SF# -- possibilities

LiquidAir · May 24, 2007

I still have a few irons in the fire, but here are some candidates

First, my latest still life:

1) Pair

Then some shots from my afternoon at Point Reyes

2) Barn at Pierce Point #1

3) Barn at Pierce Point #2

4) McClure's Beach

5) I Dream of the Sea

6) Confluence

sunita · May 24, 2007

I like the first two - prefer the 1st. Have you tried changing the background color on that - somehow the blue is a little too...blue.

The 3rd one is too centered and does not really lead the eye to anything. The beach/water pics. are nice, but don't really grab my attention

Good luck!
Sunita

pyroPrints.com · May 24, 2007

I think #1. 5 is nice too but it way too soft.

Nikolai · May 24, 2007

Ken,
#1, maybe consider a tighter crop

richtersl · May 24, 2007

My favorites are #1 and #5.

On #1 I agree with Nikolai about the crop. I rather like the blue and lavender tones in that photo.

I like the texture created by the waves on #5. But I find the rocks a bit too dark. Is there any way you can dodge the ones in the foreground a bit to bring out some more of their texture? It would be interesting to see them mimic the texture of the waves.

annnna8888 · May 24, 2007

As already suggested, #1 cropped on the left and top. The three landscapes are nice, but they lack something that grabs you, IMHO.
Good luck!

Ana

LiquidAir · May 24, 2007

Thanks for all your comments.

On #1: I was trying to give the pears something of an isloated feeling, but I see from your comments I missed that mark. Before I give up on that idea I am going to try putting in a gradient to fade the blue out to black in the distance to see if that improves the sense of space in the shot. If that doesn't work, I'll crop it tighter.

On #5: The softness of that shot was not orignally intentional. I set up that shot too close to the waves and could not keep the lens dry for all the mist in the air. I found the diffuse feeling of that shot strangely evocative and included it in the set with essentially no post (just a couple minor tweaks in Lightroom). I'll take it into Photoshop and see what I can find. Among other things, there likely is some recoverable detail in the rocks

BistiArt · May 24, 2007

Ephemeral Quality

LiquidAir wrote:

6) Confluence

Normally, I would not repeat an image; but this image has many subtle lines which eventually draw your eye to the soft, pastel sky.

Ken, it has a truly haunting quality...

Would blends help that quality become ephemeral?

The title "Confluence..." is certainly poised to say it all!

LiquidAir · May 24, 2007

BistiArt wrote:

Normally, I would not repeat an image; but this image has many subtle lines which eventually draw your eye to the soft, pastel sky.

Ken, it has a truly haunting quality...

Would blends help that quality become ephemeral?

The title "Confluence..." is certainly poised to say it all!

Thank you for your kind comments.

I find this shot and others like it very challenging in post. In my eyes, its much of its fundamental appeal is its subtlety. How do you add pop to it without losing that? Too much saturation makes it look harsh. Too much contrast blows out the color in the highlights. Heavy sharpening is wrong in many was. I know I am not done with this shot, but right now my vision for where it needs to go is failing me.

Here is another shot in the same light with a slightly heavier hand in Photoshop. I darkened the image a bit to leave room for more color in the highights.

quark · May 25, 2007

I really like #3 but I have a thing for barns. The beach scenes are not unique enough in my opinion, so #1 is my second pick. Your still life work seems to be popular so maybe it is best to play to your strength.

richtersl · May 25, 2007

LiquidAir wrote:

On #5: The softness of that shot was not orignally intentional. I set up that shot too close to the waves and could not keep the lens dry for all the mist in the air. I found the diffuse feeling of that shot strangely evocative and included it in the set with essentially no post (just a couple minor tweaks in Lightroom). I'll take it into Photoshop and see what I can find. Among other things, there likely is some recoverable detail in the rocks

Try adding some Gaussian blur to that one to bring out the diffuse quality a bit more.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

quark wrote:

I really like #3 but I have a thing for barns. The beach scenes are not unique enough in my opinion, so #1 is my second pick. Your still life work seems to be popular so maybe it is best to play to your strength.

I really like #3 too. Following Nik's rule of

, that shot is first the one of this set that I would print 20x30. It is a full resolution capture from a 5D, sharp as a tack and has great texture and detail. My hesitation about it is I feel it loses quite a bit when rendered as an low rez JPEG. #4 has even more of the same problem--amazing at full rez; generic at web resolution.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

richtersl wrote:

Try adding some Gaussian blur to that one to bring out the diffuse quality a bit more.

I'll try that. So far that shot has defeated me in Photoshop, but some extra glow might be just the trick.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

Thanks for all your suggestions. Here is a new pass at Pair

pyroPrints.com · May 25, 2007

i like it

photogmomma · May 25, 2007

I really like the new one! The was my pick initially, too....

Good luck!

saurora · May 25, 2007

That's a definite improvement!

Nikolai · May 25, 2007

Ken,
very neat!

richtersl · May 25, 2007

LiquidAir wrote:

I'll try that. So far that shot has defeated me in Photoshop, but some extra glow might be just the trick.

Don't sweat it too much. Your pear shot is AWESOME!!!

Robert · May 25, 2007

Although not my stile, there’s something about the composition and colour scheme I like about #1.
Version 2 of #1 is even better.

ChrisJ · May 25, 2007

I think you entered the right one. I like the barn as well, but it's missing that extra something that grabs you (maybe someone/thing in the doorway).

Nice work.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

Thanks pyro, Andi, saurora, and Nik. I feel like I am beginning to converge on my original vision for this shot.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

richtersl wrote:

Don't sweat it too much. Your pear shot is AWESOME!!!

Thanks.

I still want to work that wave shot because there is a feeling in it I want to capture. It was an accident this time around but I get my head around it so next time I am taking pictures waves at sunset I know what I am shooting for.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

Robert wrote:

Although not my stile, there’s something about the composition and colour scheme I like about #1.
Version 2 of #1 is even better.

Thanks. I have been wanting to work in blue and gold for a while now. I saw that pear candle in a gift shop a few weeks ago and I knew right off it was a candidate for this color scheme. I have to say, though, I have new found respect for the folks who do stage lighting; blending colored lights to get the effect you want is harder than it looks.

LiquidAir · May 25, 2007

ChrisJ wrote:

I think you entered the right one. I like the barn as well, but it's missing that extra something that grabs you (maybe someone/thing in the doorway).

Nice work.

Thanks.

Funny you should mention that. My wife and I are thinking of taking our 2 year old out to that barn for some portraits on Sunday. My plan is to reshooting both the interior and exterior shot with someone in the doorway. The interior shot is going to be dicey photoshop project; there is a 5 stop difference between the two exposures I blended to get it. It'll be much harder to do that realistically with someone standing in the doorway.

SF# -- possibilities

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