Historic buildings on Main St.

[JimMcClain]

I seem to be drawn to this part of town. I think the Clinch Building is one of the most beautiful in Quincy, CA and I keep trying to do it justice. Yesterday morning it had a strange looking cloud hovering over it. I'm still new to Lightroom 5, so I don't know how to make it appear softer and fluffier. Share your ideas, if you have them, and give me a little feedback on this picture, if you will. Thanks.

 

[Designer]

Your description is mostly about the church, but there is a second building in the shot. I would rather see one building per shot. Of course, multiple shots of the same building is a good method of showing why you are interested in the building. Generally, one or more overall shots, depending on how many elevations are able to be photographed well, and then some detail shots more tightly framed.

Also, the light was working against you.

 

[JimMcClain]

Your description is mostly about the church, but there is a second building in the shot.

Not a church, the building on the right is called the Clinch Building. I forgot to mention the other building, which is known as the Plumas County Bank Building. The two are attached at the hip, literally. I titled the post "Historic buildings on Main St." because there are 2 buildings. Sorry for the confusion. It's a picture of a block that has only 2 buildings on it facing Main Street.

Also, the light was working against you.

Could you explain that a little more?

Thanks for your feedback.

Jim

 

[Designer]

Also, the light was working against you.

Could you explain that a little more?

Thanks for your feedback.

Jim

What I mean by that is the light was basically behind the fronts of the buildings, instead of on the fronts. Perhaps you can catch sunlight on the fronts either early or late in the day.

 

[The_Traveler]

IMO, this picture is waaayy too blue and the buildings are underexposed.
There is some strange distortion that I tried to correct.

 

[JimMcClain]

There is some strange distortion that I tried to correct.

What software did you use to accomplish that and how did you perform the manipulation?

Appreciate your feedback, thanks.

Jim

 

[The_Traveler]

Jim,

If this was straight out of the camera, I can't imagine what is going on.
I used PS to edit the white balance, saturation and try to correct the distortion.
This looks like an overcooked HDR or a jpeg where the sharpening and saturation are set to 'high'.
Note the distortion and the haloing at the arrows.

 

[JimMcClain]

Thanks for your reply, Lew. I have been using Lightroom 5 to process. I shoot only RAW with a Panasonic Lumix FZ200. I used the Upright Perspective tool in LR, set to Auto. It was the best of 4 options and I didn't continue to try to fix it with the manual settings. I haven't mastered that part, obviously.

I haven't tried my hand at HDR or blending. Maybe some day, but I'm a ways off from that.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[JimMcClain]

I removed the Upright tool's auto setting and tried to do it manually. I also reduced some of the saturation and changed the white balance. I think this is better than my first try.

 

[The_Traveler]

Much better, but still a bit dark, imo.

 

[JimMcClain]

I would rather see one building per shot. Of course, multiple shots of the same building is a good method of showing why you are interested in the building. Generally, one or more overall shots, depending on how many elevations are able to be photographed well, and then some detail shots more tightly framed.

I went back late this afternoon to see if I could capture a more tightly framed picture of the Clinch Building. This part of the building is an art gallery. I supposed much of the reason I have focused efforts on this part of the building is because I have dreams of having some of my photographs on their walls someday.

 

[The_Traveler]

Jim,

I DLed the original file and looked at the edits you did in LR.
I opened it in PS Adobe Camera Raw and below is a clip of the panel.

IMO, you have much too heavy a hand in the adjustments; the plus-ed up contrast, clarity and vibrance are doing much of the damage to the original.
This is a contrasty scene to start and with the contrast, clarity and vibrance you have increased the contrast and made the disturbances in the detail of the building and added halos around the edges.
The Blacks and shadows change fight each other



I went back, zeroed everything and then made some changes in the raw file to have more typical look.
This is a tough time of day to shoot; sun high but most of the scene in shadow.
Closer but not perfect for sure.
I would have edited more in PS to make buildings look better but for a start.

 

[JimMcClain]

Thanks very much for the feedback, Lew.

Jim