Photo help and suggestions

[Boifido]

Hi,

I'd like your opinions on 2 of my photos, as I'm having trouble deciding what creative direction to gowith them. I'll provide clickable thumbnails so the post doesn't take up too much room.

Image 1:

I'm wondering if the overexposed backround is too distracting. [What's the name for the effect where you overlay an out of focus image with an in focus one?]

Also, I'm wondering if I should tone the contrast on the rose down a bit. This is how it came out of the camera. I think it goes with the theme of the image, but it might be too much loss of detail. Should I crop it closer, or is it okay right now?

Image 2 [Ferguson Farmstead]:

Here, I'm wondering about quite a few things. Is taking the "magical" look a good idea for this photo? Would you agree that for some reason the trees in the backround look really "2d"? Do you like the treatment on the house? I definitely need to turn down the saturation on green. I'm trying to recover the pictures for right side of the image to make it wider. Right now it's totally un-cropped. In the end I'll probably crop it so the house lands in the bottom left corner. Or do you have a better crop idea?

I'm going to work on making the image with better trees right now, as that seems to be the biggest problem to me at the moment.

Image 3 [Ferguson Farmstead 2]:

On this one I need comments on the overall feel, and if the shadows and perspective look right.

Image 4 [Harvest Field 1]:

I'd appreciate any answers to my questions, or any comment in general.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Boifido

[crazzy88ss]

first photo isn't working.

[Boifido]

first photo isn't working.

As in the link?

Is it fixed now? I think it's because I updated the photo without changing the link.

[Boifido]

added 3rd picture, thought I'd bump and see if anyone has any comments.

[Prince Charming]

I quite like the Rose pretty much the way it is. You *might* contemplate a black and white conversion because of the strength in the red channel of that image, but be wary and it may not work - roses are colourful. It may become completely trash in B&W.

As for the farmsteads, they're just too much. Be very selective and controlled in your use of tonemapping, its overuse is not a bad thing. In the first one, the grass is definately too much, and needs taking back a peg. In the second one, the shop is seriously obvious and looks out of place.

In both though, the rule of thirds composure, while textbook, is a tad boring and the farmhouse and its environment just don't really get on. Try something a little difference with regards to placement of the farmhouse. You'll find something that works.

Good work on the rose though, and don't be put off! Keep at it :)

[Boifido]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm trying to learn how to do composite images in photoshop, so I'm doing Farmstead 2 as practice. I was trying to start with something easy, with just the house, grass and sky.

What looks so 'shopped about FS2? I'm trying to get the perspective on the house right, and get shadows in the right places. Even if FS2 isn't going to be a masterpeice, it's simplicity is a good place to start imho, so I'd at-least like to make it look "good"

Yea and farmstead 1 the original PSD is proper saturation, I must have increased it just before uploading.

I appreciate your help, I'll try the rose B&W. Do you remember the name for when you layer an out of exposure image with an exposed one. I can't remember and it's bugging me.

Brodie

[Prince Charming]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm trying to learn how to do composite images in photoshop, so I'm doing Farmstead 2 as practice. I was trying to start with something easy, with just the house, grass and sky.

What looks so 'shopped about FS2? I'm trying to get the perspective on the house right, and get shadows in the right places. Even if FS2 isn't going to be a masterpeice, it's simplicity is a good place to start imho, so I'd at-least like to make it look "good"

Yea and farmstead 1 the original PSD is proper saturation, I must have increased it just before uploading.

I appreciate your help, I'll try the rose B&W. Do you remember the name for when you layer an out of exposure image with an exposed one. I can't remember and it's bugging me.

Brodie

The shopped about FS2 is hard to pin down. To my eye, it just looks very obviously shopped, I just noticed that at a quick glance. Looking more carefully about it, it's probably just what the eye sees and expects. The sun from the sky is behind the farmstead, but it's lit from the front. That and the way it goes into the grass I suppose.

[mDagar]

Honestly, I'm not keen on any of them.

The one with the flower has some weird artifacts in the middle of the image. I'm not sure where those are coming from... It looks a little odd to me. I would have been better if the flower was facing the camera, and we weren't looking at the side of it.

I think the first of the two with the house is the better of the two.

The sky in the second image looks like it was shot with a wide angle/fish. One would think that the grass/field and the house would also be distorted.

[Boifido]

Honestly, I'm not keen on any of them.

The one with the flower has some weird artifacts in the middle of the image. I'm not sure where those are coming from... It looks a little odd to me. I would have been better if the flower was facing the camera, and we weren't looking at the side of it.

I think the first of the two with the house is the better of the two.

The sky in the second image looks like it was shot with a wide angle/fish. One would think that the grass/field and the house would also be distorted.

Thanks guys,

Now that you mention it, the sky does look like it was taken with a fisheye lens. Next time I'm taking cloud picture I'll try and be farther away and use zoom, so it doesn't get the distortion of tripod swivel.

I really appreciate the help, and next time I start a composite image (As this was my first one) I'll look for more compatible pictures. This is the first time I've really used photoshop beyond normal tweaking/fixing, so I'm amazed at how many features there are.

[Boifido]

Updated version:

How do you guys like the changes? I desaturated it and IMO fixed the perspective.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Boifido

[Si_]

I like where you're going with it, but the lighting looks bizarre. There is heavy shadows/contrast in the clouds yet the grass is lit up like a christmas tree, there's no obvious source of light for that much brightness considering the sun is mostly hidden behind some rather stormy looking clouds.

[Boifido]

I like where you're going with it, but the lighting looks bizarre. There is heavy shadows/contrast in the clouds yet the grass is lit up like a christmas tree, there's no obvious source of light for that much brightness considering the sun is mostly hidden behind some rather stormy looking clouds.

Yea, I need to go back and re-do it, I went overboard on the dodging and burning. I need to stop doing photoshop at night with impaired judgment :). I need to get a realistic shadow on the house, I think there was some way of doing that in photoshop, I'll look it up. Right now I just have a blobby shadow.

My newest photo is turning out quite nicely in my opinion, but it always helps to have other views that see stuff I won't. Somone pointed out that there was a distracting yellow tree in the right hand corner, that I've now removed. I still need to work on the skyline blending a bit. Any comment/criticism is appreciated. :