SF4 - Let's try some landscapes instead...

eoren1

So the portraits didn't quite work out as hoped. Managed to finish work at 4:30 and raced the setting sun downtown. Made it to the Jefferson memorial just in time. Was pleased to find it as empty as I had ever seen it. Here are a few shots in order of preference. Hope one is a contender. Any thoughts? Are these worthy of entry into the SF round?
Thanks,
E

Jefferson's Steps


Wider shot:


In Awe

kwalsh

Of the first two I like the first (tighter crop) the best. I also like the first shot better than the last. The last is a tad cliche whereas I really like the color and light in the first one. Very nice!

Ken

shatch

I love number 1. Wish I could visit. Great capture with great visual expression.

pyroPrints.com

I like the second one (but for some reason the steps attract me more than the monument itself)

mycaptures

My vote would be for the first shot..I love the comp and light in that one...really pretty!

seastack

I like the first one ... but it could be really great with something more ... a person, or a shadow of a person falling on the steps, or just the head and shoulders of someone running from behind the pillar, or ..... I think architecture can be more interesting with people in the scene but not something cliche.

eoren1

Thanks for all the comments. Like the idea of people in it though I tried that once before with a couple who was sitting right in front of me - didn't look quite right. Very much unlike the one of Jefferson where the person gives it scale. With the people on the steps, it looked like more of a distraction.

I'll keep the camera with me for the next few days but at least I now have something to enter...

E

Tessa HD

Your first one, I thought, is very striking. Love the lines and the beautiful light.

zweiblumen

Great shots of DC.

Like many others, I like #1 the best, but I agree with Seastack, it's missing a little something. The idea of a silhouette or a shadow seems just perfect. I agree with you in that having a person or a couple there would be distracting. The hint of a person though adds that extra dimension.

My 3 cents.

eoren1

Travis-
The more I look at it, the more I agree that the image is a bit 'cold'. Not quite sure what the human touch would be though. As I said, couple seated on steps doesn't quite work. In a previous attempt, I had tourists walking by during a long exposure but that was a distraction more than anything else. Maybe some item lying on those steps....
Any suggestions?
E

zweiblumen

eoren1 wrote:

Travis-
The more I look at it, the more I agree that the image is a bit 'cold'. Not quite sure what the human touch would be though. As I said, couple seated on steps doesn't quite work. In a previous attempt, I had tourists walking by during a long exposure but that was a distraction more than anything else. Maybe some item lying on those steps....
Any suggestions?
E

I'd like to see a sharp strong shadow of a person on the Illuminated column. The lighting is all wrong to get an actual silhouette that isn't completely faked. (this is in the first image as I prefer that one )

Or possibly just darkening the shadows from the columns? That would mirror the shadows below the WM within the JM. Just throwing ideas kinda a random now, sorry if that doesn't help much

wkrider

I like them all but number three sticks out to me. I like the actual "Jefferson shot". The band of light ringing the top and the blue coming in from the back around Jefferson stood out nicely.

adrian_k

I like number three also - however I wish you'd have take one step to the left because I don't care for that blue around his back.

wkrider wrote:

I like them all but number three sticks out to me. I like the actual "Jefferson shot". The band of light ringing the top and the blue coming in from the back around Jefferson stood out nicely.

DeuceFour

I know im kinda late, and that you have already submitted number one, just wanted to say I think you picked the right one. I love them all, everytime I have ever visited D.C. I have always wanted to take evening shots, when the monuments were all lit up like that, but I always have only had a few hours to visit. Great shots!!

eoren1

Thanks for all of the additional comments.
Tried pushing up the black in LR to get those shadows 'crisper' but that stole from the sky so put it back as-is.
Thanks also for the comments on #3. If anything, the lights reflecting at the base are what bother me the most. Will have to try cloning them out at some point...
E

zweiblumen

eoren1 wrote:

Thanks for all of the additional comments.
Tried pushing up the black in LR to get those shadows 'crisper' but that stole from the sky so put it back as-is.
Thanks also for the comments on #3. If anything, the lights reflecting at the base are what bother me the most. Will have to try cloning them out at some point...
E

Open in PS and do a layer mask. darken your shadows without touching your sky

Llywellyn

zweiblumen wrote:

Open in PS and do a layer mask. darken your shadows without touching your sky

That would give this wonderful composition just that little extra "oomph!"

eoren1

zweiblumen wrote:

Open in PS and do a layer mask. darken your shadows without touching your sky

Here I go showing my lack of PS knowledge. I duplicated the layer. Then added a layer mask to "background copy". Painted the everything but the shadows black. Then adjusted levels on the original layer to darken it. Didn't come out right though. Ended up looking very fake with harsh lines across the shadows.
Where did I screw up?
E

Llywellyn

eoren1 wrote:

Here I go showing my lack of PS knowledge. I duplicated the layer. Then added a layer mask to "background copy". Painted the everything but the shadows black. Then adjusted levels on the original layer to darken it. Didn't come out right though. Ended up looking very fake with harsh lines across the shadows.
Where did I screw up?
E

Without a sample image, I'm going to be shooting in the dark a bit with suggestions, but I can try.

Instead of tweaking levels, try tweaking the exposure to see if that helps at all.

If it still looks off, Ctrl + click (or Cmd +click on Mac) the mask to make it a selection, feather it a few pixels (1-10 for starters) and then refill the selection with white. This should get rid of the hard edges.

If that still looks off, try revealing the entire set of steps in the mask instead of only the shadows.

ETA: A completely different approach is to avoid the layer masking technique and create a dodge/burn layer. Alt + click the "new layer" button in your layer palette. In the pop-up window, select "Soft Light" from the blending mode drop down. This will then make live a small checkbox next to "Fill layer with 50% gray" (or something along those lines). Check it. You should have a new layer that looks like it's filled with gray on your palette, but your image should look unchanged.

Select your brush tool and set the opacity to around 12%. To darken areas, paint with black on that new soft light layer. To lighten areas, paint with white. Paint to taste. (If painting over the shadows once doesn't darken them enough for you, paint them again. The beauty of the 12% opacity is it allows you to build the dodge/burn gradually.)

eoren1

Played with PS and got the following results:
Original for reference


Adjustment of brightness/contrast and shadows/highlights with mask to only include steps:


Adjustment of brightness/contrast and shadows/highlights without mask:


Adjustment of brightness/contrast and shadows/highlights with mask to exclude washington monument (was getting blown out):


How did I do? Any of these better? Any other suggestions for this PS newbie???
Thanks!
E

eoren1

Final PS Minutiae
Any thoughts on these two versions?
1. Original version with masking the Wash Monument and adjusting brightness and contrast on the rest


2. Adjusted in PS with layer over wash monument first to keep it from blowing out then mask excluding wash monument to adjust brightness/contrast


Thanks,
E

zweiblumen

eoren1 wrote:

Any thoughts on these two versions?
1. Original version with masking the Wash Monument and adjusting brightness and contrast on the rest

2. Adjusted in PS with layer over wash monument first to keep it from blowing out then mask excluding wash monument to adjust brightness/contrast

Thanks,
E

Of the two, I like the first one better. I think the colors are stronger and in the second one you softened the shadows from the columns. IMHO I think those shadows need to be pretty deep, to help balance the shadows at the base of the Wash monument. But that's just my aesthetics. I think you have a very powerful image to begin with. I can't make DC ever look that good (and when I try the security guards seem convinced I'm a terrorist).

eoren1

Thanks for the comments...and for getting me to learn about masks!
E