VW Rollei

[jc1305us]

I tried to bring up the highlights under the vehicle, but without much success, since there is some streaking on the scan (this seems to be a Kodak issue possibly, as I've seen this on other scans from other developers) Anyway, does it work as is? Thanks in advance 

[ericphelps]

For me, if the bumper and headlamp were lightened/defined, the dark underneath would benefit and could stay as is. Loved everyone of my VW's..................

[marc_rochkind]

Great shot! Any way to bring up some detail in the tire? Would add interest to that part of the image. (Or, maybe it's there but not visible with the online image.)

[jc1305us]

I did lighten the exposure a bit, here's the result 

[DanJM]

I think that much exposure increase makes it a bit too flat, at least compared to the first. The strong shapes accentuated by the glossy highlights make the original much more interesting. Something in between these two would be well worth a try. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by DanJM

[marc_rochkind]

Agree with Dan JM: With that much exposure increase, the shot is now ordinary, without the mystery and drama that characterized the original.

[jc1305us]

15 hours ago, marc_rochkind said:

Agree with Dan JM: With that much exposure increase, the shot is now ordinary, without the mystery and drama that characterized the original.

Interesting...

[samstevens]

In post processing, you can bring up the exposure of the tire and foreground without affecting the exposure of the rest of the car, which is more intriguing when left darker.

[jc1305us]

4th attempt. I created a linear gradient from the bottom right corner to the top left, and adjusted the whites and blacks. (White more than black) without increasing the overall exposure. Think this is the best version of the three. 

[marc_rochkind]

Really close to the original. I looked at the two, going back and forth, and I think I prefer the original. But maybe you could use a brush for the tire only and try to make the tread visible?

Edited September 3, 2023 by marc_rochkind

[jc1305us]

Unfortunately when it comes out of Lightroom, it loses something. 🙁

[mikemorrellNL]

Nice photo ! But the highlights stay 'blown out'. Maybe there's a posible correction is something like Photoshop

- seléct only the 'blown out' highlights;

- paint on a separate layer, some matching color into the 'blown out areas

- Blend and Blur the 'painted areas' back into the original

- apply an  'exposure' or other PS function  to blend the 'painted areas' layer better

[Robin Smith]

Details do not always need to be seen in highlights or shadows. Very often that makes for a muddy image. The highlights are the points that stand out in the image, so if anything I would make them brighter. They are chrome and are reflecting an out of focus sky - what might you be expecting to see in them? What we see in the latest is sufficient, and we could see the same detail in a brighter image, which would have more impact. I think the basic permutations have been tried in the thread. My opinion is that somehow the shot is not as interesting as one thinks it should be. This would fall into my category "I've spent too much time on the image to make it work, so time to try again with a different image." Some shots never work out how we expect.

[Ricochetrider]

I like this sort of "detail" shot, but to my eye, in this one, too much is lost in the shadows. Scrolling thru the thread, none of the iterations seem to really do it much justice. What film is this then? You mentioned Kodak.. Arent the typical Kodak B&W films (Triumph-X, TMax) normally pretty forgiving, with reasonably broad latitude?

The original (ie: 1st pic) seems pretty silky, (a positve attribute IMO) is this Tmax 100? 

Can we see the scan in its origibal form?

Edited September 14, 2023 by Ricochetrider

[jc1305us]

@Ricochetrider

Straight out of the camera. Kodak Portra I believe 

[marc_rochkind]

On 9/4/2023 at 6:27 AM, jc1305us said:

Unfortunately when it comes out of Lightroom, it loses something. 🙁

From the posts here, it seems that this might be a scan of a negative. Lightroom is most effective when it's working on a raw file. There's not much that can be done with the limited dynamic range of a scan.

[michael_kucinich]

I like the lighter exposure (the second image) but it needs to have the contrast increased and I would darken down the reflection in the window in the upper right corner, as it draws my I away from the subject.