Testing... one two... testing

minicoop1985 · Aug 18, 2015

Learning how to blend layers in photoshop. Four exposures, three of them using a Qflash in various positions.

astroNikon · Aug 18, 2015

Looks pretty good.
I have the same problem where I need to learn how to do that. A few shots of a lighthouse. one with the starburst sun with the house too dark, and various ones in between proper lighthouse exposure. need to learn this stuff.

minicoop1985 · Aug 18, 2015

It's fairly easy once you get the hang of it, but it's daunting to try. There's three tools that make it possible: Pen tool, layers, and blending options. Just play with those three and you'll start to see it.

minicoop1985 · Aug 18, 2015

Here's another from yesterday:

IMG_6510_6 by Michael Long, on Flickr

Come on, guys! If you like it, say something! If you don't, say something! It's how I improve!

astroNikon · Aug 18, 2015

I like the background,
and I like the fore shadow .. nice work
might be a bit bright on the side though

D-B-J · Aug 18, 2015

Not bad at all. The only thing I can see right away is a few specular highlights--I can see the flash head almost perfectly reflected in the car. I know it's tricky to avoid, but if you can't then comp it out.

Cheers!
Jake

D-B-J · Aug 18, 2015

Oh, I'd also add that you might want to up the drama by darkening the background a bit. To me, the BG seems a bit hot, and the car is lost in it, rather than POPping off the bg.

Derrel · Aug 18, 2015

I agree with Astro on the second shot--the right hand side of the car's door is too bright, and it has lost its color. In shot #1, the car looks great. Overall, shot #1 looks pretty good to me. In #1, the car is entirely "outside" the structure, so the hood reflects cleanly, while in the second pic, the car hood reflects the overhead structure, which adds realism, but at the same time, might be considered a bit distracting by some people.

minicoop1985 · Aug 19, 2015

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Yeah I definitely agree that the side in #2 is WAY too hot. Tried cooling that down, but the highlight just turned into mush. Looked even worse. I'm on the fence about the BG, too. As for the reflections, that was a mistake on my part. I set the second layer to Screen when it should have been at full normal opacity. Oops.

minicoop1985 · Aug 19, 2015

Went back and fixed some stuff.

IMG_6510_8 by Michael Long, on Flickr

Is this any better? No reflections, less blown out. Took like 10 minutes to redo.

wanderer86 · Aug 19, 2015

minicoop1985 said:
Went back and fixed some stuff.

IMG_6510_8 by Michael Long, on Flickr

Is this any better? No reflections, less blown out. Took like 10 minutes to redo.

I definitely love this one

It looks like a commercial shot. Very cool!

weepete · Aug 19, 2015

Looks very good to me!

minicoop1985 · Aug 19, 2015

Thanks guys! definitely learning some stuff here.

PropilotBW · Aug 19, 2015

your first post is better than the 2nd. Better lighting and less background distraction. The chain-link fence looks awful.

minicoop1985 · Aug 19, 2015

D-B-J said:
Not bad at all. The only thing I can see right away is a few specular highlights--I can see the flash head almost perfectly reflected in the car. I know it's tricky to avoid, but if you can't then comp it out.

Cheers!
Jake

I see what you meant by the flash head. That was actually a sign reflecting in the background. Not sure why it even showed up, but I eliminated it. Also upped the contrast a bit because the blacks weren't coming out black.

IMG_6518_1 by Michael Long, on Flickr