forty foot C&C

swingking

Thecageyone

Stunning. Those are some mighty sharp shots!

pete4130

2nd one seems to have strange/weird black halos/burning/dodging on the top of the rocks? As does the 3rd one to a lesser degree? The colour in the 1st one looks unnatural too.

I think they look very "I bought and copied what I saw in a digital photography magazine" type photos.

swingking

pete4130 wrote: »

2nd one seems to have strange/weird black halos/burning/dodging on the top of the rocks? As does the 3rd one to a lesser degree? The colour in the 1st one looks unnatural too.

I think they look very "I bought and copied what I saw in a digital photography magazine" type photos.

thanks for your comments. I used a grad flw filter for the first shot and did try to burn the top of the rocks. Well noticed

alexlyons

swingking wrote: »

thanks for your comments. I used a grad flw filter for the first shot and did try to burn the top of the rocks. Well noticed

TBH I quite like the burning of the rocks, in the second one at least, in the 3rd one they look almost like fake silhouettes, but still are pretty good, mainly due to the fact the shots are amazing as it is. The colour in the first one is really unnatural, but definitely not a bad thing in my book. I would say that I find it better to go to one extreme or the other so it looks deliberate, where as in your one it looks sort of in between so I looked at it and was like "that looks cool but fake". No hard feelings though, great shots.

I really love the 3rd one, the sharpness of the railing is incredible, as is the composition. What gear did you use and what sort of settings? mainly anything that made them all that sharp would be interesting..

swingking

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the advice. No hard feelings at all. I like people to C&C

The first shot was done using both a 2 stop and a 3 stop ND filter and when I saw the results on the camera , I noticed this beautiful magenta tint. I then put on the FLW grad filter because I wanted to exaggerate the effect. It might have been overdone I didn't increase saturation in CS4 tho so the colour is straight from the camera ; not the software

I'm using a 17-40L lens and a Tokina 12-24 on a Canon 450 D.

All the shots were taken using a tripod and sharpening was done using Photoshop CS4's unsharp mask

Other than that it was just curves in CS4 too.

swingking

here is the original raw file for the first shot ; untouched

Mike Litoris

Man, thats some colour in the 1st shot! Nice.

Thecageyone

I think people see 'C&C' and feel the need to critique a bit much, i dunno, they look brilliantly sharp to me. And the original shot there proves the colouring was there to be enhanced in the first place.

Maybe I'm just so used to extremely soft shots off my wee cam that these look so sharp to my eyes?

DaireQuinlan

Thecageyone wrote: »

I think people see 'C&C' and feel the need to critique a bit much, i dunno, they look brilliantly sharp to me. And the original shot there proves the colouring was there to be enhanced in the first place.

Maybe I'm just so used to extremely soft shots off my wee cam that these look so sharp to my eyes?

If you put stuff up for C&C you have to be prepared to take the ensuant barracking if it happens

And sharpness, as they say, is overrated.

.Longshanks.

alexlyons wrote: »

TBH I quite like the burning of the rocks, in the second one at least, in the 3rd one they look almost like fake silhouettes, but still are pretty good, mainly due to the fact the shots are amazing as it is. The colour in the first one is really unnatural, but definitely not a bad thing in my book. I would say that I find it better to go to one extreme or the other so it looks deliberate, where as in your one it looks sort of in between so I looked at it and was like "that looks cool but fake". No hard feelings though, great shots.

I really love the 3rd one, the sharpness of the railing is incredible, as is the composition. What gear did you use and what sort of settings? mainly anything that made them all that sharp would be interesting..

I kinda like the burning of the rocks in the second one as well. Its my favourite but it does need to be straightened a tiny bit

AnimalRights

pete4130 wrote: »

2nd one seems to have strange/weird black halos/burning/dodging on the top of the rocks? As does the 3rd one to a lesser degree? The colour in the 1st one looks unnatural too.

I think they look very "I bought and copied what I saw in a digital photography magazine" type photos.

I like the honesty of your post, we need more like that here on these boards.
As for the pics, I wouldnt've even noticed until you said it but then again I know sfa about Landscaping shots or what dodge and burn even means!
Next time you come home we gotta go for a few pints again and this time not talk about erm * veggie/meat food* but give me some easy to undertsand knowledge!

