I am working on getting a decent print from one of my first 4x5 images. I did my best to remove most of the cyan and green color cast in the water, but there is still a bit of a cast in the lower right. Is this distracting or does this look OK? Also, some portions of the image, such as the boulder are a bit dense, so I am having a hard time making them a little lighter.
There's a saying that I try (and often fail) to live by: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Put simply, if it takes three hours to get your image 99% perfect, don't waste another three hours on that final 1%. (The saying is even more apt when I'm out looking for something to shoot, bypassing some really nice stuff in the hope that there's something even better just around the corner.)
Having said all that, I don't find any detrimental cast in the LRC. And if you were to lighten the boulder, I think it would be too dominant. But try (on a background copy layer) doing a shadow/highlight adjustment. If you just want the effect on the boulder, add a layer mask to the background copy and fill the mask with black, then use a soft brush and less than 100% opacity and paint with white on the mask to reveal just as much of the s/h effect as you want. Use the opacity slider to season to taste.
As with so many things in PS, there are several methods for acheiving the same thing, of which this technique is but one.
Has there ever been such a thing as a truly perfect image? You will always find something that could be done a little different. A little more of this, a little less of that. This is just my opinion, so take it for what it’s worth, coming from a photography “N00B”, I think you have an amazing image with what you have done. I only hope that I will be able to take photos as beautiful as this at some point.
I'd say you've done an excellent job balancing the color and tones. There are a few dense shadow areas throughout the scene, so my eye is not drawn to just one - at least not in any negative sense. If you try to adjust your shadows too much, you may get some ugly noise/grain - esp. since the scan blacks seem to be pretty dense. If you hadn't mentioned color cast, I never would have noticed. I don't see any in your processed version ... just looks like maybe a little moss on the boulder (or natural cast from the green forest), and the LRC looks fine.
I agree with Todd (ouch, did I just say that? ) I don't see any color issue in the LRC. I personally would try to lighten the boulder a bit, but not too much. That very dark area at the bottom is a bit distracting, blends in too much with the shadow.
Todd, I love your line
The saying is even more apt when I'm out looking for something to shoot, bypassing some really nice stuff in the hope that there's something even better just around the corner.
Nice image, Rene! Whatever you've done up to this point looks really good. The boulder could be a tad lighter. And I'd darken and/or desaturate the bright green leaves coming in from the top-center. They seem to distract and catch my eye no matter where it is wandering through the image. This should make a very nice print!
What film did you use? If you used a high contrast slide film, there's probably nothing you can do to make the bottom of the boulder brighter. I don't detect any cast in this image, but normally a little bit of a color cast doesn't bother me.
Rene - I think this is a great looking shot! It looks especially nice on my illuminated computer screen - I hope the print comes out as vibrant. My only suggestion - if you want to draw more attention to the boulder, you could crop a little off the top of the frame (maybe just below the leaf in the center/top that Scott mentioned). I don't notice any color cast, but maybe loosing a little of the background will help the photo feel a little less green. Just a thought...
It's definitely a shot I'd be proud to put my name on...
Thank you everyone for all of positive feedback and compliments. I will give each suggestion a shot to see how it turns out. But, even after continued searching, there is absolutely no detail in the dense areas of the image and lightening them up brings out only noise!
Todd - ditto! ...and I’ll give you suggestion a try.
Mark - this was taken in the Pisgah Ranger District in North Carolina. The stream is called Looking Glass Creek. I have tried to reshoot the photograph to get a lighter version for several years, but none turned out as good as this first image. Unfortunately, as of last year, this large boulder has disappeared.
Rene,
Nice image, it looks good to me just the way it is. I was actually photographing at Looking Glass Creek last Friday when I was back in NC. So you will know where this is then.....
I'll have to add this area to my shooting list when I head to East TN/Western NC next Spring. I just returned from there and spent quite a bit of time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. As soon as I get some images processed I'll get them posted. Thanks for the information!
OK , I applied (most of) your suggestions - and here is the final image (I think I am done now!).
Although changes are subtle, here is what I did: Lightened top of boulder, removed some of the green in boulder, darkened aread above boulder, slightly changed color temp of the greenery, lightened lower left.
