Moth's Shadow...

KonicaKyle · Jul 5, 2006

Got this little pic of a moth this morning... I really liked how the shadow fell on the leaf. However what do you all think of it? I realise that the wings are perhaps slightly out of focus... does this ruin the photo at all?

I then took it into paintshop and came up with the following two edits... I like both of them. I think the first one makes the shadow more of a focal point of the picture, and the next one was just to show what B&W could do for the photo.

Anyone like/dislike what i've done here?(and why?) Would you have done anything different? Or was the photo never going to be a good one, with any amount of editing?

Thankyou

Chase · Jul 5, 2006

The shadow appeals to me as well, but the bright area on the wing overpowers things just a little too much for me and it distracts me from the things that I like about the rest of the shot. If you're ok with that area on the wing, I'd suggest going in for a tighter crop to really emphasize the area on the leaf. I think you could remove quite a bit of the area on the left and that would help to draw the attention directly towards the leaf.

Hope my comments help a little!

Arch · Jul 5, 2006

I can see what your trying to do with the shadow area.... however, whilst enhancing the shadow, the editing has also blown out the underside of the wing..... and you've lost the correct colouring.
You can see the original still has the detail there..... so maybe you can just enhance the leaf contrast without effecting the butterfly?..... im affraid i'v never used used paintshop, so i have no idea what its capable of....... but the original image looks good to me, and thats the main thing, editing will come in time. :thumbup:

KonicaKyle · Jul 5, 2006

Thanks guys, I'll maybe try a crop , or a contrast adjustment instead.

I'm pretty new to editing.... I usually keep my photos as they are straight from the lens, but I'm beginning to see a few advantages to editing them.

Paint shop pro is pretty basic... hoping to get my hands on a copy of Photoshop sometime soon!

kkart · Jul 5, 2006

KonicaKyle said:
Thanks guys, I'll maybe try a crop , or a contrast adjustment instead.

I'm pretty new to editing.... I usually keep my photos as they are straight from the lens, but I'm beginning to see a few advantages to editing them.

Paint shop pro is pretty basic... hoping to get my hands on a copy of Photoshop sometime soon!

I don't know if I would call PSP basic by any means, in fact, there are many things you can do inside psp that can't be done inside ps and vice-versa. What version of psp are you using?

I like your original but the edits don't do it for me.....you lost the details in the highlights and they appear blown out. Lower down your contrast some, and give it another whirl. The B&W looks better IMO. Clone out that overexposure that is touching the petal edge on the left . Don't mean to be harsh, but it's just as I see it.

KonicaKyle · Jul 5, 2006

kkart said:
I don't know if I would call PSP basic by any means, in fact, there are many things you can do inside psp that can't be done inside ps and vice-versa. What version of psp are you using?

I like your original but the edits don't do it for me.....you lost the details in the highlights and they appear blown out. Lower down your contrast some, and give it another whirl. The B&W looks better IMO. Clone out that overexposure that is touching the petal edge on the left . Don't mean to be harsh, but it's just as I see it.

Please, do be harsh, I don't want a sense of false belief that I've got a good photo if i haven't!

As for "cloning", I haven't quite figured that out yet. like I said, I'm quite new to it all!

Here's my latest attempt, which I think looks a bit better. I've managed to keep all of the detail in the wing this time...(although sadly the crop has made it all square-y, as i wanted to eliminate the rubbish at the left, but keep all of the shadow in to the right)