Windows Image

Our camera club is having a 'Doors and Windows' competition and I have come up with this. #1 Is the finished product and #2 is the raw capture. It's ok I guess but I just get the feeling that it's a typical example of an amateur who just doesn't know how to finish off an image. Exposure, composition, detail; I think it's all there but it seems that it should be more compelling than it is. Too much processing ... wrong processing ... lighting off; I don't know what it is but I'm disappointed with my efforts so far.

Or maybe there's not as much there as I thought???

I would love to hear some ideas. Thanks a ton, or is that a tonne? :)

The finished one:
http://i51.tinypic.com/121bhvo.jpg

Raw Capture:
http://i52.tinypic.com/vh5ljk.jpg

Hi Lon

For mine, the brightness in the processed image is too high and the colour is off - too much red. I don't know what processing you've done but it looks like the white balance is not well adjusted.

I had a quick go on your original "RAW" capture - did a similar rotation and crop and then adjusted shadows and highlights and added Unsharp Mask and Sharpening and that's it.

You know what you're looking for so i'll leave it to you to decide if this works.

Cheers Dave

http://i52.tinypic.com/16bk1na.jpg

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Originally Posted by dje

Hi Lon

For mine, the brightness in the processed image is too high and the colour is off - too much red. I don't know what processing you've done but it looks like the white balance is not well adjusted.

I had a quick go on your original "RAW" capture - did a similar rotation and crop and then adjusted shadows and highlights and added Unsharp Mask and Sharpening and that's it.

You know what you're looking for so i'll leave it to you to decide if this works.

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Thank you, Dave. I am curious about the red. Do you perceive a red color cast or is there a specific portion of the image that you mean?

Edit: Dave, I see your point about the brightness. I have recently calibrated my monitor and the major change I noted was that the brightness of of my monitor was dimmed considerably. So with my monitor in a dimmed state during editing, this means that the output is going to be a lot brighter than before since I'm having to beef up the brightness to compensate for the dimmer monitor. This should cure the too dark prints that I've been getting, but I guess I am still looking for a happy medium. Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lon Howard

Thanks a ton, or is that a tonne? :)

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A ton is 2000 pounds or 907 Kgs & Tonne is 1000 Kgs...

So you tell, you meant Ton or tonne? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lon Howard

Thank you, Dave. I am curious about the red. Do you perceive a red color cast or is there a specific portion of the image that you mean?

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Lon the whole image seems to have a red colour cast (at least on my monitor).

Cheers Dave

Hi Lon, #1 has three strong competing colors in it, the blue, the red, and the orange. I think the reason Dave's version works better for me is that it reduces the number of main colors down to two and the blue is clearly the primary color in his version. I can still see some red color cast but it is not as distracting.

Text will always be one of the first things the eye will go for so the Saison's sign really attracts. Having done so, I am immediately looking for a way to enter Saison's but don't see it, and the door on the orange building is the wrong door for Saison's. It feels to me like the door I need is missing. :)

Thanks Dave and Frank. I didn't notice the color cast until I found at least one contributing factor (I have failed a few color tests in the military - I guess they were right). The last step (thankfully it was the LAST one) in my processing was to apply a sepia colored gradient from the right side of the frame and ending just to the left of the background, this in an effort to tone down the luminosity in the background (a very convoluted solution). I didn't notice until I turned off that layer that the brownish orangy color had permeated the entire image somewhat. I deleted that layer, which helped some. Then blurred and burned the background a little more and finally applied a deep blue photo filter to diffuse the orange. Here's the result:

http://i54.tinypic.com/25f3jnd.jpg

I'm trusting my color skills even less now, so I'm wondering: Do you still see a red color cast? I apologize for putting you two back to work. Sorry, Frank; I can't do much about showing the door in to Saisons but maybe now we'll notice the wrong door a little less.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lon Howard

I'm trusting my color skills even less now, so I'm wondering: Do you still see a red color cast?

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Lon

If I bring your #1 image and your #3 image up in separate windows (and in Lightbox view) and quickly toggle between the two, the only difference I can see is in the area on the far right which has been blurred. I can't really see any difference in the main part of the image.

Maybe some of the subtleties in your processing are being lost in the processing that happens when you upload the photos ?

Also, can you see a significant colour difference between your images #1 and #2 ? I certainly can but I wonder whether you can now that you mentioned your military tests.

Dave

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Originally Posted by dje

Lon

If I bring your #1 image and your #3 image up in separate windows (and in Lightbox view) and quickly toggle between the two, the only difference I can see is in the area on the far right which has been blurred. I can't really see any difference in the main part of the image.

Maybe some of the subtleties in your processing are being lost in the processing that happens when you upload the photos ?

Also, can you see a significant colour difference between your images #1 and #2 ? I certainly can but I wonder whether you can now that you mentioned your military tests.

Dave

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Thanks, Dave. Actually, in doing my comparison, here's what I did:

(1) Cropped everything out except the middle (seeing only blue and white, basically).
(2) Turned off the layer with the sepia gradient, then turned it back on, then off and on, etc.

In doing this I noticed a very slight reddish tint to the white window frames when the layer was on, and not so much when it was off. Now, when I undid the crop and looked at the whole image, it was much harder to discern that tint when I turned the layer on and off, but having seen it when the image was cropped, my mind was maybe telling me that it was still there; but truthfully if I was evaluating this as someone else's image, there's no way I would have downgraded it for a color cast.

And now, just as you have also noticed, when I toggle back and forth looking at both versions of the whole image, I don't really appreciate much of a difference, and zero difference on CiC.

I wasn't going to mention it, but as a way to add perspective: in your re-work of the image, what I perceive is a severe blue color cast - go figure. I passed most of the military color tests, except for the ones that have you pick out numbers buried in a sea of colored dots (so no flyboy career for me :( ).

One outcome of this for me I think is that from now on I will make a little pest of myself with others in asking about color casts. That's probably how I'll have to figure out how to manage it. I really do appreciate your help on this! :):):)

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Originally Posted by Sahil

A ton is 2000 pounds or 907 Kgs & Tonne is 1000 Kgs...

So you tell, you meant Ton or tonne? ;)

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I guess it will have to depend on my audience. I respectfully request your flexibility. :p

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Originally Posted by Lon Howard

I can't do much about showing the door in to Saisons but maybe now we'll notice the wrong door a little less.

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Hi Ron, I feel it looks better now that the background orange isn't competing for attention. The important thing, though, is do YOU like it?

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Originally Posted by FrankMi

Hi Ron, I feel it looks better now that the background orange isn't competing for attention. The important thing, though, is do YOU like it?

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Thanks to you and Dave, I definitely like it better. Now I'll just have to see what the club commentators and voters have to say Monday night. I hope I'm not asked to be the commentator this time ;) .

Lon you are right about my edit, it is too blue. It's funny because I didn't play with colours at all. The thing is, you saw the actual scene and in the end, as Frank says, the main thing is that you like it. All the best for the club night.

Cheers Dave