DaireQuinlan

Longshanks100 wrote: »

I kinda like the burning of the rocks in the second one as well. Its my favourite but it does need to be straightened a tiny bit

:eek: I'm with pete on this one, It looks like the OP did it without any consideration at all, in a hurry, with a hard edged brush and just crudely swiped around the rocks he wanted darkened or lightened. The burning around the small rock pool centre right is particularly bad.

AnimalRights

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

If you put stuff up for C&C you have to be prepared to take the ensuant barracking if it happens

And sharpness, as they say, is overrated.

A) Yep

And it took me a long time to come to that conclusion, don't get me wrong I still like sharp photos at times but it's not life and death Jim as we know it.

alexlyons

Longshanks100 wrote: »

I kinda like the burning of the rocks in the second one as well. Its my favourite but it does need to be straightened a tiny bit

The first one needs to be straightened IMO, the second one seems fine to me. It looks like swingking straightened the first one judging by the original he posted, but didn't quite get it perfectly straight, slight over look.

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

:eek: I'm with pete on this one, It looks like the OP did it without any consideration at all, in a hurry, with a hard edged brush and just crudely swiped around the rocks he wanted darkened or lightened. The burning around the small rock pool centre right is particularly bad.

I agree the rock pool isn't great, it's completely unnaturally blown out, it'd would never really happen in the "real world", however I don't agree the rest s as bad as you make it out to be.

Thecageyone wrote:

I think people see 'C&C' and feel the need to critique a bit much

I don't agree at all. Obviously I'm not trying to make myself the centre of the universe here so go easy:p, but if you take my post as an example, there is a bit of critique on the colour of the first one, but I make it clear that it doesn't make it a bad photo, just a good unnatural one. Also, the very first post was complimentary. Looking at this thread alone, there is a good mix of both and I feel it is only fair that people give their opinion. In general people find it easier to be critical as it can make them feel better, but this isn't really the case with photography. It is very easy to be complimentary and I believe people do both in an equal way. just my opinion

@swingking, what aperture did you use for the 3rd and 4th shots?

swingking

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

:eek: I'm with pete on this one, It looks like the OP did it without any consideration at all, in a hurry, with a hard edged brush and just crudely swiped around the rocks he wanted darkened or lightened. The burning around the small rock pool centre right is particularly bad.

Thanks for your advice. I don't mind people suggesting certain things to be improved, but some of your comments come across as very patronising and judgemental.

Saying that I had no consideration and wanted to do it in a hurry is untrue. I put a lot of effort into the PP for this shot. I also don't appreciate my technique being called 'bad'.

swingking

@alexlyons

3rd shot : f11

4th shot : f8

melekalikimaka

swingking wrote: »

Saying that I had no consideration and wanted to do it in a hurry is untrue. I put a lot of effort into the PP for this shot. I also don't appreciate my technique being called 'bad'.

see thats the nature of c & c, ya gotta take the good stuff aswell as the bad. you might not appreciate the comments on your technique, bit you asked for a critique and you got a honest one, which is rare to get these days here with the pc brigade bout, I good trashing of one of your own works goes wonders for your skills... no some much ego however

AnimalRights

swingking wrote: »

Thanks for your advice. I don't mind people suggesting certain things to be improved, but some of your comments come across as very patronising and judgemental.

Saying that I had no consideration and wanted to do it in a hurry is untrue. I put a lot of effort into the PP for this shot. I also don't appreciate my technique being called 'bad'.

Daire is a posh version of me, I love him!

AnimalRights

melekalikimaka wrote: »

see thats the nature of c & c, ya gotta take the good stuff aswell as the bad. you might not appreciate the comments on your technique, bit you asked for a critique and you got a honest one, which is rare to get these days here with the pc brigade bout, I good trashing of one of your own works goes wonders for your skills... no some much ego however

As I said a while back Padraig the sports photographer tore to shreads a very early Cricket C&C I put up but boy did I learn so much from it and still do to this day!

swingking

AnimalRights wrote: »

As I said a while back Padraig the sports photographer tore to shreads a very early Cricket C&C I put up but boy did I learn so much from it and still do to this day!

thanks for letting me know AR

the_monkey

Amazing shots .... love the colour in the 1st one ... what kind of exposure times did you use ?

and ND filter ?

swingking

It was a 10 second exposure into direct sunlight (which I'm sure can't be good for the sensor) using a 2 stop and a 3 stop nd filter. That in itself for some reason gave it the magenta tint

DaireQuinlan

swingking wrote: »

Thanks for your advice. I don't mind people suggesting certain things to be improved, but some of your comments come across as very patronising and judgemental.

