Not used to having people in my shots. C&C, please

[Compaq]

Just a shot of my brother. Candid. He just carried my stuff on a photo walk, didn't really want to take any shots himself. So, what do you think?


Eirik by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

 

[jake337]

It definitely adds to the photo in my opinion I like his placement as well.

 

[michael9000000]

Very nice! Is this an HDR composition?

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

The halo around the person is slightly distracting but the comp is great in my opinion.

 

[tirediron]

It's about friggin' time! I would prefer to see him farther back in the image; there's a lot of interesting scenery, but with him so far "forward", there's really no need to look at the rest of the image. I find the processing a bit intense for this image, but that is strictly personal taste. Keep it up!

 

[jake337]

The halo around the person is slightly distracting but the comp is great in my opinion.

I agree and it seems to get worse/intense as I back up from my monitor.

 

[gopal]

the composition I like....adding human being adds life to picture....otherwise what cud you think of focal of interest...not an empty road?

 

[Compaq]

Thanks for the feedback! Yup, three exposures merged in photomatix. Done some tonemapping as well, but the extreme black and white contrast stuff was done later in photoshop.

And you're right, tirediron, it is about time I put something alive other than plants in my shots!

Maybe it's a bit extreme, yes. I did a new version, but I'm not sure it's less extreme, hehe. So I lowered the contrast a tad, hoping that might help. Anyway, here's two other versions. I dodged the face a little as well.

vol.2

Eirik 2 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


vol. 2 less contrast

Eirik 2 mindre kontrast by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

 

[Ernicus]

Did you burn the tree branches with the history brush, or did it come out that way in the hdr edit? To me it looks like you did, but didnt do the ones in the back, just the big tree (just guessing by what I'm seeing..kinda how I'm interpreting it). The b&w depth and contrast is all over the photo...in a good way...except for down the road at those trees at around 9 o'clock. Lots of detail in a small space so I dunno if it can be brought out...


cool shot though. I like. I too wonder if he was more down the road than in front if it would be better. do a quick test and move him down a bit and see how it looks. make sure ya resize him so it fits the scene, lol.

 

[Ernicus]

I played with it a bit to try to illustrate what I mean. I don't relay my thoughts well all the time, lol. Hard to see much when looking at it alone, but if you preview them back and forth you can see it animate what was changed. Mostly did some work around 9 o'clock area, and the back of the road a bit then small stuff here and there.

Just a "me" thing, you might not like it. lol *shrugs*

 

[Compaq]

I may have upped the black point in photomatix a little, I never used a history brush. Don't know how to use it I may have burned a little with the burn tool, though.

You gotta love photoshop, LOL:

 

[Ernicus]

yup, fun stuff....I watch tutorials and practice on pics...a lot. lol

I can't explain it as its not in my head fully yet...but that link I put up earlier, the guy explains about using the history brush on black and whites and why its a great tool.

 

[Compaq]

Oh, I forgot to reply about that. Very nice article. I definitely need to evaluate my shots more than I'm currently doing. I like to believe I'm able to see what is wrong with my pics, though, but one can always be better. As for the history brush, I got the impression that that is his weapon of choice. I think I've devised a workflow that is able to give me what I want. Whether the history brush is better nor, I won't venture to answer

 

[Ernicus]

Yeah, he pimps it out like its the only thing you need. I generally look past that sort of thing and take away the usefulness (or not) of a tool. For me, I find it quite useful. However...I don't even know all of the tools uses yet. lol

 

[Compaq]

I'm sure it's a great tool, and it wouldn't hurt to know how to use it. I probably should take some time familiarising me with it. But when people say they've found "the best method" or "the ultimate way to do things", I take their words with fairly sized spoon of salt.