Couple new shots

photocist · Apr 21, 2011

Got some film developed recently so I have like 25 shots, but I will be posting them over a period of time ^^

Here are a couple from the first batch. Looking for general comments, criticism, areas for improvement, etc!

blood by Hoxie Photography, on Flickr

the walls by Hoxie Photography, on Flickr

The first shot is at Point Reyes, second is near the Alameda navel base.

rlemert · Apr 21, 2011

Given you title for the first one, I'd have expected to see the red stuff (which I suspect is a fungus, not blood) filling more of the frame. The big, dark hole on the left takes your eye away from the red stuff and lessens its impact. Maybe up the exposure a little bit too, as well as the contrast(?)/saturation(?). (As you can tell, I'm stretching my knowledge there at the end.)

angy · Apr 21, 2011

I think if you want to make the red pop more, you need to up the saturation on the red and not the contrast of the first photo. I think if you contrast the photo more, you should only move the mid-tones but not the shadows as then you will end up with a giant black hole in the middle of your photograph.

angy · Apr 21, 2011

As for the second photo, I do like it but you need to crop it so it's a landscape and not square. Also, I would fix the contrast of that photo and increase the saturation on Cyan, Red and Yellow.

photocist · Apr 21, 2011

angy said:
As for the second photo, I do like it but you need to crop it so it's a landscape and not square. Also, I would fix the contrast of that photo and increase the saturation on Cyan, Red and Yellow.

Where would you suggest cropping it?

Here are a couple edits.

I dodged, burned, and used the sponge tool a bit to try to bring out the colors more. There is a contrast increase in the walls shot. Do they seem more effective?

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

angy · Apr 21, 2011

I think the way you have cropped it is okay. I'm going to be honest though. I don't necessarily think it's the best composed photo as it is looking very flat. However, I do think that how you have edited is a big improvement from the raw image. I tried playing around with how to crop it and just couldn't really get it the way I liked and I realized it's because there is no real strong focus in that picture.