Can a better edit of this be achieved, opinions!

[BananaRepublic]

So I have been out an around taking images of combines and other harvest accoutrements, why because it "combines" interests of mine, plus I was half thinking of entering into some IPF saloons. Although those judges tend to be city slickers who wouldn't know a combine if it chewed there leg off.

In any event the image below is an example of sort of thing I've been getting and I'd like to be enlightened as to the kind of post variations I could achieve on this. I like the way it is now but just some FB on possibilities, critique will be taken also.

 

[dennybeall]

In my opinion the combine and the hills beyond are the points of interest. I would crop off most of the field and brighten up the combine a bit.

 

[Low_Sky]

Agree with DennyBeall, this needs a crop if the subject is supposed to be the combine. It also looks a little "flat" to me. How are your post processing skills?
If harvest season is still going on, I might try to retake this one at a slower shutter speed to capture some movement in the combine blades... whirlygig.... front spinny bit. I guess I'm one of those city slickers, haha. I knew a few cattle ranchers growing up, but no wheat farmers.


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[Derrel]

my /keyboard /is /malfunctioning /and /putting /slashes /into /every /damned /word /I /type. /WTF ? ? ? ?

HERE is /what /I /would /do.

I /agree: /the /reel /needs /motion /blurring /to /look /its /best.

 

[Derrel]

Screen /capture /of /what /I /did. /Darkened /the /image, /then /dodged /selected /areas, /then /goosed /the /brightness /a /bit /and /messed /with /the /black /point /a /tiny /bit. /From /a /raw /file, /this /could /easily,easily /be /re-jiggered /to /a /gorgeous /state.

 

[KmH]

View attachment 144974

I would not crop.

Using ACR:
Globally I would add 1/2 a stop of exposure, some sharpening, clarity, vibrance, and color noise reduction.
I would add a neutral density gradient to the sky, and add some vibrance to the gradient too.
In Photoshop all I did was add the narrow black border.

I would reduce the size of the copyright statement by about 5x and would rely more on copyright info in the file metadata - more specifically in the IPTC section of the metadata.
My edit

 

[BananaRepublic]

Thanks for the tips guys.

A little reply to some points:

I do agree on the motion blur, but Im guessing this has to be added in post was opposed to at location because the entire machine is would be moving also. Is it possible in the field ?, doesn't work at night I know, but theres lights in the mix there.

Tripod in hip high crop can be clumsy and id spend more time faffing with it, is what I thought.

Derrel: I/ do/ have/ raws/ so/ thats/ can/ be/ done/.

Regarding the water mark, only put that in for posts as it matches my profile name.

 

[Low_Sky]

Do you know the guy or gal running the combine? If there isn't a sweet spot shutter speed that would leave the combine acceptably sharp and the moving parts motion blurred, would they be agreeable to stopping for you? I know harvest time is busy, but maybe a friend or family member could spare 30 seconds for you to fire off a few shots.

Waiting for the golden or blue hour and getting some lights on could make for a very interesting shot.

Don't discount the tripod. Think about it... sharp combine, sharp hills/mountains, motion blurred combine bits and waving heads of wheat. Might be something worth doing...


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