Wakefield scene

[Thiophilos]

Peaceful scene, quite graphic with the dark shapes and the small contrasting red main subject. What do to with the sky? I solicit your opinions. No abusive comments pls, never mind the thickness of my skin.

A version of this image was posted before in the forum but got no comments.

Phone camera image, cropped, the 35mm-equiv FL after cropping was about 50mm. f/1.7.

 

[smoke665]

version of this image was posted before in the forum but got no comments.

I saw it earlier, sometimes the scene we see, doesn't match what the camera sees.

The flat light, wide aperture, and broad view is creating a boring image lacking detail and a strong focal point. As cropped the "V" shape in the reflection is drawing the eye away from the building focal point. Since there's little interest on the right side, I'd crop it away, making the red building the prominent focal point. The third image sky has the most drama, but the foreground sky reflection doesn't match. A couple quick edits in LR mobile for illustration.

 

[KJ_North]

I have similar opinions. For me nothing stands out. The sky is bland, the trees are nothing special. I like the red house but its lost in the scene.

I enhanced it by adding a lot of saturation to add some color, as well as a sky replacement to work with the increased color. By no means does my presentation work for everyone as that is what makes us unique in that we all enjoy different looks and views. Just providing another take on the photo.

I will add that often that type of scene is what you get out of the camera. Dull day, dull colors, our eyes love the reflection etc but when you get home its never as impressive on the screen. Trust me i have taken dozen of photos and come and gone hmmmm not what i was after, but its still fun looking and shooting.

 

[Thiophilos]

@smoke665 and @KJ_North , thanks for the comments, very useful.

When I took this pic, I was aware the house was very small in the frame, but it was the best I could do at the time with the instrument in my hand (phone). Later on the computer, I rather liked the graphic shape of the hills and the strong negative space around the small house.

But a maker liking a photo can be like a mother liking her kid. The creator is biased. That is why extra eyes are good.

I still like it but as you can tell, am struggling with it. The sky especially was not gelling for me.

I like KJ's version and am kind of surprised at how that fake sky brightened the image.

FYI, the sky in #2 and #3 was already darkened and enhanced a lot. Smoke, I tried to balance the reflection in 3 but maybe not enough.

... "but its still fun looking and shooting" - agreed.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[KJ_North]

I love it when i get ideas from people, for me at least i feel there is just so much creativity i haven't even imagined. Like you mentioned its fun shooting and seeing what you get etc and experimenting.

I totally agree that the "Creator" is biased as he is the one who saw the "Real Life" version and hence it is what made him want to take the photo in the first place. From the outside looking in we cant recreate that initial image just offer a different perspective.

Glad you liked the Sky

 

[smoke665]

But a maker liking a photo can be like a mother liking her kid

Not necessarily, your camera is a dumb recorder, it copies what is there. The eye sees, but the brain interprets, it's not only seeing what's actually there, but what could be. I have an open meadow on the back side of my place that I'm drawn to, but despite shooting it many times with different light, skies, etc., I just can't duplicate what I see, or generate the same interest.

@KJ_North the only problem I have with your edit is the strong leading lines of the "V" in the reflection is drawing the eye away from the house. Now if you were to cut/paste the house at the point of the "V", it would work well.

 

[KJ_North]

Not necessarily, your camera is a dumb recorder, it copies what is there. The eye sees, but the brain interprets, it's not only seeing what's actually there, but what could be. I have an open meadow on the back side of my place that I'm drawn to, but despite shooting it many times with different light, skies, etc., I just can't duplicate what I see, or generate the same interest.

@KJ_North the only problem I have with your edit is the strong leading lines of the "V" in the reflection is drawing the eye away from the house. Now if you were to cut/paste the house at the point of the "V", it would work well.

Yes absolutely i like your idea.

 

[cgw]

Too much blank sky. The Rorschach test-like reflections are a fail here. Some hardcore cropping needed--sky, foreground water and woods on the right. Smoke's rendition improves much but there's still too much water in the foreground for me. Mine is a quick edit and switch to b&w for emphasis of my criticism.

 

[Thiophilos]

Too much blank sky. The Rorschach test-like reflections are a fail here. Some hardcore cropping needed--sky, foreground water and woods on the right. Smoke's rendition improves much but there's still too much water in the foreground for me. Mine is a quick edit and switch to b&w for emphasis of my criticism.

View attachment 280768

Different picture - but looks successful to me. OK, so my rationalization about negative space doesn't go very far. Thanks - your version looks OK but IMO needs color, and the sky still is a problem.

Now I'm experimenting with a pano version - a tight crop and cropping out the sky. It works, I think, but is not that special so I won't post it.

Surprise - there's a person in the photo.

 

[smoke665]

@cgw I toyed with the idea of cropping the bottom more. I prefer your version there, but still feel it needs some more sky to balance the frame.

 

[Woolsocks]

Your image is amazing. Your photography is the best.

Combined 3 images together and tone mapped with custom parameters I set myself. duplicated image layer and blur gallery > tilt shift (parameter adjusted) applied. Exported and uploaded here.

 

[Thiophilos]

Your image is amazing. Your photography is the best.

Combined 3 images together and tone mapped with custom parameters I set myself. duplicated image layer and blur gallery > tilt shift (parameter adjusted) applied. Exported and uploaded here. View attachment 280780

Thank you, Woolsocks. That is an interesting effect.