Jody - Great shot! Mine is just upstream from yours. I know the are well. I spent most of my weekends there climbing Looking Glass Rock, fly fishing, and photographing. It is my favorite place in the southeast.
Rene, I find the image just fine as is. I can't see both versions at the same time, but it does appear there is a subtle difference in the boulder. I agree with Todd completely with his 99% statement.
This will make an outstanding large print and I love the boulder placement.
Well, heck... I was actually on my way to that area this evening... but I got caught in so much traffic trying to get out of Columbia I said to hell with it. I listened to the Universe, and it said, "Stop fighting traffic... go home and eat pizza and ice cream!"
I'll try early tomorrow morning - not sure if I'll go there or a little further north.
Glad to see you made it home OK, Jody! Good to see a CNPer out here!
I think there is a VERY fine balance you are walking in this image. Like it was said earlier, you have the color balanced very well and the dense shadows aRE NOT DISTRACTING AT ALL BECAUSE THEY WORK IN HARMONY WITH THE HIGHLIGHTS.
Grumpy - make sure you hit Hog Wild BBQ right at the entrance to the Pisgah Forrest on US 276. My favorite BBQ on the planet! (Here’s my best Homer impression: Mmmmmhhhhhh..........BBQ!)
I honestly think the saturation and hue are just fine. The composition is really nice. I don't think the lower right corner is anything to worry about at all, since it actually helps slice up the photo into a sort of diagonal Rule of Thirds. The only distraction I see, and this is very very minor, is that there are some blurry branches intruding at the top and far right. Ahh, to control the breezes, eh?
Discussion
20 repliesI am working on getting a decent print from one of my first 4x5 images. I did my best to remove most of the cyan and green color cast in the water, but there is still a bit of a cast in the lower right. Is this distracting or does this look OK? Also, some portions of the image, such as the boulder are a bit dense, so I am having a hard time making them a little lighter.
Any suggestions or critique are appreciated.
Here is the original drum scan.
Thanks, Rene
Having said all that, I don't find any detrimental cast in the LRC. And if you were to lighten the boulder, I think it would be too dominant. But try (on a background copy layer) doing a shadow/highlight adjustment. If you just want the effect on the boulder, add a layer mask to the background copy and fill the mask with black, then use a soft brush and less than 100% opacity and paint with white on the mask to reveal just as much of the s/h effect as you want. Use the opacity slider to season to taste.
As with so many things in PS, there are several methods for acheiving the same thing, of which this technique is but one.
Mike
Todd, I love your line . That is so me!!! I need to work on that too!
What film did you use? If you used a high contrast slide film, there's probably nothing you can do to make the bottom of the boulder brighter. I don't detect any cast in this image, but normally a little bit of a color cast doesn't bother me.
It's definitely a shot I'd be proud to put my name on...
-Jamie
Todd - ditto! ...and I’ll give you suggestion a try.
Mark - this was taken in the Pisgah Ranger District in North Carolina. The stream is called Looking Glass Creek. I have tried to reshoot the photograph to get a lighter version for several years, but none turned out as good as this first image. Unfortunately, as of last year, this large boulder has disappeared.
Tony - I used Fuji Velvia 50.
Nice image, it looks good to me just the way it is. I was actually photographing at Looking Glass Creek last Friday when I was back in NC. So you will know where this is then.....
Mark
Although changes are subtle, here is what I did: Lightened top of boulder, removed some of the green in boulder, darkened aread above boulder, slightly changed color temp of the greenery, lightened lower left.
Jody - Great shot! Mine is just upstream from yours. I know the are well. I spent most of my weekends there climbing Looking Glass Rock, fly fishing, and photographing. It is my favorite place in the southeast.
This will make an outstanding large print and I love the boulder placement.
I'll try early tomorrow morning - not sure if I'll go there or a little further north.
Glad to see you made it home OK, Jody! Good to see a CNPer out here!
Thanks again for the feedback everyone.
Grumpy - make sure you hit Hog Wild BBQ right at the entrance to the Pisgah Forrest on US 276. My favorite BBQ on the planet! (Here’s my best Homer impression: Mmmmmhhhhhh..........BBQ!)