Could use critiques. What did I do wrong?

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/27/2007 01:28:24 AM · #1

Anybody help me to develop a way to take images such as this in a better way?

crayon

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1

04/27/2007 01:34:15 AM · #2

too sharpened, IMHO

(see below, thanks)

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 02:13:07.

Gringo

Nikon D2X

04/27/2007 01:39:55 AM · #3

What is your favorite part of this shot June? What is it that made you stop to shoot the picture and what do you like least about it? Lets start there.

04/27/2007 01:41:39 AM · #4

Originally posted by crayon:

too sharpened, IMHO

Thanks. Where does it seem too sharpened? Is it the water? Or the buildings? Like, should I blur part of the image? Also, I am trying to take a series of buildings, barns, farms etc. I liked this one because of the water. Since I really want to do farmscapes, I could use some tips and pointers. Are farmscapes uninteresting and boring, or is there a certain way to convey them in a more appealing and pleasing manner.

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/27/2007 01:43:11 AM · #5

Originally posted by Gringo:

What is your favorite part of this shot June? What is it that made you stop to shoot the picture and what do you like least about it? Lets start there.

The water and the reflection is what brought me to the image most. I don't like the power lines or the phone poles. Not sure I have the skill to clone them out successfully. I have others of just the barn, but it seemed lacking in some way, so I thought a shot with the water would make it better.

Gringo

Nikon D2X

04/27/2007 01:47:37 AM · #6

It's not a "Bad" shot June... but there are some things I would consider before I took the shot.

I see the house clearly, and it is positioned in such a way that it is the focal point of the shot. The barn is difficult to see through the trees. The water is a great touch, but not so important that you hide the barn. Now what you have is a house... it's a great house, as houses go.... but it's not the old country barn now. The wires are also a distraction.

Does that make sense?

Is it possible to re-shoot from a different angle?

I think if you could walk to the right a few feet and place the tree in the center of the shot so it falls in front of the right side of the barn it would also move the barn from behind the tree and the blurred branches in the foreground would also be removed. (I do know that most often it's just not that easy and the gater would bite you or something).

What I do like about the shot:
I love the low-angle light and long shadows across the water.
I like the rolling trees as a soft and non distracting background.
Love the fence posts and the highlight area in the water just before the dark bank on the other side.
Your coloring on this is superb. I like the golden light and the natural tones.

I hope that helps some. At least you know the thoughts going through this viewer�s head.

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 02:57:34.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/27/2007 01:52:18 AM · #7

Doesn't look over sharpened to me ... but I would have liked to see just a tad more over the house so that the bank would be along the Rule of Thirds line.

My photoshop also tells me that it could use a 1.2 degree CW rotation to make the bank and the roof of the house horizontal ...

But I think it is a pretty nice shot all in all ...

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 01:57:07.

crayon

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1

04/27/2007 02:12:46 AM · #8

Originally posted by JunieMoon:

Originally posted by crayon:
too sharpened, IMHO

Thanks. Where does it seem too sharpened? Is it the water? Or the buildings? Like, should I blur part of the image? Also, I am trying to take a series of buildings, barns, farms etc. I liked this one because of the water. Since I really want to do farmscapes, I could use some tips and pointers. Are farmscapes uninteresting and boring, or is there a certain way to convey them in a more appealing and pleasing manner.

sorry, to be more specific, i was referring to the trees, especially the branches. the look like dots more than lines due to the distance. maybe over-sharpened is the wrong description. maybe you just need a bigger canvas to include all those details. just a thought.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/27/2007 02:16:29 AM · #9

There is a lot to like about this image...
I agree with Greetmir that sharpness looks good, I see little hint of oversharpening, but I'm not looking on a sharpness sensitive monitor. Minute fine detail looks good. Overall technicals are fine. Brightness and compositional balance are nice; color looks to be slightly muted and that works with this scene; center spliting the scene between land and water reflection is very nice; the capture with steam off the water is one of the most appealing aspects of the picture.

There are three things I don't like...
1-As mentioned the black wires in front of the barn and house and what looks to be a thick cable from the house are distractions that should be cloned out or muted a lot if left in the image.

2-The barn is in shadow. Using a "vivid white" brush to brighten and add more interest to the barn might be a good idea.

3-On the right there are brown branch-like reflections in the water that look artificial and unrelated to the rest of the scene, almost as if they were crudely painted with a brush in the image editor. Perhaps they are reflections of nearby overhead branches not visible in the scene. In any regard they are distracting and it might improve the composition if they were removed.

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 02:18:21.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR

04/27/2007 02:28:50 AM · #10

Originally posted by stdavidson:

3-On the right there are brown branch-like reflections in the water that look artificial and unrelated to the rest of the scene, almost as if they were crudely painted with a brush in the image editor. Perhaps they are reflections of nearby overhead branches not visible in the scene. In any regard they are distracting and it might improve the composition if they were removed.

I think they look like severely out of focus forground bush branches.

Ozzie

Nikon D90

04/27/2007 02:51:59 AM · #11

I would have taken the shot at different times of the day, such as early morning or just after the sunset to get a different effect.

Canon EF 28-200 f/3.5 - 5.6 USM

04/27/2007 07:29:33 AM · #12

Thanks everybody. I will go back and shoot the scene in sunset light next time, but I will wait until the water recedes. There is no bank currently. Water is so high that the 20 feet of beach that stretches out from where I was standing is totally under water. Different angle, and more focus on the barn, which is what I really want. Just a more attractive composition overall.
I will be trying to shoot other barns and farms as time permits. The best light seems to be? I will keep to 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset, then a few dusk shots to try a few different moods with other farm style subjects.

BakerBug

Canon EOS-20D

04/27/2007 07:39:33 AM · #13

Left you a comment. :-)

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/27/2007 07:59:01 AM · #14

I am editing this picture but I am out of time this morning so I will post my ideas tonight.

04/27/2007 08:13:19 AM · #15

Not a farm scene, but I have just read a message left by jdannels in the black and white thread about using channel mixer to obtain nice black and white effects. I did not totally go black and white but used the channel mixer with a gray mask and adjusting the red channel only. Can't believe how this changed the whole look of this image. Original is on bottom of what I posted to the 30 days of where you live side challenge. I am still uncovering things with my editing program, Photo Impact. Though it isn't totally like Photoshop, I can gain many of the same editing results using it. This is one thing I never tried before. I love the affect so much that I think I will begin using it a bit more. It is wonderful when something gets posted on dp in the forums, and I can apply some of the ideas. That is why I love this site so much.

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 08:17:26.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/27/2007 08:46:23 AM · #16

I don't think it is a boring shot at ALL!

But ... I do think you lost quite a bit of detail in the shadows and highlights ...

I hope you don't mind that I played with it for a minute. What do you think?

... and here with even more dynamic range due to multiply and screen layers.

It would have looked better if worked on from a more high res master.

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 09:05:09.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

04/27/2007 08:54:45 AM · #17

Originally posted by crayon:

too sharpened, IMHO

Just curious... are you viewing this with an LCD monitor? (just looking for trends)

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

04/27/2007 09:08:11 AM · #18

Well the levels, curves, and dynamic range can be played with without the USM.

I am using an LG Studioworks 995E calibrated RGB monitor at 1280 X 960 resolution.

OH ... you are talking to CRAYON ... LOL

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 09:18:00.

Phil

Canon EOS-7D

04/27/2007 09:08:44 AM · #19

No one has brought up the first thing I saw so it makes me wonder if I'm the only one who sees the tilt? Am I leaning? :D

bassbone

Nikon Df

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

04/27/2007 09:10:55 AM · #20

Greetmir brought it up with one of his first comments.

Originally posted by dudephil:

No one has brought up the first thing I saw so it makes me wonder if I'm the only one who sees the tilt? Am I leaning? :D

04/27/2007 09:11:26 AM · #21

Well landscapes like that can be deceiving with the rolling hills and the trees leaning in all directions obscuring the horizon. One cannot tell what IS level.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/27/2007 09:13:18 AM · #22

Oh ... dudephil is talking about the TOP one. I gotta stop these all nighters. ROFL!

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 09:19:34.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/27/2007 09:22:59 AM · #23

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by crayon:
too sharpened, IMHO

Just curious... are you viewing this with an LCD monitor? (just looking for trends)

Can't speak for crayon, but I have noticed that the LCD monitors I see images on tend to be more hypersensitive to sharpness than CRT screens. In fact, when concerned about sharpness I check images on an LCD to see if it is oversharpened. If appears oversharpened on the LCD I back it off.

Phil

Canon EOS-7D

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

04/27/2007 09:29:10 AM · #24

Originally posted by Greetmir:

Well landscapes like that can be deceiving with the rolling hills and the trees leaning in all directions obscuring the horizon. One cannot tell what IS level.

Oops. You edited so I must edit! :D

Message edited by author 2007-04-27 09:30:01.