Struggling processing this photo - Autumn Old Tractor

nerwin · Jan 29, 2024

I took this photo while out for a walk last fall when the leaves were starting to change quickly. I like the photo mostly, I took probably 30 photos trying to find the right spot and settle on this and tried framing it with a tree in the foreground but I can't seem to get it to look in a way that I liked. I tried a number of edits and even tried it in black and white.

So i thought maybe for a learning experience I can share the raw file here and if you'd like to edit it and share your results, perhaps I could learn something.

Here is the picture straight out of the camera. (Nikon Z6II + 24-70 f/4 S)

Here's a link to my Google Drive for the NEF file.

(Hopefully this works...always seems to have issues sharing things with OneDrive or Google Drive).

John 2 · Jan 29, 2024

For me, there is nothing wrong with the viewpoint, the composition or the colours/saturation. My only thought (...and it's a bit nit picking) is that I don't like disembodied branches hanging into the frame (on the RHS). Apart from that and tidying up some distracting highlights and perhaps recovering some of the engine shadow detail, I would be very happy with this if it were mine. Modified in accordance with my comments, it would look like:

Hope this helps.

jeffashman · Jan 30, 2024

I like John's edit on this nice shot. The removal of the greenery on the right side opens the image up. I would probably bring the left in and crop out the green grass patch, because I think it takes away from the attention to the subject, the tractor. Bring the left in just enough to eliminate the bright green patch on the left of the tree.