LPS3 - a little bit of each

eoren1

Went out looking for picturesque, ended up with a bit of both (I hope).
1. Does this work?
2. Which do you prefer?
Thanks!
E
Original


Watercolor effect:


Processed in Photomatix Pro - HDRish:


I can try a reshoot tomorrow hoping for a better sky with more detail.
E

GREAPER

I love the boats, but (and it could just be me) but I dont e for the urban background. I guess to me, picturesque suggests somthing peaceful, like a smal fishing village, or a beach or a tropical island or something like that in the background.

I like the pictures, the second one is best IMHO, but I dont think I get picturesque.

Perhaps the one blue boat is irregular?

eoren1

GREAPER wrote:

I love the boats, but (and it could just be me) but I dont e for the urban background. I guess to me, picturesque suggests somthing peaceful, like a smal fishing village, or a beach or a tropical island or something like that in the background.

I like the pictures, the second one is best IMHO, but I dont think I get picturesque.

Perhaps the one blue boat is irregular?

Thanks GREAPER. Agree about picturesque. Real tough to find anything picturesque in 30 degree weather!
Does this one work for anyone? Went back for a reshoot as the clouds changed. I'm not crazy about it. Figured I could get in on irregular and push the background enough to make it on picturesque as well. If this doesn't work, would greatly appreciate a quick post to push me to think of something else.
These aren't getting any easier, are they????
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heatherfeather

The way I see it, this one looks a ton warmer and the light is better. I like it a bunch better, but still the city scape is a detraction from picturesque IMHO.

But what do I know, I am just learning with the rest of you!

ChrisJ

I like the boats, but my eyes keep jumping between the cityscape and the sailboats. The clouds definitely look best in your most recent shot. If it was me, I would either try to isolate the boats and really go for the blue being irregular, or take a nice cityscape (at night?).

amy wilburn

love the much warmer light in your most recent version, the buoy on the left distracts me a little

I, too, can see the photo as both picturesque and irregular, but don't know about the judges:)

ideally, I guess we could all keep trying to take a better pic throughout the contest period and make our final decision towards the end...in all the spare time we have

eoren1

Thanks Heather, Chris and Amy!
The more I look at the shot, the more I agree. I couldn't get the angle right for the more 'picturesque' part of our skyline - the prudential and john hancock buildings. The not-yet green trees also don't help matters.
I, quite naively, thought that this was one was going to be easier than the past two but alas, back to wandering the streets thinkging "is that irregular? is it picturesque??"
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richtersl

What's not helping with the "picturesque thing" in your area and mine is the lack of early spring greenery this year. :

But here's an idea: how about grabbing a tripod and trying that shot at dusk? The water will be still and you might catch some nice reflections. Or wait until just after dark and try it with the city lights in the background?

winger

richtersl wrote:

What's not helping with the "picturesque thing" your area and mine is tha lack of early spring greenery this year. :

But here's an idea: how about grabbing a tripod and trying that shot at dusk? The water will be still and you might catch some nice reflections. Or wait until just after dark and try it with the city lights in the background?

Oh yeah that sounds like a good idea!

I was trying to think what would make that shot better cause the sky line is defaintly detracking from teh boats, which do look cool.

Maybe bring a flashlight along for some fun light painting on a long exposure.

eoren1

winger wrote:

Oh yeah that sounds like a good idea!

I was trying to think what would make that shot better cause the sky line is defaintly detracking from teh boats, which do look cool.

Maybe bring a flashlight along for some fun light painting on a long exposure.

Great idea you two. I'll try that out in the next few days.
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eoren1

Think I got it - help me choose please
As suggested above, I went back to this spot at sunset and waited for the lights to come on across the Charles river. Used the kit lens to go wide and a tripod to manage to 2-4 second exposures at f/8. Got lots of photos and played with different RAW processors and settings. Please help me pick out the strongest one and/or point out any other tweaks I need to make.
Thanks!
E

1. Lightroom


2. Lightroom


3. C1pro with noise reduction (iso800 to freeze the boat)


4. Lightroom


4. C1pro


4. C1pro with a curve adjustment - My Favorite of the set


5. C1 pro

Swartzy

#4 Lightroom
More realistic sky.....better water & reflection. Would darken the whole thing just a bit with a curves adjustment layer and bring out more pop. Set the black point and you'll have it.....Might need to paint on a mask but it'll be worth it. Good shooting.

eoren1

Swartzy wrote:

More realistic sky.....better water & reflection. Would darken the whole thing just a bit with a curves adjustment layer and bring out more pop. Set the black point and you'll have it.....Might need to paint on a mask but it'll be worth it. Good shooting.

Thanks Swartzy.
How's this?



Adjusted Curves in Lightroom with a -6 for darks and +6 for shadows. Changed the curve to a strong contrast one as well.
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Swartzy

Yes...better!
Now here's a thought as you are working with this.....pretty as a picture.....a beautiful painting.......show that in the photo...make it stand out....make a statement.....like anyone who looks at it has to say to themselves, "Man, I just gotta have that!".

You're close....but think the sky can have some pop appeal to make those specular highlights of the city captivate the viewer and use the boats as foreground subjects, not THE subjects. At least what I'm seeing in my mind's eye.

eoren1

Making me work for it...

Swartzy wrote:

Now here's a thought as you are working with this.....pretty as a picture.....a beautiful painting.......show that in the photo...make it stand out....make a statement.....like anyone who looks at it has to say to themselves, "Man, I just gotta have that!".

You're close....but think the sky can have some pop appeal to make those specular highlights of the city captivate the viewer and use the boats as foreground subjects, not THE subjects. At least what I'm seeing in my mind's eye.

Alright Swartzy,
Got three more for you.
Pulled out the sky in another layer - played with levels and contrast a bit


Cropped


Watercolor effect - looks more like a painting now, huh?

richtersl

The regular cropped version looks good! The water color version looks a bit over processed. The only thing left to do (and it's just minor) would be to figure out a way to delineate the cover of the middle sailboat from the water. If you can run the burn tool along its top and be ever so subtle with it, that might just do the trick and separate it from the water.

eoren1

richtersl wrote:

The regular cropped version looks good! The water color version looks a bit over processed. The only thing left to do (and it's just minor) would be to figure out a way to delineate the cover of the middle sailboat from the water. If you can run the burn tool along its top and be ever so subtle with it, that might just do the trick and separate it from the water.

Good point about the canopy. Used the burn tool with a 5% exposure nearest the water edge then a 3% just below. Reran with the 3% for good measure.
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Off to sleep now but hoping that I'll get a few more thoughts overnight. I'll be able to play with it a bit more in the afternoon/evening.
Thanks everyone!!!
E