First time with Topaz - C&C please!

[ecnal]

I went to Plimouth Plantation today (plimouth.org) cause it's only $5 for Plymouth residents. Brought my D40 with kit lens with me and took a few shots.

I ran this one through Topaz, first time really using it. I'm iffy on the results. I love what it can do, but the pictures that I took were less than optimal. You can see that the sky gave me NOTHING to work with. Blank and grey almost all day, it sucked. So the light wasn't great. My kit lens is acting up on the autofocus, I think it may have been dropped (my girlfriend is no longer allowed to touch my camera equipment.) Anyways. Let me know what you think.

Nikon D40 with 18-55mm 3.5/5.6
34mm @ f/4.5, No Flash
ISO 200, Shutter 1/500 Aperture priority.

 

[Dominantly]

Did you pick up Adjust 3 by itself or as a package?
Good choice on the program either way, it is pretty powerful and can do some pretty tricky stuff with photos.
I would also recommend for you to try this for free, as well. It works well when used in conjunction with Topaz. They have some demonstrations on there in case you are wondering exactly what it is you can do with it.

Now on to your photo. The subject is visually interesting, the photo feels old, and I like the placement of your subject.
The sky is a little bland but it fits with the feeling of that place in this photo.
I'm not sure how I feel about the effect on her skin however. With Topaz (its presets especially) you have to be careful as it will tweak a persons skin texture/color and make it appear very unnatural. Something I would recommend is using PS to isolate the areas you do not want to be tweaked by the program, that way you can explore with the other areas without concern.

 

[ecnal]

Thanks for the response! I noticed that too about her skin - would that just be selecting everything that I want affected by the filter so whatever's not selected wouldn't be touched? I know my way around PS alright, but it's all self-taught.

I have Adjust by itself. I'm thinking about getting denoise, you think that's worth it?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

what exactly compelled you to post an image this big?

 

[Kai.infinity]

Stunning color combination.

 

[ecnal]

what exactly compelled you to post an image this big?

The fact that most browsers will resize it so it fits on the page without scrolling was a pretty big influence, to be honest. Modern browser technology is amazing!

I also enjoy being able to give people as much detail in the picture as they want, if they choose to open the image maximum size.

What exactly compelled you to to feel the need to complain?

 

[KmH]

what exactly compelled you to post an image this big?

The fact that most browsers will resize it so it fits on the page without scrolling was a pretty big influence, to be honest. Modern browser technology is amazing!

I also enjoy being able to give people as much detail in the picture as they want, if they choose to open the image maximum size.

What exactly compelled you to to feel the need to complain?

He is refering to TPF policy: How to Post Pictures, as noted in this quote, "....the photo should already be sized down for forum viewing, no more than 600 pixels high, or 800 wide." This is a common requirement on photography forums.

If you want people to see humongous images, Internet etiquette says you link to them and let the viewer decide if they want to wait for the image to load.

At least, I think that's why he felt compelled to complain. It's what would have compelled me to post a similar response.

Did you notice he also got thanked by another forum member for doing so?

 

[Foques]

agreed.
before browser resizes the picture, it has to show it full size.
it is inconvenient... and on some machines, can cause freezing.

 

[ecnal]

Well, my apologies. No one has ever said anything to me before. Resized.

However, a simple, polite request would have gone a long way.

 

[syphlix]

when skies suck like that you can try and frame photos that don't include much of the sky... i.e. here if you took a step to the left, could have got the buildings as more of the background instead of the sky... just something to think about...

 

[ecnal]

Yeah, I know. I was with my family and didn't want to leave the group too long, though. Next time when the skies are good on a weekend I'm gonna go back with a tripod, which should help alot. Plus there are alot more people there that work there on the weekends, so it would be a good time to do alot of portraits.

I would have just done a couple exposers and combined them if I had a tripod. But it's strange, everyone that works there is in character from 1627, so if you ask them to hold still for a photo, they can't break character and be like "Okay!". One guy I asked just looked at me strange and said he didn't understand. It's awkward. :\

 

[syphlix]

yea i don't know if ppl pictures are the best thing for multiple exposure work typically...

 

[KmH]

Well, my apologies. No one has ever said anything to me before. Resized.

However, a simple, polite request would have gone a long way.

The forum management tries to avoid such situations by using stickies.

If you notice the link I provided is at the top of the Beginners forum, though it doesn't get read very frequently.

In case you, and others, may have not yet located them, you'll find the Forum Rules and Regs here.

 

[Dominantly]

Thanks for the response! I noticed that too about her skin - would that just be selecting everything that I want affected by the filter so whatever's not selected wouldn't be touched? I know my way around PS alright, but it's all self-taught.

I have Adjust by itself. I'm thinking about getting denoise, you think that's worth it?

You would select the part you didn't want to be touched using whichever method you prefer, then invert the selection so the other section is now selected. When you open Adjust, you will see that topaz will still manipulate the whole photo, but pay no attention to that, when you are done and clos Topaz it will open in PS with the selected area untouched.

Denoise is a great program. You should do the trial to see if you enjoy it, I'm sure you will.