SuZhou Morning

I took this image some time ago standing on a small stone bridge

early morning in SuZhou, China.

I'm afraid I may have over darkened the mid-tones.

Comments would be much appreciated. Thank you.

I think the mid-tones are fine, and the composition and mood portrayed are excellent -- and timeless. I'm undecided whether I like the grainy sky, or prefer that it was softened.

Thank you Michael for your comment. I'm not sure why the sky has lumps of grains here. The orginal photo doesn't seem to show the grains like this.

Actually I think you did fine with them Audrey. This has a very nice tonal range. If anything, I might suggest the tiniest boosting of the highlights, but very tiny indeed. I've seen this before but I still just love the composition. Conveys the wonderful quiet and peace you must have experienced that morning.

HI Audrey:

 

I think the contrast is about perfect for a hazy summer morning. My guess is that you burned the roof lines a bit. In any event, IMO the dark outlines on the rooves that define the building shapes and separate them so vividly from the sky are what makes this image so interesting. I think maybe you did "over" burn the houseboat in the background a little -- but it's something that I really had to look for to notice. Very nice.

The boat would have been better a little further down the picture. Nevertheless a lovely composition.

Thank you Andy, Jim and David for taking the time to comment and help me out here.

My PS skills are pretty limited, in this case, I feel my messing around in PS did not do the original photo justice.

 

David, I do have a shot of the boat further down, but it seemed a bit faint, so choose to upload this version.

 

Thank you again.

I love the tones of this picture and the way the river leads into it from the bottom. It is very nicely done, well done.

I like very much the tone of the image and this fog. Beautiful look!!

This picture has pastel-type qualities in it that make it very attractive.

This is a stunningly beautiful image that has, for me, an "old masters' quality. That having been said, I find the botchy grayness in the lower

third of the highlighted water very disturbing. Here is an image that should be treasured, protected and archived until the photographer's PS skills are up to the extraordinay beauty of the negative's potential.

Very nice halftone composition. I like beautiful soft light.

Really actractive with soft, sweet tones and a superb compo!

Wall worthy

Thank you everyone for your advice and comments. Very much appreciated.

I saw this picture a few days ago, and was waiting to post a comment. Why ? Because I'm not sure what to make out of the tonal range, whereas I believe this picture itself is absolutely fantastic and by far the best of your works - that I have seen at least. I'm not saying the tonal range is bad or wring, it isn't. But it is "strange", and not the one I would have chosen personally - I think. What I find "strange" mostly is this boat at the far end, which appears black whereas all the left side is "all-grey", and the right side darker.

So, I'm now curious to see the negative. This is such a beautiful picture, that I would really like to play with it in PS and see what I end up with as far as tones are concerned. Then I would be able - hopefully - to post a better comment about these tones...

P.S: since you asked, about these "Pink toilet" picture, I am not too sure whether I want to post anything there because it would influence people's reaction, but basically, I can at least tell you that you were absolutely spot on with your interpretation...:-) Cheers.

Hi Marc, grateful that you will make time to take a look at the negative. Have a couple of versions of the boatman in different positions.

Will email them if that's OK?

That's perfectly ok. :-) Cheers.

Great photo, but I'm not sure if the man on the boat adds to it.

very good. i would like it also in sepia!

Well Done!