Saying that I had no consideration and wanted to do it in a hurry is untrue. I put a lot of effort into the PP for this shot. I also don't appreciate my technique being called 'bad'.

I apologise if you were offended by the description, perhaps I could have phrased it a little more tactfully. However, I still would have articulated much the same opinion, that the processing of the local adjustments around the rock pool and across the top of the rocks is very crudely done. I think your technique in this regard IS bad, but there's nothing to say that you can't work on it more and improve it, both your technique and maybe this picture aswell

swingking

I reckon that when doing this in future to use a much softer brush and tone down the exposure a small amount. Not as drastic as this example.

I probably should have done the dodging and burning in lightroom. I more used to that than CS 4

Thanks for clarifying this and I do appreciate ur comments

bullpost

Did you have a UV filter on the lens?
I took some sunrise shots around that area some time ago and got a strong magenta cast and found out afterwards it was probably due to my UV filter.

swingking

Funnily enough, I don't have a UV filter on the lens ; I find they soften the detail.

I'm guessing somehow the 2 ND filters caused a strong cast on the picture. I've even tried to adjust the white balance and moving the Tint towards green in LR but it's still very obvious.

Thanks for your comment

superflyninja

great shots!! but I agree the burning of the rocks in the second photo is extremely heavy handed.

swingking

here's another shot I did but this time I used a much softer brush with less opacity for burning

alexlyons

Definitely looks a lot better. I really like it as it has more depth than the other one. Also, it all sort of blends in to itself which is really nice. Well done on acting on the feedback.

the_monkey

swingking wrote: »

It was a 10 second exposure into direct sunlight (which I'm sure can't be good for the sensor) using a 2 stop and a 3 stop nd filter. That in itself for some reason gave it the magenta tint

Amazing clarity for such a long exposure , did you have a really solid tripod ??

I took this (6 seconds) 10 stop ND filter .... not so clear ... but it was windy and my tripod is light ...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4380618018_6033819449_b.jpg

swingking

I've always believed the tripod is the most valuable piece of equipment u own as a photographer.

Mine is a manfrotto 190proxb with a 498rc2 ball and socket head. This is the perfect combination to sharp long exposures.

Thanks for the comment btw

the_monkey

Also what I love aswell about #1 and #4 is the way the railings and water
border is so undefined ... almost like a mist ... I know this is due to long exp .. but works so well in these .... excellent shots again ...

My brother swims out there all the time , I'd love to get him prints of these....

swingking

the_monkey wrote: »

Also what I love aswell about #1 and #4 is the way the railings and water
border is so undefined ... almost like a mist ... I know this is due to long exp .. but works so well in these .... excellent shots again ...

My brother swims out there all the time , I'd love to get him prints of these....

thanks again for your kind comments. pm me and I'll see what I can do regarding prints

Mensch Maschine

Thecageyone wrote: »

I think people see 'C&C' and feel the need to critique a bit much, i dunno, they look brilliantly sharp to me. And the original shot there proves the colouring was there to be enhanced in the first place.

I'm not sure if the OP needs any C&C or if he's just showing off. I think they're excellent. I'd be proud if those babies were mine.

DK32

He's just showing off

alexlyons

DK32 wrote: »

He's just showing off

I agree!

swingking

I'm pleased for the first time I actually have photos to show off !:D

Nah only joking. I'm going to be putting these up for an exhibition in college (prizes involved too) and I want to find out the best way to post process them so they come out perfect. In other words, I want to win

I love the suggestions people are saying about the whole burning of the rocks thing and the colour in the 1st shot. It's all very useful advice.

I tried to make the first shot a black and white but it doesn't have the same feel as the colour version.

I have learned a lot from people's suggestions so thanks to all for either being critical or to those who have complimented these shots.