Gothic
by melismatica

Comment by teknon42:
erie... i don't really like it, but it feels like a high quality piece of work. i think the building feels a little flat--more contrast would helpt there.

The Modern Diner
by melismatica

Comment by melismatica:

Originally posted by Tucci: Just a friendly suggestion...forget about the hue/saturation....use LEVELS to really get control over your contrast. Try making a LEVELS adjustment layer. Also to easliy and precisely correct color in your images you need to use the CURVES dialog. Set your RGB values to 10, 133 and 245 respectively (black, grey and white) then use the eye dropper and sample those colors in your image and the color will correct itself. Finally use the UNSHARP MASK with your image at full size... set pixels to 1.5, threshold to 4 levels and anywhere from 80 to 130 percent should do the trick and add some clarity to your shots.

Thanks for the very good advice. I actually started using the Levels recently after stumbling across some advice in a book. I hardly ever use the brightness/contrast adjustments and now I only use Levels to achieve satisfactory black and white images.

I will try the other things you suggested in the future. I've never used unsharp mask because, frankly, I haven't a clue how. :-D One of these days I'll get me a good PS book!

For now I have some guidelines which I'm going to copy and past for my files. Thanks a bunch!

Neon Gothic
by melismatica

Comment by Gatorguy:
Well, it's neon. Other than that, the composition needs a lot of work - the cropping of the building and all the dead space don't do anything for me. I do like the reflection though.

The Modern Diner
by melismatica

Comment by Tucci:
Just a friendly suggestion...forget about the hue/saturation....use LEVELS to really get control over your contrast. Try making a LEVELS adjustment layer. Also to easliy and precisely correct color in your images you need to use the CURVES dialog. Set your RGB values to 10, 133 and 245 respectively (black, grey and white) then use the eye dropper and sample those colors in your image and the color will correct itself. Finally use the UNSHARP MASK with your image at full size... set pixels to 1.5, threshold to 4 levels and anywhere from 80 to 130 percent should do the trick and add some clarity to your shots.

Stripes
by melismatica

Comment by melismatica:
RECALL!

It was your private message to me defending your advertsiment entry against a comment I made which began the conversation about perspective. Do you not see the irony here? My comment on your entry was not an invitation for you to send me a private critique of my work and a lesson on barrell distortion. Since you did so, I replied in a very reasonable manner. My recollection of the message was that you suggested a vertical format instead of a horizontal one. Perhaps in my haste to get through the message I misread parallel as horizontal and thus the confusion. I don't know since I no longer have the message.

Your whole attitude toward me from the start has been one of condescension. Notice that I have not suggested you don't know what you are doing yet you continue to disparage my skills and experience because I disagreed with you regarding some comments you made. I was simply responding in the manner in which you have chosen to respond to my comments in the past.


You are giving me all lot of grief for very little. Can you not accept that I don't care for your method and move on? I'm not suggesting you don't have anything to offer someone who enjoys your style of commenting but it is an approach that doesn't work for me. You come off rather like a spirtual adviser. As if you have already experienced it all and are now imparting some of that wisdom to the rest of us ignoramuses.

Your comments suggest I don't put much planning or care into my composition. Your comments on this image suggested a studio approach when it seems quite clear to me that this isn't that type of shot. I was making it clear that I took the picture outside that kind of environment and further explained that the creative intent behind the image suggested something other than the studio approach. I felt that your critique ignored this type of approach and vision altogether. It is clear to anyone viewing your portfolio on this site and your personal web site that you are most comfortable in a studio environment. That is your style but you shouldn't ignore other methods out of turn when you are offering critiques to a varied population of artists. It is this type of narrow-mindedness that makes me reject your teaching. I certainly don't reject all teaching.

Stripes
by melismatica

Comment by graphicfunk:

**********************************************************************
Again you misunderstand the simplest concepts of a camera. It does not matter how you frame an image. My reference is to holding the back of the camera parallel to the image. In other words, picture an imaginary line rising from the ground which is parallel to the lines of the buildings. If you do not line up the plane of the sensor along this imaginary ...the lines of the building begin to converge, This is very rudimentary, and here was your reply: "I held my camera vertically for the shot you mentioned but I was fairly close to some rather tall buildings and the Nikon Coolpix 700 has a fairly wide angle lens so I always get a bit of distortion." You did not understand that my comment had nothing to do with how you framed the picture, but more with the position of the sensor. Some photographers employ a level. The convergence in your image has nothing to do with how you frame the picture.

But listen, you are so right. You always are and there is no point replying to you again. say what you will, I will not respond. Let others judge your genius. You are just too overwhelming and you tower us all. I speak like I have because your entire photographic knowledge is in your pictures. An experience photographer knows the level of knowledge by seeing a handful of prints from any photographer. A portfolio is an open book.

Message edited by author 2004-08-19 19:44:51.

A Natural Twist
by melismatica

Comment by melismatica:

Originally posted by graphicfunk: you even did the alchemical wonder of changing absolute white to absolute black with mere camera technique, a feat that I am unable to perform.

Nothing alchemical about it--I simply placed the subject far enough away from the white paper background, held the light somewhat downward at the subject and away from the background, and fooled the meter by using a -1.7 EV setting. Then I adjusted the levels a bit in photoshop to darken it a bit further.

To paraphrase your words, I envisioned the shot in my mind's eye and did what was necessary to achieve it by making decisions which required knowledge of my camera's manual functions. I proceeded to take 21 shots with varying points of view and lighting arrangements. That doesn't even take into account the hundreds of shots I took of alternate subject matter during that session. My beef with your crit has to do with the blatent disregard that I might have had a clue what I was doing when I made this photo. It is possible to phrase a comment about my choice of shallow DOF from the assumption that I made a choice.

Comments like the following completely disregard the effort I put into my photo.

Originally posted by graphicfunk: Always envision the shot in your minds eye and then do what ever is technically required. Normal shots and distant scenes differ greatly from the close up. A camera in auto mode, will never make this decision for you, so it is up to you to take care of this matter. The easiest way to do it is to make a test shot, check it in computer and then go back to finish.

You concede that my image is above average, yet you seem unwilling to concede some amount of competence went into it's production. It's as if you'd rather think I miraculously pulled a quality image out of my ass.

The laughable thing is you send me defensive private messages whenever I make a comment on one of you images during the voting.

Message edited by author 2004-08-19 18:39:39.

A Natural Twist
by melismatica

Comment by melismatica:
In response to Graphicfunk's comment, so as not to repeat myself, let me just direct the reader here.

I will say that my defensivenes is partially in reaction to the defensive and condescending private messages he has sent me in response to comments I've made during the voting.

Message edited by author 2004-08-19 17:48:43.

Stripes
by melismatica

Comment by melismatica:
Yesterday, I was editing some photos and decided to edit this one using the many suggestions that it was a bit soft focus and dark. I used the median filter on the original to soften some of the noise which was the result of a fairly high ISO rating due to late afternoon light and shade from the house. I figured the blur wasn't so important in an abstract and weighed that against the possible comments of 'too noisy' I anticipated receiving. ;-D

Anyway, here is the edited version and I think it is a bit better. It is still kind of dark but I couldn't seem to adjust that without losing some of the vibrancy in the colors.