Living Desert

Vignetting can be fixed in the wet darkroom so I think it would be fair to allow fixing in photoshop. I think it would help the image as well.

In response to the question above by Rienk... the term "vignetting" is used to indicate when part of the image, especially around the edges, is obscured. Most of the time it happens because a filter ring or lens hood accidentally protrudes into the angle of view of the lens, and therefore happens particularly often with wide-angle lenses.

 

In this photo the vignetting is a little distracting, but I am more frustrated with my inability to see all the details in the sand nearest the camera. I feel like the image formats that work well on the web are not appropriate for landscapes. Would the photographer like to upload a 1600x1200 pixel version for my enjoyment?

I like the aesthetics of this photo a lot, and have always been mesmorized with desert shots. In my opinion, though, I think that the sky could have been darkened a bit to give a deep blue on gold look. (Either electronically or with filters, preferably the latter)

 

As for the elves' question, I personally feel that anything done electronically is a betrayal of the art form. But if I were to enjoy this shot in my living room, I would by all means alter it to suit my taste in any way possible. Nothing worse than walking by a photo on your wall everyday kicking yourself that you didn't get something differently in the field....

Well, in response to Carl Root. The last thing this picture needs is a polarizer. It looks fine and a more accurate rendition of what was seen. Photoshop is fine to correct vignetting.

Hey wait a minute< I thought film was dead, no problem with vignetting,

like it, shine on hypertechnical comments from photoshopers.

I've seen a similar shot of these dunes taken by Marc Muench ?. His was taken with a long exposure at dusk in Death Valley but it looks like it was taken in the middle of the day. I'm Curious to know if this was the case here too. Great shot !.

--Luis

For me this is hyperrealistic or if you like it surrealistic picture. Imagine some of Dali's watches into it. I dont know if photographer aimed to this achievement? Astonishing atmosphere. Dream world. Haire.

Vignetting, shmignetting, that's the sexiest sandune I've ever seen!

Nice shot.

Nicely done! Vignetting? What vignetting?

Nice image. warm color, good composition

an invitation to ... sleep. a bit too flat to be really original IMO... I would suggest a more wavy shape ... :o))

as suggested above :o)

I love this image. The vignetting bothers me very little, because like vignetting, the shadows of the female form are delicate and curvaceous. I immediately thought of the navel and pelvic region of a young woman laying on a blue sheet of fabric, maybe water? Maybe the breasts of a laid-out model with her arms over her head, right before the "tease" of her nipples that contrast with the color of her skin.

 

Why does vignetting have to be considered a technical imperfection, anyhow? Wasn't the charm of anything from an old-time portrait to a cheap Holga print the vignetting? You know what I mean. :p

C.

 

I like this image. Initially, I thought it was a chick (politically correct women's torso) but its subtleness and "less is more" give it beauty. Don't worry about vignetting!

Here is the image with almost all the vignetting removed and a slight curves tweak in Photoshop. Darkroom work, in the wet darkroom or the digital darkroom is 50% of the photographic process. Ansel Adams didn't just shoot chromes and drop them on a light table. His negatives were a starting point for the work he envisioned. Or in his own words 'shoot what you feel, not what you see'.

it works?

nice photo - like the original best - striving for perfection is a thankless task ... imperfections add character!

Another quick comment: Had I the misfortune of being an elf (a misfortune that would exist from having to choose from so many excellent photos, then take it to another level by giving a REASON why they chose that photo) I would have gone with this one:

Of Jäger's desert shots, I find the human element to add so much more perspective. Personal opinion only, of course.

Cheers!

--A

I much prefer "Life" in your folder, the one with the desert encroaching upon the palm trees. This one, by contrast, seems to have had some potential which either was not realized or could not be realized because of the angle. I am not sure that the vignetting is such a problem as is a somehow imperfect composition, but the shot just might not have been there.

In any case, there are lot more photos of yours that I think are not only better but provide interesting things to talk about, and the vignetting issue is just not all interesting to me. As for the "feminine" form, it seems to be partly front and back views together, abdomen and buttocks at the same time (at least in terms of overall impression), and perhaps that is disconcerting enough to interfere with my appreciation of it--although I think that Picasso might have liked the incongruities.

I also like your other photos with a true human presence, as well as the monolithic mountain. For me the best photos almost always provoke the best questions and discussions, and this one, though good, is hardly the best of your work, in my opinion.

The content, lines and aesthetic are there but I find the picture very flat. The form and depth could be better reached by shooting much earlier or much later in the day. It needs every possible minute shadow in the dune wavelets to bring out the form. I worked 20 years in photogrammetry and we found the best light conditions to help form sterescopic pairs or give an impression of depth was shoot at least 1 1/2 hours before and after midday. Otherwise a great shot !

This is a great background, but has no fore ground or point of focus. Without a figure (human or camel), it is hard to see the size of the area, I think it is a so so picture, picture of the week!

With all respect to the POW introduction, there's other ways than cropping to remove vignette in an image. Especially from an image like this. The technique I'll describe here doesn't work for all photos but it's one approach.

 

1. Open the photo in Photoshop

2. Duplicate the background layer (the one with the photo)

3. Make the topmost duplicate black and white (Image > Adjustments > Desature)

4. Blur the layer (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur)

5. Adjust the blur until you get the vignette visible. DOn't be too cautious, drag the slider up, up, up

6. Use the magic wand to select color range. (Right click on the canvas with Magic wand, choose "color range")

7. Adjust the selection to double the width of the visible vignette in the original. and click ok, don't deselect

8. Now you can hide the desatured layer and click on the original.

9. Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast...

10. raise the brightness, adjust the contrast. Keep your eye on the shadows and make them match the rest of the photo. Don't get scared of the loss of saturation in the corners, we'll get it back. When ready, click OK

11. Still keeping the selection, Image > Adjustments > Variations (you can also use Hue/Saturation...) Work on the midtones, add a bit of Yellow and Red (not too coarse), klick OK

12. You should have now a photo without the vignette. You can create another duplicate layer, desature and gaussian blur it, to verify the vignette is mostly gone...

 

Despite everything, I love the photo. I also wouldn't remove the vignette. as someone here said, imperfection adds character ;)

 

Thanks for the great photo goes to the photographer.

I like this photo. I would not agree with statements that the author should get 'good equipment'. I think it was only a bad decition of what F stop to use. If only he would have stopped down the lens a few stops, the vignetting would be gone (or minimised at least).

Oh that we mere mortals can feel nature has become so cliche as to repeat an

image we have seen before. The desert does live and will live far longer than

we. Oh that we could repeat our image so frequently without the changes we

ask of other things. Beautiful shot still.

Congratulations.www.fotolog.net/gfdwyer/

Wow!..........!...!

 

Congratulations on POW! This picture deserves it. Very clean, surreal. The details in the sand are stunning.

 

Maarten

first of all, that photoshop tweak looks horrible as opposed to the original.

 

certainly the imagery has been done a gazillion times, even is part of the

photoshop samples image library but for sure it works. it is always nice to be

able to reproduce something in your own way. basically if anyone strives for

avant garde or renewing imagery you might just as well put down your

cameras now and walk away from the battlefield.

 

i am also an advocate of imperfections, it gives it atmosphere. actually as far

as composition is concerned, the vignetting works very well in accentuating

the frame, it keeps it well locked. since it is a very calming horizontal

composition, not having the darker areas would make the image run away to

either side, thereby leaving a blank sheet. this can also to some extent be

seen in the photoshop tweak, the image is losing its content.

 

peace ..........