Country Road - Cropping?

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted April 10, 2013223 views8 comments

It's been three weeks since I visited NPN. Besides personal and family stuff, I've been busy learning some new software, including the Nik collection of plug-ins (now that Google cut the price drastically). That gave me the opportunity to work on some images from last fall that I never processed. This is one of my "Country Roads" shots that looked kind of flat before processing. After some free training webinars and videos, Nik's Viveza, and a sometimes a touch of their Color Efex plug-ins turned out to be faster fixes than if I had just used layers and masks in Photoshop.

CROPPING? Of course, Nik can't help with my most frequent problem -- cropping. I need my friends at NPN for that! Please let me know what you think of this posted crop versus the full-frame veiw in my comment below.

THANKS!

P.S. I included a larger version, but with this much detail, compression is making a mess of it, so I'm not sure if it helps.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on April 10, 2013 at 11:29 AM

Here's the whole frame. I originally thought the FG foliage on the right added some extra depth, but when I shot it, I thought I might chop it off in a 4x5 crop if it was too much. The posted crop retains the original 2x3 aspect ratio because I thought there was too much sky. So my question is, do I keep the leaves on the right, or go with the cropped version that I posted?

THANKS in advance for your help.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on April 10, 2013 at 11:55 AM

Good to see you back Wayne

The colors and process look good to these old eyes but the problem I see is the two "holes in top middle of sky showing thru the trees. The eye movement goes there and looses the wonderful road as the focal point. first rule I learned 40 yers go is the eye goes to the lightest part of the image. These are my personal thoughts and just an opinion.

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Elizabeth Arellano on April 10, 2013 at 12:03 PM

Wayne, the colors and the way it leads the eye, is wonderful. I must look into the Nik Collection. Well done.

Registered on February 18, 2008, 35 Posts, 302 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on April 10, 2013 at 1:26 PM

Thanks folks.
RICK -- I am bothered by those patches of sky too, which is one of the reasons I am asking for cropping help. In addition to the question about including or cropping the right side, I am not sure if cropping out the blue sky on top brings more attention to the lower spots of sky. I don't really like the way the top looks, and if I decided to include it, I would re-process to try to remove some of the cyan/blue in the dark areas. BUT I am wondering if the darker sky on top helps focus more attention on the the end of the road, instead of pulling the eye to the top of the frame.

I am wondering if the more extreme pano crop on my Facebook Page might be the answer?

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on April 10, 2013 at 3:41 PM

Beautiful Wayne. I like it as presented; your crop is good. I would love to walking down this road.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on April 10, 2013 at 9:38 PM

Wayne, this is a beautiful scene and capture. I prefer the original cropped image to the repost because there is less sky. I like the semi-pano (no sky) even better if you have enough pixels for your particular needs.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 11, 2013 at 3:29 PM

Hi Wayne, This is really a wonderful autumn scene. I love back roads like this that wander through the woods and especially in the fall. Looks like it could be in northern WI or Upper MI to me. I like your first post here with the crop the best and the sky really doesn't bother me. I also agree with Scott that a pano crop with no sky at all looks quite nice. I would prefer that over trying to fill in the sky as in your newest post. Just my thoughts. It is a beautiful scene.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 12, 2013 at 10:36 PM

Hi Wayne, The crop is a big improvement, losing that pale blue spot in the top center. It's a beautiful fall scene that invited me to go for a ride. The opening that are left above the road seem fit right in and with the branches closing them at the top, they don't lead my eyes out of the frame. It's also a strong image if you crop those openings out as well. It feels a touch over sharpened to me.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments