C&C please (1 photo)

[Babs]

A friend and I are having a mini photo challenge with the theme "Urban Industrial". This is one of the photos I've submitted and I'd appreciate any C&C you may have.



1/125
f/8.0
30mm focal length
ISO 100


I tweaked it to make the blacks pop and added a bit of grain to make it look more "urban" and "industrial".

 

[Abby Rose]

It certainly is urban-and-industrial-feeling. I like it, though it's a shame the sky is so white. The colors of the rails work for me. I do find the other rails on the right more interesting than the tree on the left, though, could this have been composed with more of those and less tree? Or would that have involved you flying...?

Overall, I like it!

 

[tirediron]

I think this certainly suits the theme, but I think it would be a lot stronger if you could capture a train actually on the tracks. Technically the image seems well executed, but it feels rather contrasty to me.

 

[smlblk396]

I like it don't know if you could get on the tracks but low with the big building in the back ground would be cool.

 

[Babs]

could this have been composed with more of those and less tree? Or would that have involved you flying...?

Not far off it! This was taken from a footbridge. Because us Brits can't be trusted not to throw ourselves in front of a train at any given moment, the sides in the middle of the bridge are built up 7ft, maybe higher! Even at this point the sides are 6ft, but I'm 6'1" so I managed to sneak the shot. But I agree, the composition could have been better.

I think it would be a lot stronger if you could capture a train actually on the tracks.

Thanks - that would have been the obvious improvement to make! Maybe next time I'll wait around a bit longer!

I like it don't know if you could get on the tracks but low with the big building in the back ground would be cool.

Do you mean if I was placed round the corner further with the gas tower in a more prominent position?


This was the original in case there are any suggestions on how I could have processed it better.



Would a filter have given me more contrast with the sky? Not that there is a lot round here at this time of year!

 

[memento]

a polarizer might have done a little something for the sky but you exposed the shot for the tracks not the sky.. hence the blown out sky.

had you exposed the sky, the tracks would be dark.

you could shoot raw and play with hdr.

 

[KmH]

This was the original in case there are any suggestions on how I could have processed it better.



Would a filter have given me more contrast with the sky? Not that there is a lot round here at this time of year!

It is a really small image to try and work with but, some quick edits using ACR, Photoshop and Topaz;

 

[Aayria]

LOVE KmH's edit on this one!

 

[pbelarge]

This was the original in case there are any suggestions on how I could have processed it better.



Would a filter have given me more contrast with the sky? Not that there is a lot round here at this time of year!

It is a really small image to try and work with but, some quick edits using ACR, Photoshop and Topaz;

How much of the editing did you perform in the color image and how much when you were in the b&w image?

 

[KmH]

It is a really small image to try and work with but, some quick edits using ACR, Photoshop and Topaz;

How much of the editing did you perform in the color image and how much when you were in the b&w image?

I started in ACR with the color image and used the gradient tool on the sky to help define the clouds (Added blue, reduced the Exposure, Contrast, and added Clarity).

I then opened the image in Photoshop, while still in color I dragged guidelines out from the rulers to define a crop, cropped the photo and then on a duplicate background layer I used the Topaz Adjust plug-in's Clarity preset. I then clicked on Edit and faded the Topaz adjustment to 75%.

Once that was done, I made a B&W adjustment layer and played with the blue, red, yellow, green, and cyan color sliders to get the contrast I wanted, paying close attention to the blue, green, and cyan.

I had already made 2 new layers, one for dodging (soft light) and one for burning (hard light). A dodge here, a burn there with the B&W layer above the color so only the B&W was seen.
I then used the Spot Healing Brush Tool with Content-Aware selected to get rid of the hoses, cables, (whatever they were) and ties laying about. It took a few clicks of the Clone Tool to clean up the Spot Healing Brush artifacts left because it was such a small image.

Then I added a thin black border and was done. The editing from start to finish probably took 60-80 seconds.

I always start in ACR. Then when I move to Photoshop, my opening sequence is to duplicate the background layer (Ctrl-J), make a New Layer, (Shft-Cntrl-N) Blending Mode - Soft Light and fill with 50% gray(for Dodging) and make another New Layer, (Shft-Cntrl-N) Blending Mode - Hard Light and fill with 50% gray(for Burning) .

While I am evaluating and editing an image in ACR, I work out a basic plan in my head for what I want to do in Photoshop, so once I get the photo open in the Photoshop workspace it goes pretty fast.

I have the image on a 22" calibrated monitor and all my work pallets on a 19" dual monitor. I use a Wacom Intuos 4 Medium pen tablet to do the editing, except when I need to type in text.

Here is a photo of my image editing workstation. There is an image open here in ACR on the 22" monitor. I keep my work pallets on the 19" monitor minimized when they are not in use:

 

[mrmacedonian]

This is how I edit...

 

[Babs]

you could shoot raw and play with hdr.

Thanks! That's on my list of "things to learn", but as I've only been doing photography for 4 weeks I think it's a little advanced for me just yet!

I may go back once I'm more proficient with my camera and try a RAW / HDR shot. It's easy enough to do as it's only a few minutes from where I live (lucky me, eh?! )

It is a really small image to try and work with

Apologies for this. I posted the medium size from Flickr. Am I better to post the original size for things like this? Won't that fall off the sides of the forum?? Just to know so I get it right next time!

but, some quick edits using ACR, Photoshop and Topaz;

WOW! :hail:

That's amazing! Thanks so much for posting what you did, too. There's so much to learn and this really helps.

Thank you.