Winter Evening

Great shot! Lights are a little blownout, but nothing than a little burning can't handle.

It was 10 degrees F when i took this long exposure. There was a

campus building to the right and a residential street to the left,

so the photo was composed to isolate this image. Living in southern

Illinois while i am at school is generally a nice relief from teh

snow nad bitter cold of Chicago. THis year has been different. By

the time i was done shooting on this evening, my fingers were so

cold that they hurt. The print was overly warm due to the lights,

so this image has been fade desaturated in photoshop to achieve this

color tone. What due you think of the tone, feeling, mood, and

composition of this image? I was considering toning the image blue

to give a colder look? Do you think the photo works the way it is,

or should i change the toning?

 

Thanks, Tony

tony,

will it look better in blue? have to try it and see. often, the more effective toning is very subtle, just enough of a second color (perhaps grey as the second color) to lift the picture and let it pop.

when I see the word "toning" I wonder if the term is used to mean a traditional "wash," usually in sepia or blue.

the more specific term is duotone (PS7 Menu >Mode), in which a dialog sets up the first color as black -- and provides a curves-like facility to emphasize the black ink in the high-light and shadows of the image; at the same time it provides another curve to enable you to adjust the second color curve to bring out the midtones with the second color ink.

Blue? sometimes the term "cyanotype" is used to distinguish this when it is done with black and blue inks.

High-end "duotones" sometimes use black and multiple greys (think about those curves!) -- these might also be called "tritones" or "quadtones" -- not sure because I never got that far.

Let us know how it goes.

The wonderful tonality of the trees and the snow is overwhelmed by the brightness of the lights. This might be better if the top were cropped right at the bottom the lights.

The only problem I have with the lights is that they form a tangent with the edge of the frame. I think if they were eliminated altogether, the light falling on the trees would lack a source. Personally, I like this image very much. I like the warm tone and the composition. This is a good example of chiaroscuro as the defining element in an image.

I also like this one a lot and I agree with everything said here. I think the tone you have set here really works.

This definitely has that cold winter night feel to it. Makes me shiver! I like the lights. Don't change them! They are a bit close to the edge of the photo... not sure if this is cropped or not, but a tiny bit more height might have been good. The toning really adds alot to this one. Almost reminds me of an infared type shot.

I think this picture works just as it is. I don't have a problem with the lights, and to me, it adds more characer to the picture. Nice shot!

The color is nice. The contrast is too high for my liking. In scene like this, usually I don't mind blown out highlight like the street light, but the ground is also over-exposed too in this image. I would suggest to burn down the ground and see if it looks better. If there is some headroom for the lights, the image would not look so tight.