Lunch Train

[yakfisher]

What do you guys think of this parade and what would you do different with the image. I just opened the raw image with photoshop and went with its suggestions for the image.

[Steve Foss]

I like this a lot, yakfisher.

Two suggestions. Try it out as a panoramic crop and see if you like that better, leaving in not as much of the leaves above the ducks but more of the water below. Also, this looks a little blue to me. When you have the image up on the PS preview screen before it's actually opened, you should be able to increase the color temperature to warm it up a bit and make it look more naturally colored. I expect you shot this using automatic white balance. That's almost always what I leave mine set at, too, since like you I'm shooting RAW and it's very easy to change white balance on the PS preview screen.

That's just my take, however. What do all you others think?

[mmeyer]

Vakfisher,

It looks like to whites are blown out a bit. If you bring down your exposure a little that'll help that but you'll probably have to brighten it up a bit. Also bump up the saturation a little . Increase contrast a bit also and it should be fine. I have found that PS auto controls are seldom what I want.

Good Luck and keep 'em coming.

Mike

[finnbay]

Steve, I agree that it could be warmed a bit. Might be my older monitor, but I think it could use either a bit more contrast or maybe a little levels adjustment. I think your crop suggestion would also add to this photo. I like all the greenheads in a row! Nice shot.

[Steve Foss]

A few thoughts, all IMO. Many different ways to skin a cat. These are simply what I've found through my own experience, and others may have developed different and better techniques.

I rarely use the "contrast" control, because it is a very blunt tool that can blow out whites in a heartbeat. You can accomplish much the same thing with the levels slider by dropping mid-range levels to lighten them and then bringing up the shadow levels a bit, which produces the effect of contrast without in any way touching the highlights.

I'm also not sure about blown out whites here. The only whites I can see on these birds are the neck collars and a tail feather or two, and if they're a bit blown they're also so small and such a minor part of the image that it doesn't bother me. The pale sides are not blown out and look OK on my monitor. Different monitors can render things differently, and it may just be that.

I used to leave the EC at -1 for bombing around. My thinking was that if I came on a situation where something was developing so quickly that I didn't have even a split second to use the EC feature I'd be at least pretty sure not to blow out any highlights. But on the cameras I use, adjusting EC is as simple as spinning a big dial on the back of the camera, which I now do as second nature without even taking my eye from the viewfinder. I've found since then that by leaving EC at zero but leaving it activated, I can make an instant adjustment if I think the meter won't effectively render the scene on its own. Experience is the only way to be able to judge what will and will not spoof the meter, so folks should experiment on their own to find their own preferences.

Also, when a person reads conflicting advice, try it all! You never know which one you'll prefer.

[yakfisher]

I've taken your suggestions and applied them to the best of my ability and here is what I have come up with.

[Steve Foss]

I like it. But then, I WOULD like it, since I suggested it. Probably not everyone else likes it that way.

[yakfisher]

Well, I did try to apply all of the suggestions so I think at least 3 of you should like it.

[mmeyer]

I like it alot too. No more blown highlights that show up for me. I really like the crop also.

Nice work!

Mike

[Dbl]

I agree with the others on cropping out the trees above. Scroll your browser down until they are almost eliminated and you can see what it would look like cropped.

I ran through a quick color correction and it looks as if it could be warmed up just slightly, really its pretty good as is. There are spikes on both ends of the histogram both white and black. The underexposure is the undergrowth just above the water on the far right side. The overexposure is almost the entire side of the lead drake on the far right. That is where my main problem is, it is slightly overexposed on that duck on his side. I only use calibrated monitors for color, contrast and brightness so take that for what ever it is worth.

Steve is right on I think about the metering, in this case the meter struggled with the correct exposure. I don't know what metering mode you used so I really can't make a judgment on that.

Remember this is all subjective, what looks good to you and what looks good to others may be two completely different things. A better exercise would be to post a link to download the file and let others post their interpretation of what it should look like. And as I typed this I see you made changes. Looks better to me.

[yakfisher]

Dbl, I like the idea so here's the link. Anyone who would like to can take this image and adjust it how they like. All I would like to know is what you chose to do to it. Thanks and have fun.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc312/missedapproach/Lunch%20Train/LunchtimeParade-1.jpg

[Steve Foss]

yakfisher, thanks for allowing us to have fun with this. Lots of people SAY they don't mind critiques and others re-interpreting their images, but not very many of them really MEAN it.

I didn't do much with levels and things. A tweak here and there. Mostly I cropped out that drake on the left that was cut off in the original image and added an inch of canvas to the right so there was a bit of space in the direction the ducks were facing/swimming. Leaving that space ahead of a pointing/moving subject is commonly considered a good thing because the eye subconsciously wants to travel a bit in the same direction as the subject. And after adding the canvas, I did a quick job of cloning in more water and background.

If you like the framing job, you can do a search on this board for a thread I started a month or two ago about how to download this automated photoshop action. Not sure if it works on your Elements 5, though.

[finnbay]

Yakfisher,

Yes I think it is much improved. Steve is right with the eye of the beholder bit. Everyone looks for something a little bit different. Keep up the good work!

[Dbl]

Yes thanks yakfisher. Mine looks very similar to Steve's, not much to do with levels either but I did do some dodging on the duck sides to try to bring out the feathers in the highlights. Duplicated the original and used a warming filter on it and dropped the level of opacity until it looked right. A slight increase in saturation and frame.

[yakfisher]

Those look great, I'm glad I let you master manipulators hack away at the photo. It is easier for me to understand what you are talking about when you actually get to apply it to the photo, and from what I can see I may have overwarmed it a bit (I kinda thought so). I guess a little bit means very little. Thanks for taking the time to help me to understand better what your suggestions truly look like. Dbl, what is dodging?

[jonny_redhorse]

Here's another version of Yaks image ...I warmed it up a bit.saturation a tat...a sharpened it a tat...added a little color...ran it through picasa and photo elements...toned down some of the blown out whites on the ducks sides...then added a border and wording from my "ID Framer"...just another version

[Paul]

All I can really say is I like all the redone versions. I suck at PS becuase my PS is usually talk I didn't even try but I am learning slowly. I like the toned down one that MR Redhorse posted

[finnbay]

Here's my go at it. Warmed a bit, increased saturation and then masked just the ducks and brought them down one stop with photoshop. Thanks for letting me play!

[Dbl]

Quote:

---

Those look great, I'm glad I let you master manipulators hack away at the photo. It is easier for me to understand what you are talking about when you actually get to apply it to the photo, and from what I can see I may have overwarmed it a bit (I kinda thought so). I guess a little bit means very little. Thanks for taking the time to help me to understand better what your suggestions truly look like. Dbl, what is dodging?

---

Dodging and burning is found in Photoshop and I am pretty sure in Elements. It is just like in the dark room days you can use this tool to selectively darken or lighten areas of a photo. I used this to try and recover some of the detail that was lost on the sides of the duck due to slight overexposure. It is not always the best tool to use because it is fairly destructive unless used in layers. Most times an over blown highlight is not recoverable.