[C&C] Stone calls stone

Fenster

Any and all comments are welcome, but I am particularly interested in any feedback on processing as I have been experimenting with some new contrast methods in Photoshop:

AnimalRights

I'm not an expert on Landscape C&C but I do like the large rocks at the front of the picture, to improve it? I'd love the shadows gone and more detail in the rocks, they appear too dark.
the rest of the picture is very good too, I'd just have 1 tiny quibble maybe and thats the peaks/hills in the background are too central for me.

magicbastarder

the pic opened up with the bottom of the picture hidden, with the size i have my browser window. it works really well without the rocks in the foreground, or with just the top half of those rocks showing, but that latter crop is an odd shape.

DaireQuinlan

Yeah, a little more detail in the foreground wouldn't go astray. The rocks are just TOO contrasty by way of comparison with the rest of the picture. Is the horizon deliberately distorted ?

oshead

It looks like a b&w conversion using the b&w adjustment filter with the blend mode change to soft or hard light. But that's purely a guess. It's pleasing enough on the eye, though my monitor is not calibrated. The blacks look black and the whites on the horizon look white. So far so good. I'd like to see more shadow detail in the rocks. Maybe just bring it up a little bit. The mid tones look a little bland. This is compounded by the large expanse of water in the middle of the image. Nothing is happening there, There's no focal point. You could try and compress the tones in there a little by doing a mid tone contrast. Play around in shadows and highlights to see what can be achieved. If its not working for you then you could try the highpass filter.

Btw, What new b&w conversion methods are you using anyway?

Nisio

Is there a lot of middleground?

only messing with the attached!

jpb1974

Have to agree with earlier sentiments -

The rocks are a bit on the harsh/contrasty side and conflict with the upper 3/4 of the photo which is far gentler on the eye... so a bit un-balanced in that regard.

The bend on the horizon really needs addressing too.

Compositionally though I quite like it.

Personally, I think it'd look alittle better if you cropped out the rocks and centred the 'island' a little bit, something like this;





That's just my own opinion though, of course everyone's will alter.


Can I ask, is it taken on a beach? I assume it is, and so, can't quite understand the lack of colour? Surely a deep blue sky/sea and golden sandy landscape would look a lot better than a series of greys?

AnimalRights

No No KKV!!!
Ur version is terrible!
Don't mean to be rude but, you've done everything wrong with this photo that could be wrong!
I know it's your opinion but...

Fenster's photograph is pretty close to being perfect...
It's mostly more highlights needed in the rocks.

AnimalRights

AnimalRights wrote: »

No No KKV!!!
Ur version is terrible!
Don't mean to be rude but, you've done everything wrong with this photo that could be wrong!
I know it's your opinion but...

Fenster's photograph is pretty close to being perfect...
It's mostly more highlights needed in the rocks.

Relax will you... it's all down to personal preference!


I don't like the rocks. That's not an attack on the photograph, nor Fenster.

I think that he has a nice image. A very 'deep' image that seems to extend on for along time, until your eyes are lead into an island of sorts.

I think the image is smooth and soft and has a very relaxed feel to it. Then you have, at the bottom, a bunch of dark, harsh looking rocks with seem to demand dominance in the overall image.

I feel that they are a good foreground in the crop I made (again, down to opinion!) but are far too dominating in the original photograph. They're very dark and rough looking, which is the opposite of the rest of the image.

theboat

I like it as it is!

I really like the (ahem) contrast between the rocks and the the background. The contrast between contrasts, if you will...

Fenster

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

.Longshanks.

Can I ask, was the curved horizon intentional (I assume yes) and if so why / how?
The image was meh to me when I first seen it yesterday, but its really really grown on me. Although I still can't put my finger on why

Effects

Just looks boring to me.

Fenster

Effects wrote: »

Just looks boring to me.

You look boring to me; where the hell is your fancy avatar? I get bored just reading your post.

Longshanks100 wrote:

Can I ask, was the curved horizon intentional (I assume yes) and if so why / how?
The image was meh to me when I first seen it yesterday, but its really really grown on me. Although I still can't put my finger on why

Eh, kinda. It is barrel distortion from out of the lens that I didn't bother to correct. I've used it intentionally elsewhere (here), but not in this case, no.

Fajitas!

Tbh, I'd say +1 to Effects... It's just pretty boring. I'd even prefer Nisio's version.

Fenster

You're boring too.

I agree with the naysayings on the photo, for the record.