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NEW SHEM CREEK and orig Shem Creek
ginger_55
Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
OK, I know that only an idiot puts his/her original photo on, but this is it. I have had problems with this photo from the beginning. But I know it is a good photo, it is an unusual take on Shem Creek. Most photos were not more processed than another, they would be a bit differently processed. Just lightening it was the easy part, until I got CS, then I just used curves, shadow/highlights, and I did brighten and burn by the use of the rectangular thing. I am not good at layers, so I don't use them.
The top one here has had one more thing done to it than the other one I posted earlier, the whole photo is darker, then this one is lighter on the left.
That was a simple bright/contrast dodging by way of rectangles.
All the ones I did today had the sky burned in almost the same way: a rectangle here, a rectangle there, with more saturation.
I don't know what to do, I am just tired of working with this same photo, I don't think anyone but a few people would like the house, I have had little feedback, other than Snappy. No, that does not mean I am going to go out and shoot more, I could not take this photo now. I have got it to where I like it.
I just don't know what to do, I like all my photographs, all of them, it is just too difficult to choose, but it seemed to me that this one had everything that would have been called for. It is "after dark", there are lights, one boat, for interest. The other lights have been softened a bit to bring the boat out. I don't know what the original colors are, but that is the original right there.
Please, have a go, do whatever, give me more feedback.
Would others of you like the house? I can't imagine that, but I love the house, and now there is positive feedback.
I am confused and here........................... I don't have anymore. I will say that when I start a picture, for the most part, and certainly recently, I have started with the original rather than try to fix up mistakes in another one.
ginger
After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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Just you and me here tonight? And the crickets? Everyone must be out shooting.
I hope you didn't go crazy because of my post, I was just offering my layman's opinion. The version you posted at the top here is much more natural looking to me and I think better than the other one I commented on in the other thread. Very nicely done, in my opinion.
And as I said, I really love the house as well.
I can't tell you which to choose, can't even tell you what I would do if I were you. Go with what you feel and don't worry about it. They are both worthy of being submitted. It's a good dilemma to have!
would be vastly improved at iso100 and a tripod. it's such a stunning view, would love to see a lower noise version of this shot, ginger
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That place is extremely over photographed, I can probably go get a postcard, scan it and send you a photo. I did not expect such crummy weather when I went there. I was glad to get a photo not like all the others and with the pleasure boats that are usually there. That was about the only time I have seen just one boat come under the bridge, usually it is a very busy place. That night it was just that one boat in about an hours time.
I just about blew away getting that picture, but it was sturdy on a tripod, I don't know the ISO, I do know it was not terribly high, probably 200.
ginger
Why would you assume that I did not use a tripod???
I will put up the house, or ...................
Sorry, I was off, but I have never considered that that high.
ginger
sorry to hear about your broken camera! oy vey that's terrible :cry
i remember you got a tripod but thought it was just recently
iso 100 will make a big difference in the skies in your nightshots vs. iso 400 (even on the creamy cmos chipped canon dslr's
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Nothing I ever aspired to, but it seemed necessary to fill the assignment.
And I wanted to grow. But it was the first time, I was by myself, a few people came by on their bikes, I didn't hear the first one and we almost had a collision, so I was watching for bikes, trying to hold the remote shutter release, I went to move once and the whole tripod started to fall as I had the remote in my hand, a jogger was coming. I had a lot of things to remember.
I know how it is if you have done something alot, I, believe it or not, know a lot more than someone like my husband who has been in photography for years, but has never aspired to digital. I forget what he doesn't know and use terms that are not in his vocabulary.
This was all new to me, and I was thinking, the wind was blowing, all I wanted was a decent shot. Then when I got home I realized that every time I have seen photographers there it has been with a spectacular sunset in the sky, creating color. I had a crummy night, no pleasure boats tied up with diners. None coming up and down the creek. I thought I had a unique picture. I was just trying to make it get to the Challenge. There have not been a lot of people helping me. Snappy has tried. The advice I have gotten sometimes conflicts. All I wanted to know was which shot to enter.
Not what I should have done, I can't do that right now, my camera is in route to the repair place. I have a Canon Elph, but I don't think it would do the job either.
So when I wanted to know what to do now, I couldn't/can't do it for this Challenge. I would like to use one of the pictures I took with my camera before it totally gave out. It was slowly going all along. I thought I was doing something wrong. Last night it was apparent that it was broken. We are getting it fixed as soon as possible, this was the only day this week that my husband could possibly take it to UPS and he did.
