Suwannee River Bridge

TonyCooper

Critiques welcomed.

kdog

Nice, but compressed a bit too much into the midtones. Apply a strong S curve to this image and watch it pop.

kobistar

Very nice.
I like its so authentic ...

TonyCooper

kdog wrote: »

Nice, but compressed a bit too much into the midtones. Apply a strong S curve to this image and watch it pop.

One thing that really bugs me is when someone posts an image, asks
for a critique, and then argues with the suggestions made. I don't want
to be that person, but I'll comment on this in - what I hope is a non-
argumentative way.

I use CS6, Nik, and OnOne, so I have the tools to make an image "pop".
In post, I usually try for several variations to see what is the most
effective path to a good image.

In this case, the bridge is rusty, and that rust is a dull reddish color.
When I use Curves, or any other post method to pop the image, the
red becomes too bright and too red for my taste. It isn't the bridge
that I saw.

The trees have a lot of yellow in them, and going for pop brings out
that yellow and makes the vegetation compete with the bridge itself.

Any global change seems to bring out these two problems. Using a
Hue and Saturation adjustment layer after the global change, and
altering specific colors, takes the image back to pre-pop.

I am not a fan of the HDR look. (That's a personal opinion and not
a criticism of what others do) I don't shoot a lot of nature/landscape
stuff, but I like a fairly soft and natural look color-wise when I do.

But, thanks KD, for the comment. I appreciate comments even if
I don't always follow the suggestions.

kdog

Fair enough, Tony. I actually thought this was an unfinished HDR because of what I perceive as flatness of the tonal range. But it sounds like your artistic choices are well thought out and thanks for taking my opinions in a positive spirit.