A Few From my Church - C&C Needed

redleash

I shot about 200 at my church a few days ago, all exterior. I've been asked to submit some for use in the newsletter, so I'd like some C&C on these. I have a few others I will post and will try to grab a few more with softer light sometime this week. I will also be posting a few interior shots I took last spring.

Thanks,
Lauren

1. Front entrance and steeple


2. Garden and columbarium, from steps of small chapel


3. Gate to garden


4. Gate in B&W, with Orton effect - does this work?

DaddyO

Hey Lauren.
I'll be brief so please forgive. Any CC is IMHO & non expert.
Keep in mind I'd be hard pressed to do better. Heres some thoughts.

For #1 I'd try to get a shot that doesn't include limb to upper left
and if possible a view clear to the top of the building. Keeping the
vertical lines as vertical as possible and well balanced left right.
I see there are lots of nice ol trees you have to manage.

I think the 2 garden shots are pretty nice for use as is. Good to go
save for saying you might try for better balance of vertical lines in #1.
I think it leans more left than it needs to. And that area is more seen
in weight than the right. At least for me. The open gate to the garden
is a nice touch.

The BW is subtle in orton effect and is a good shot. My eye moves
through the picture very well. I'm invited in and up the steps.

That sums up 2 cents worth. Michael

Jack'll do

Hi Lauren. Another $.02
Michael's comments are right on the money but I would only add that in #3 I'd like to see the top of the gate not cropped off. I don't think the B&W would work for a newsletter. I'd like to see #4 in portrait crop and if possible showing the whole gate (but as I look at it and #3 I see that you cropped landscape so as not to include the columbarium in the scene). I think a view straight into the garden from outside with gate slightly open and church doors centered would work well for a newsletter (you probably have one in your unprocessed pile).

Azzaro

Hi Lauren......



I think that this is a really nice picture and the best in the set. All I did was straighten up the verticals. You got really good saturation and color. The composition is good and a center of interest........

Jack and DaddyO covered the pictures.... A couple of thoughts, find a good article on histograms and read it. Then compare the examples of correctly exposed pictures to the ones you have taken. The histogram is a great tool and I use it more all the time. Where was your exposure comp. set when you shot these?????

I think that it is best to show all vertical formats at 600 pixels high and horizontal formats at min. 800 pixels wide to 1200.

redleash

Thanks to all for your excellent comments--I agree with all of them! I do have some unprocessed shots of the full gate, so I will look for a couple of better ones. I knew the Orton would not work for a newsletter and I should have said so; I just wanted to know if I was on the right track with the effect b/c I have not had much luck with it to date.

The trees are indeed hard to work with. As I was leaving church this morning--with my camera in my truck just in case--I took a look at the sanctuary and there is no good way to get the main portion without trees! I have a couple that I took looking straight up but to me they don't work. I will probably post one and get your thoughts.

Azzaro--you have reminded me before about using the histogram. I will try to make that a self-imposed homework assignment in the next couple of weeks. I do look at it in camera but not every time. More often than not, I have clipped shadows and underexposed shots, which is why I often bracket my shots--which I did not do in this series. I'm trying to do better, honest I am . . . As for the photo you asked about, it was on Manual exposure, f11 at 1/80, no exposure comp. I tried to fix exposure in ACR.

Lauren

redleash

Azzaro - Not sure I grasp your suggestion about the pixel width/height. Are you talking about the size I post in the forum? Or the crop size in my gallery for the finished image? Sorry for such a beginner's question!

Azzaro

redleash wrote:

Azzaro - Not sure I grasp your suggestion about the pixel width/height. Are you talking about the size I post in the forum? Or the crop size in my gallery for the finished image? Sorry for such a beginner's question!

I think that you should post them larger.....When I first started to post, kdog suggested that I post them bigger and that is the size he suggested to me. I have been doing that ever sense.

I have done Orton pictures and posted them. Sometime Orton works and sometimes it doesn't ...... I thought that your Orton technique was very good.

Another thought I always post in large, but I have large res files......A little bigger would be better.

Put your arrow on one of your pictures and right click and then properties and it will show you what size the picture you posted is. Your first pic is 360x450 pixels....

azzaro