Going through Old Photos - DPChallenge Forums

02/18/2004 04:13:02 PM · #1

Sometimes it pays to go back and look through photos that you thought had no potential. As I was making back up CDs, I found this one, taken back in November, and saw something I had not seen initially.

Played in PS a little and decided to make a print of it.

Comments are welcomed.

MikeO

Fujifilm x100

02/18/2004 04:23:11 PM · #2

Thats a fine photo Mario

02/19/2004 12:45:28 PM · #3

Originally posted by chinstrap:

Thats a fine photo Mario

Thank you.

Sometimes when you take a picture, you do it because you saw something there. Later, when you look at it, you somehow don't get the same feeling anymore. Going back at another moment, perhaps when you're in a different mood, will regenerate some interest in the photo. You play with it a little, and presto...you've got something you like.

RHoldenSr

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

02/19/2004 01:15:04 PM · #4

Mario

Very nice, I really like this shot.
I can hear the birds singing and the critters rustling in the leaves.

Question:
Is this the original or is it cropped?

I would like to see a version with just a tad less of the gray sky.

Nice work :)

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

02/19/2004 02:36:50 PM · #5

Nice shot Mario. I agree with Calvus, I would have preferred a little less gray sky and a little more foreground.

I actually spend a lot of time going through my old photos too. It's for a couple of reasons. I like to find photos that I didn't notice before like you are talking about plus I like to go back and apply new editing techniques to old photos to try to make them better. I find it a lot of fun to do.

T

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

02/19/2004 03:08:33 PM · #6

Originally posted by timj351:

Nice shot Mario. I agree with Calvus, I would have preferred a little less gray sky and a little more foreground.

The photo is pretty much uncropped, except for getting it to 9.5 x 14.5 to leave room for a 1/4 border all around. I did, however, leave the sky and crop at the bottom, because I did not want to bring that horizon too close to the middle (rule of 3rds thingy).

I'll look at it more closely with your thoughts in mind. Thanks to you and Calvus for the input.

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

02/19/2004 04:02:19 PM · #7

I understand your point Mario and it is usully good to try to avoid a horizon line in the exact middle of the photo. I think the composition is fine the way it is. My point, in agreeement with Calvus, had more to do with the amount of gray or white sky showing, which is normally considered to be less attractive. You could easily leave it just the way it is and it would be perfectly good. Sometimes I like to take photos like this and try to compensate for something like the gray sky by getting a little artsy. Maybe try black and white by using the Channel Mixer (or similar filter), other artistic filters or different kinds of cropping. It's alway good to experiment.

T

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

02/19/2004 04:11:31 PM · #8

Originally posted by timj351:

If it's a nice even gray, select it with the magic wand tool and either tweak the colors of the sky or drop in a photo of a more interesting one.

Message edited by author 2004-02-19 16:11:46.

RHoldenSr

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

02/19/2004 05:15:20 PM · #9

Mario I hope you do not mind me trying out my editing skills.

You can always add a little cheer:

Working with the web version is a little rough but it looks pretty nice I think.

Photoshop:

Layer/Duplicate Layer

Select/Color Range (white/gray sky)

Select/Save Selection

Edit/Cut (Sky)

Edit/Paste (Paste sky to new layer)

Layer/Matting/Defringe (New sky layer)
(3 pixels or etc. smooth edges around the branches and etc.)

Select/Reselect
(Sky on new layer)

Gradient Fill
(Get the sky color from another photo with eye dropper)

Gradient Fill the selected sky
(Use multiply and you can get nice cloud effects by dragging the gradient from various directions)

Looks good and prints pretty nice also.

Message edited by author 2004-02-19 17:51:59.