You understand, I was on the walkway, halfway over the bridge, past the light, just watching and taking some pictures. I was so excited when that boat came by, I was just very excited. The wind was making the water very choppy. I talked to someone and the shrimp boats were not going out that night or the next morning because of the weather. And I had a photo of it, and the only boat: The Little Boat That Could
This shot and the next which I will get were both taken with my lens on wide at 18 mm, 400 ISO, on a tripod.
This photo is the photo of the boat without a lot done in post, just curves with the eyedropper correction and a little lightening. No contrast.....not as noisy this way, though. I actually underexposed it, I think that is part of the noise problem. Maybe.
This is actually my favorite, or one I especially like. I do like shrimp boats, probably because they are a part of this area. And yet so connected to the past, actually I think of them as a part of the past. One of the shrimp boats here is leaving the creek to go across the harbor to get ice. I think that is Fort Sumter, the dark small island in the harbor. Fort Sumter is where all the wars started, important in the revolutionary war and the civil war.
This was also on the tripod, even before going on the bridge, I think. I had the 75-300 on the camera, this is probably close to 300, not supposed to be the best lens in the world, I am sure it was at 400 ISO, too. It should be grainy. I probably did not do a lot to it in post, nobody paid any attention to it, so I have just filed it away in my mind as one of those pictures I like, but I don't have a lot of memory of how I worked it up, it is certainly not over worked. I only do that when people show an interest, but have suggestions.
I'm sorry that I have not had much time today. The first picture in this thread is the one to put in the challenge. The house is very nice, but does not have all the elements to make it a contest winner. The shot of the shrimp boats is real nice too. I downloaded it and played with it in B&W. It looks real good lightened up with lots of contrast. But, it doesn't have all the elements that the Shem Creek picture has. You know, sometimes your first shot is the best. I honestly feel that is true this time. Who cares if your camera is broken when you have a great shot. The worked up version at the beginning of this thread is beautiful. It's obvious when you see the two together as they are here. You've done a great job with the post processing. After your camera gets fixed and all the storms are over, you may want to try a shot from this bridge again. It will be for yourself if not for another challenge. But, for now, you've got a great picture. Your other shots are all good, but this one is the best for this challenge. Don't change at the last minute unless you get something out of this world. You are a good photographer. You have a good eye. We all enjoy your pictures and I, for one, envy your energy. So far, I have not seen any potential entries that rival yours for this challenge. Stick with Shem Creek. It's a very, very, nice shot.
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Bill liked that version, the one at the top of this thread. But when Andy made that comment, well, usually he says something nice then delivers the bad news. So I figured this was really bad, the Shem Creek photo, I mean.
I was thinking that if I were 100% sure of it myself I wouldn't be sensitive, because remember the Marilyn Monroe photo. I told Rutt I wanted the color a bit off, it fit the mood of the picture, IMO, and I didn't care about anything anyone might say. When Andy critiqued it, I thought, "well, it takes a woman to appreciate that picture", then Penelope, if that is her name, she said great things about it, and I thought, "Yup, it takes a woman". So I seem to be unsure about the Shem Creek shot myself. One problem might be that I have just worked it up so often, I mean Snappy, I might have 100 versions of that photo in the folder. After awhile I get kind of cross eyed. After you critiqued it today which I appreciated, I toned it down a bit, particularly on the left side. Now I definitely see the difference.
But I didn't just work up one other picture, toned down, I worked up like 10, or more. So I was confused on how toned down I should take it. The one at the top is the most toned down. That was in response to a post on the other thread.
Well, I have worked for it, I might as well enter it. I have never minded grain, or noise. I think what bothers me about that picture is the choppy water, actually, not the grain. And it really helped to tone those reflections down............ Thanks for saying something that made me think of that. I wish it had the same mood, but with smooth water,
Have a good one. If you don't get anything else, just go out in your yard after a colorful sunset and get the mountains, or the path leading up to them, take Red. I loved the story of how he would chase your car, scary, I know. Reminds me of my "younger" days. Car chasing here would be fatal within minutes, could be seconds if timed right.
I lived in the mountains of Colorado once. A very short marriage in my early twenties......... A small town an hour or more away from the Denver area. And we drove fast. We lived up the side of a mtn, but a main road was at the bottom of the driveway. It was a very small place. I am going to get out a map and find out where I lived, smile. I applied for medicare yesterday, had to give all this information, and I have to be up early to watch for a delivery of my birth certificate. I am sorry I put this on the public thread, hope I didn't bore anyone. (I only lived there for 3 months.) Driving from one place to another, taking short cuts over the mtns could be beautiful. I remember being on a dirt road on the top of the world and waiting for sheep to cross the road before we could go on. That would have been a picture, still would be.
g