Lawrence, Massachusetts

sara505 · November 2, 2009

I had an hour to kill yesterday, between my teaching gig in the morning and a friend's birthday party in the afternoon, both north of Boston, so did a little exploring in Leonard Bernstein's home town, and what is billed as the first intentional industrial town in the US.
A quiet Sunday - not much going on, but, as an exercise to see what I can pull out of an hour in a strange town, here are three I kind of like. (The whole series is here)

1.

2.

3.

That's it!

rutt · November 2, 2009

Interesting compositions in 1 and 2 with strong diagonals. I'd like to see into the plugged shadows of 1; might be an interesting expression. 2 isn't working for me; can't exactly say why.

3 does work even though he's giving you a dirty look. He's an interesting looking character. Maybe try to get better blacks without plugging?

Richard · November 2, 2009

rutt wrote:

Interesting compositions in 1 and 2 with strong diagonals. I'd like to see into the plugged shadows of 1; might be an interesting expression.

#1 is just the sort of thing I love. I agree with Rutt about the shadows but only on the cyclist. I don't much care about the building shadows and in fact, it might only be distracting to see what's in there. Here's a very quick and dirty edit. Hope that's OK, but if not, just send me a PM and I'll take it down.

sara505 · November 2, 2009

rutt wrote:

Interesting compositions in 1 and 2 with strong diagonals. I'd like to see into the plugged shadows of 1; might be an interesting expression. 2 isn't working for me; can't exactly say why.

3 does work even though he's giving you a dirty look. He's an interesting looking character. Maybe try to get better blacks without plugging?

Rutt - thanks for your comments.
How do I pull out the shadows without blowing the lights?

I agree RE 2 - kind of a cliche. This woman saw me eying her (had the 40D with me this time) and actually asked me to take her picture, so the whole thing is staged - that's part of its problem, that and it's a bit pedestrian and boring. I was a little interested in her colors, the clothing store and the church in the BG - as a slice of life in this town, it kind of works.

as for #3 - this was our initial contact - I liked his looks - he actually turned out to be a nice guy. Joseph Darling is his name.

again - how to unplug the shadows? I tend to increase the blacks in my BW conversions, maybe I overdo it.

sara505 · November 2, 2009

Richard wrote:

#1 is just the sort of thing I love. I agree with Rutt about the shadows but only on the cyclist. I don't much care about the building shadows and in fact, it might only be distracting to see what's in there. Here's a very quick and dirty edit. Hope that's OK, but if not, just send me a PM and I'll take it down.

No, I don't mind the edit. I'm not sure I even mind the shadows, either. But I think I prefer the mystery of not seeing the bicyclist's face.

Kind of a shadowy town - in fact, at one point, walking along the river, I didn't feel exactly safe - some of the cat calls from passing cars concerned me a bit.

rutt · November 2, 2009

sara505 wrote:

again - how to unplug the shadows? I tend to increase the blacks in my BW conversions, maybe I overdo it.

There are lots of reasons to do this and it's kind of a big topic. Here are a few simple suggestions:

Fill light in Adobe Camera Raw.
Explore shadow/highlight in PS; see my tutorial
Dodge. Instead of using the burn/dodge PS tool, I like a different technique:
1. Make a duplicate layer
2. Set the blending mode to screen (for dodging) or multiply (for burning)
3. Add a layer mask
4. Invert the layer mask (so it's black)
5. Paint white on the layer mask in low opacity (maybe 10%) with a big soft brush.

sara505 · November 2, 2009

rutt wrote:

There are lots of reasons to do this and it's kind of a big topic. Here are a few simple suggestions:
Fill light in Adobe Camera Raw.

Explore shadow/highlight in PS; see my tutorial

Dodge. Instead of using the burn/dodge PS tool, I like a different technique:
Make a duplicate layer

Set the blending mode to screen (for dodging) or multiply (for burning)

Add a layer mask

Invert the layer mask (so it's black)

Paint white on the layer mask in low opacity (maybe 10%) with a big soft brush.

I will give this a try - thanks!

rutt · November 2, 2009

Oops. I meant there are lots of "ways" to do this, not "reasons."

black mamba · November 2, 2009

Hi Sara,

I'm with you....I rather prefer not to see the man's face in #1. The whole picture to me is a play with shadows and lines. It's fitting that his face remains a mystery.

Tom

sara505 · November 2, 2009

black mamba wrote:

Hi Sara,

I'm with you....I rather prefer not to see the man's face in #1. The whole picture to me is a play with shadows and lines. It's fitting that his face remains a mystery.

Tom

Great minds think alike

bdcolen · November 2, 2009

sara505 wrote:

No, I don't mind the edit. I'm not sure I even mind the shadows, either. But I think I prefer the mystery of not seeing the bicyclist's face.

Kind of a shadowy town - in fact, at one point, walking along the river, I didn't feel exactly safe - some of the cat calls from passing cars concerned me a bit.

I like # one, Sara - with the bicyclist visible - but I don't want to see what's in the rest of the shadows - the dark/black verticals make this one.

Two doesn't do anything for me. Nor does three, though he's interesting looking and I like the light. I think this is one that had potential, but would have required working the situation more. But that first one is very nice.

bdcolen · November 2, 2009

rutt wrote:

There are lots of reasons to do this and it's kind of a big topic. Here are a few simple suggestions:
Fill light in Adobe Camera Raw.

Explore shadow/highlight in PS; see my tutorial

Dodge. Instead of using the burn/dodge PS tool, I like a different technique:
Make a duplicate layer

Set the blending mode to screen (for dodging) or multiply (for burning)

Add a layer mask

Invert the layer mask (so it's black)

Paint white on the layer mask in low opacity (maybe 10%) with a big soft brush.

Or -
Set background color to white
Open an adjustment layer - either levels or curves - doesn't matter.
Set mode to screen.
Hit OK
Cnt I - invert.
Then paint with Rutt's big soft brush @ 10-15% per pass over the area.
Flatten image.

sara505 · November 2, 2009

bdcolen wrote:

I like # one, Sara - with the bicyclist visible - but I don't want to see what's in the rest of the shadows - the dark/black verticals make this one.

Two doesn't do anything for me. Nor does three, though he's interesting looking and I like the light. I think this is one that had potential, but would have required working the situation more. But that first one is very nice.

BD, thanks for commenting.
One of the reasons I like #3 is, besides the light, is this was a little edgy for me - I kind of like a dirty look for a change.:D

I stand by my earlier comment RE #1 - prefer w/o face.

sara505 · November 2, 2009

bdcolen wrote:

Or -
Set background color to white
Open an adjustment layer - either levels or curves - doesn't matter.
Set mode to screen.
Hit OK
Cnt I - invert.
Then paint with Rutt's big soft brush @ 10-15% per pass over the area.
Flatten image.

I'm looking fwd to trying this, and Rutt's.

rutt · November 2, 2009

sara505 wrote:

I'm looking fwd to trying this, and Rutt's.

My #3 and B.D.'s are really the same. There is really just one mouse click difference. The idea is to get a layer with a black layer mask and a particular blending option. It's really just a question of which way to do that you find the most convenient.

Lawrence, Massachusetts

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