umbria sunset

PHOTOempt · April 30, 2009

these are a series that i did a few weeks ago near home, in umbria, italy. of the many blend and stitch combinations that i brought home, these are the final collection. any comments happily received. regards, sarah

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

6:

dlplumer · April 30, 2009

Beautiful set. 2 is my fav. Love Italy

Dan

Tango · April 30, 2009

#5 catches my eye of the group, very nice how the tree line flows.
what a beautiful area and scene.

PHOTOempt · April 30, 2009

thanks for kind comments. what bothers me about this series is the slightly dull foreground. tried hard to 'perk it up' but it's really just that sort of colour and that's the way it was that evening, but it just seemed a bit flat. any thoughts?

Tango · April 30, 2009

gradient darkening would be a choice

PHOTOempt · May 1, 2009

AaronNelson wrote:

gradient darkening would be a choice

yes, i wondered if i had lightened them up too much in the foreground. they are all blends of exposures for sky and foreground, and i was torn between maintaining a dark foreground ("where's the detail?") and lightening it up to allow detail (slightly boring colours, with no light to make it more interesting) i don't really need the gradient - i can just go back to the originals of the 2 images used in each case, and change the balance on the foreground exposure, but i'm not sure whether losing the foreground detail is acceptable...... thanks

Tango · May 1, 2009

im only referring to #5, but i dont think your going to want to lose the detail of the house or greenish field either, maybe just crop a little off the bottom if you think that will help...??

PHOTOempt · May 1, 2009

AaronNelson wrote:

im only referring to #5, but i dont think your going to want to lose the detail of the house or greenish field either, maybe just crop a little off the bottom if you think that will help...??

hi aaron, i tried cropping and wasn't happy, so being curious, needing instant gratification, and too lazy to go back to ps, i tried your suggestion of the grad filter in lr. i think it works, so have applied variations of same to the others. i think my eye was getting caught on the lightness of a lot of dead looking trees in the foreground, and that it is now better, even with subtle change. what do you think? anyone else?

Before:

After:

Tango · May 1, 2009

it seems to me you went to high with the grad. IMO there should have been no change from the base of the home to the top of the frame.
it looks like you lost the sunset colors too...

start the grad on the very bottom and go no higher than mid field under the home...

also, imo i think you went to dark.

PHOTOempt · May 2, 2009

AaronNelson wrote:

it seems to me you went to high with the grad. IMO there should have been no change from the base of the home to the top of the frame.
it looks like you lost the sunset colors too...

start the grad on the very bottom and go no higher than mid field under the home...

also, imo i think you went to dark.

hmm - actually i started the grad from the base and went to half way up the grass below the house. as i check i:1, there is no difference on the house exposure, and certainly none on the sunset. wonder if that is a screen calibration issue? i do agree that maybe i pushed the exposure down too far, so have reached a compromise. i won't post it again, because i think we're into super - nit-picky issues here, which are probably lost in viewing on the thread,and probably because we've flogged this one enough!! onto other images, but i really appreciate your input, as it has helped me see what i liked and didn't like about the image. thanks , aaron.

redleash · May 2, 2009

I liked #5 in its original state. I like the lines and the colors. I am a bit distracted by the tree in the middle at the very bottom--maybe that's why Aaron suggested a crop? If you could crop it without losing the dark line of trees below the house, IMO it would be OK. But that "secondary" line, to me, echoes the tree line that includes the house--almost like a reflection.

I would keep working at it--personally, I think these images have loads of potential. I like the scene a lot!

Cheers,
Lauren

Jack'll do · May 2, 2009

I think that the after shot that you posted is much improved as compared to the before. In the before, the foreground appears too busy and captures the eye searching for a subject. In the after shot, my eye at least is drawn to the house and sunset above it which I would imagine is what you want.

PHOTOempt · May 2, 2009

Jack'll do wrote:

I think that the after shot that you posted is much improved as compared to the before. In the before, the foreground appears too busy and captures the eye searching for a subject. In the after shot, my eye at least is drawn to the house and sunset above it which I would imagine is what you want.

i agree - my feeling was that the foreground was too light and drawing attention to itself, which is what i think lauren is also saying. that tree smack in the middle is an oak full of dead leaves, and waiting for greenery of spring time, when the light brown leaves will be replaced. i shall play around some more with these images, but i was thinking today that i will need to go back when the trees have greened up, and all that foreground is a different colour!! thanks to both of you, jack and lauren, for commenting.
cheers, sarah

egiesker · May 2, 2009

PHOTOempt wrote:

hmm - actually i started the grad from the base and went to half way up the grass below the house. as i check i:1, there is no difference on the house exposure, and certainly none on the sunset. wonder if that is a screen calibration issue? i do agree that maybe i pushed the exposure down too far, so have reached a compromise. i won't post it again, because i think we're into super - nit-picky issues here, which are probably lost in viewing on the thread,and probably because we've flogged this one enough!! onto other images, but i really appreciate your input, as it has helped me see what i liked and didn't like about the image. thanks , aaron.

I think your right, it might be a calibration issue. I looked at both, before and after. Toggling back and forth between the two and the only difference l can see is the darker section on the bottom. No change in the upper portion at all. FWIW, Ernie

umbria sunset

Comments