More Eval and pretty much the same questions as to color, tonal range, focus, etc.

[ceeboy14]

A Morning's Greeting

 

[Ysarex]

Really nice -- I think you pretty well have this nailed.

You're using Photoshop--ever use the History brush to paint blending modes directly? Just a light touch of Screen blend on the figure might help her stand out.

Joe

 

[ceeboy14]

I haven't used that method but I found when I tried to get her to stand out a little bit more, I started losing color details in the shirt behind her sweater. She's about a stop and a tad more lighter than she started. My tricks for this image was getting her and the foredeck sharp without having it bleed into the water and sky and getting a good golden hour sun on the deck and on the highlights of the chairs. I'm really starting to like this luminosity blending technique but it sure is complicated.

Can you give me a quick tutorial on using the history brush to do a blending mode?

 

[Ysarex]

I haven't used that method but I found when I tried to get her to stand out a little bit more, I started losing color details in the shirt behind her sweater. She's about a stop and a tad more lighter than she started. My tricks for this image was getting her and the foredeck sharp without having it bleed into the water and sky and getting a good golden hour sun on the deck and on the highlights of the chairs. I'm really starting to like this luminosity blending technique but it sure is complicated.

Can you give me a quick tutorial on using the history brush to do a blending mode?

You can paint on your photo directly with the History brush in any of the blending modes. If you alter the photo (crop, color mode change, etc.) the History brush will show on the screen as a circle with a diagonal line through it. In this case just open the History palette and click the check square next to the last entry.

With the History brush selected set a very soft brush size appropriate to what you want to alter. In the History brush properties bar set the opacity low (mid teens) and then pick a blending mode. Screen would lighten your figure. As long as you click and hold the mouse key down you get one pass -- the effect doesn't build while your holding the key down like the burning and dodging tools -- so multiple clicks for multiple passes and work it in slow.

Screen lightens
Multiply darkens
Soft Light raises contrast
Overlay raises contrast more
Difference lowers contrast

All alter color saturation, but you can avoid that by switching the photo to Lab mode and working on the L channel.

I would think a few passes in Screen mode over your figure and a finishing pass or two in Soft Light.

Joe

 

[Trblmkr]

I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to focus on... all the chairs, the lady, the S-curve of the chairs or the mountains?? Each would would require a special crop. Personally I would composed for the S-curve of the chairs.

 

[ceeboy14]

I think the lady pretty much stands out enough to be the focal point. The curves just work to lead the eye in until the color in her skirt and the organic form of her upturned arms can take over. I like the ambiguity of not knowing who she is and being able to intrude on her moment without her knowledge, or for that matter, her consent. I wonder if you would see this the same way if she was naked? Does everything have to always have that "in your face," take or can there still be a story with only a little subtlety? I vote for the latter but I generally march to the tune of a different drummer...and so it goes.

 

[Trblmkr]

I think the lady pretty much stands out enough to be the focal point. The curves just work to lead the eye in until the color in her skirt and the organic form of her upturned arms can take over. I like the ambiguity of not knowing who she is and being able to intrude on her moment without her knowledge, or for that matter, her consent. I wonder if you would see this the same way if she was naked? Does everything have to always have that "in your face," take or can there still be a story with only a little subtlety? I vote for the latter but I generally march to the tune of a different drummer...and so it goes.

I wasn't trying to upset you just giving you a very honest opinion. And to answer your question, yes I would say the same thing if she was naked. Because if she was naked she would probably fill frame to be the focus.

 

[ceeboy14]

I think the lady pretty much stands out enough to be the focal point. The curves just work to lead the eye in until the color in her skirt and the organic form of her upturned arms can take over. I like the ambiguity of not knowing who she is and being able to intrude on her moment without her knowledge, or for that matter, her consent. I wonder if you would see this the same way if she was naked? Does everything have to always have that "in your face," take or can there still be a story with only a little subtlety? I vote for the latter but I generally march to the tune of a different drummer...and so it goes.

I wasn't trying to upset you just giving you a very honest opinion. And to answer your question, yes I would say the same thing if she was naked. Because if she was naked she would probably fill frame to be the focus.

Not at all upset in that sense of having tears in my eyes as I write poetic answers. I was trying to state a position of subtle over in your face. Of course I could have made her larger. I was shooting with a 70-200. I could have filled her right ear in most of the frame, but it was the whole ambiance of the morning, of her response to the sun rising, and of the light I felt needed capturing; it was a very private moment for her; I thought it was pretty special too, hence my take on the crop...but then you weren't there so your crop choices would of course be different. I think we all sometimes forget this when we post...the moment we shoot is ours and sometimes that just doesn't translate.

 

[KenC]

You could just selectively lighten the sweater a little, avoiding any desaturation of the more highly colored clothing.

The image looks a little green on my work monitor, but since no one else mentioned this it is likely an artifact of this monitor.

Re the composition, I agree with your comments on it, but I find that the curve of the chairs in the lower left, after the first 7-8 chairs, draws me away a bit. You could crop a bit on the left to eliminate this without losing anything, at least IMO, but we all see this sort of thing a bit differently, don't we?