Critique Requested: My Duotone Submission

03/07/2006 06:24:43 AM · #1

I'm trying to come up with collection of photos of temples in India. This is the second one I submitted in any challenge. Since there were too many submissions for the duotone challenge, my picture was not able to get many "valuable" comments.

Please let me know how can I improve on it in post-processing. I ultimately want to have atleast 12 pictures in my collection to consider them for next year calendar :)

There is another picture of same temple which I clicked few months back. This one also needs lots of processing. Now when I have some command over photoshop, I guess I can do better than what I was able to do with Picasa when I submitted this one.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/07/2006 08:01:41 AM · #2

Originally posted by tejinder:

Please let me know how can I improve on it in post-processing. I ultimately want to have atleast 12 pictures in my collection to consider them for next year calendar :)

...

First, the Temple is a good picture, you just want to make it a little better.

A good way to improve images is to make comparisons with other similar pictures that place higher than yours. bbright's fine red ribbon winner, "Mist", is a good one for this comparison. Both images are somewhat serene scenes and of reasonably similar nature.

Even though both have similar tonal detail notice how "Mist" seems to stand out more with better contrast. It is because the whites are whiter than yours. If you make a simple white point adjustment in the whitest part of the clouds you will see a big change in the appearance of the image. Try it and you may like it better.

"Mist" is a very clean image. Your temple has the metal fence in the foreground that acts as a distraction. If you took the picture over the fence so it did not show the fence then the image would be cleaner.

On the left there is that "thing" that has all the guide wires all over the place. That is also a major distraction from the temple. If it were me and I were putting it in a calendar I'd clone it and all those ugly wires out of the scene.

03/07/2006 11:14:54 AM · #3

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Even though both have similar tonal detail notice how "Mist" seems to stand out more with better contrast. It is because the whites are whiter than yours. If you make a simple white point adjustment in the whitest part of the clouds you will see a big change in the appearance of the image. Try it and you may like it better.

"Mist" is a very clean image. Your temple has the metal fence in the foreground that acts as a distraction. If you took the picture over the fence so it did not show the fence then the image would be cleaner.

On the left there is that "thing" that has all the guide wires all over the place. That is also a major distraction from the temple. If it were me and I were putting it in a calendar I'd clone it and all those ugly wires out of the scene.

Thanks for your comments. I did tried to do white point adjustment, but it blow away the highlights. Anyway, I'm new to PS and might have missed out on better ways to do so.

Also, I tried to clone the wires, but traces were still visible. I have been able to clone small things, but how to clone such major element without leaving traces? Pl help. I need to learn :)

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

03/08/2006 03:15:02 AM · #4

Bump

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/08/2006 03:55:36 AM · #5

I agree with stdavidson about the distracting elements. You are right about the white point correction. The tonality in your image leans too much in the highlights range so if you make a simple white point adjustment you'll end up making your image too flat and blown out. So you'll have to perhaps do some selective adjustments there perhaps just in the clouds. To advoid this I suggest shooting when the sun is closer to sunset/sunrise like how the Mist photo appears to have been taken. That'll give you more natural contrast to work with.

joynim

Olympus E-500 EVOLT

Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital

03/08/2006 03:55:36 AM · #6

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Originally posted by tejinder:
Please let me know how can I improve on it in post-processing. I ultimately want to have atleast 12 pictures in my collection to consider them for next year calendar :)

...

First, the Temple is a good picture, you just want to make it a little better.

A good way to improve images is to make comparisons with other similar pictures that place higher than yours. bbright's fine red ribbon winner, "Mist", is a good one for this comparison. Both images are somewhat serene scenes and of reasonably similar nature.

Even though both have similar tonal detail notice how "Mist" seems to stand out more with better contrast. It is because the whites are whiter than yours. If you make a simple white point adjustment in the whitest part of the clouds you will see a big change in the appearance of the image. Try it and you may like it better.

"Mist" is a very clean image. Your temple has the metal fence in the foreground that acts as a distraction. If you took the picture over the fence so it did not show the fence then the image would be cleaner.

On the left there is that "thing" that has all the guide wires all over the place. That is also a major distraction from the temple. If it were me and I were putting it in a calendar I'd clone it and all those ugly wires out of the scene.

stdavidson you write the most incredibly helpful critiques and comments, thanks :-)

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

03/08/2006 03:58:19 AM · #7

Your basic tool for the wires and support would be the "healing brush" tool. You enlarge a section of the image, make the diameter of the tool about twice the dimensions of the elements you are removing, make sure you set a hard-edged brush, and then alt-click a sampling point just to one side of the wire, then draw the tool along the wire. The sampling point will move with it. That's the basic approach.

Sned me the original if you wish and let me see if I can show you how in a sample job; e-mail's in profile.

Robt.

03/08/2006 04:20:00 AM · #8

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Thanks for extending help, Robert. I have just send the original image to your yahoo id. Looking forward to your "art work" and comment on how you achieved it :)

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

03/08/2006 04:22:13 AM · #9

Originally posted by yanko:

Thanks for comments but I dont think it will be possible for me to shoot again. Not again in atleast near future as I was on vacation to this place and might not be going there again. I'll surely try on local fixes, but will only be able to do it from home (in office. its work time here :)).

Message edited by author 2006-03-08 04:22:41.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

03/08/2006 04:26:48 AM · #10

Originally posted by tejinder:

Thanks for extending help, Robert. I have just send the original image to your yahoo id. Looking forward to your "art work" and comment on how you achieved it :)

IN the meanwhile, I was playing with the submitted version, very quickly.

1. I used levels/white point selection and picked a white point off a cloud that produced better tonal balance.

2. I used edit/transform.skew to square up the edges a little bit, though I can't go too far for cropping reasons.

3. I started doing some basic healing brush work in the upper left and down a few wires and across the dome; take a look at this and see what's possible. Be aware there are two modes of healing brush, "normal" and "replace"; I have to use both, and sometimes run normal over an area that's been replaced. If you try the tool yourself, using normal, you'll see what happens and why replace is sometimes a necessary option.

I'll take a look at the full-size later today.

Robt.

03/08/2006 10:40:24 AM · #11

In process of trying out what Bear suggested. Will post the modified one. Meanwhile keep pouring in words of wisdom :)

Message edited by author 2006-03-08 10:41:07.