ajweiss

With a few seconds' work, this goes from a 2/5 to a 6/5 in my book. I hope you don't mind the suggestion...

The dark areas are definitley full of artifacts. I find it pretty distracting, actually. I'm not sure if the green "spray paint" look of your fixes helped matters.

 

As a photo, it is a nice idea. I would see if you could drop out the shadows with a levels adjustment. Could you post the original?

The blown highlights on the shoulder bother me a little. I would either blow it all out to avoid the speckled look, or try to recover some detail, if possible.

A quick snap that I almost didn't take. Do you think it was worth stopping for?

Kathy,

 

I'm glad you like the building and reflection, even if the plane is distracting. I did take a couple of shots of just the building, but I felt that the plane really added something dynamic to the picture. Also, I'm a sucker for strange reflections...

Atle,

 

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't think you meant the photo was unpleasant, I was just curious to hear exactly what you did mean with regards to the plane. I appreciate your great comments!

Atle,

 

Thanks for the great comment. What do you mean by the "movement in the reflection?" Do you mean the distortion?

 

The library is right in the flight path to the airport, so I had a number of opportunities with different planes. I chose this one both for the placement of the plane and the nature of the reflection. I'm fine with it being a little "unpleasant," but I'd love to hear exactly why you say that.

At the JFK Library in Boston. The planes coming in to Logan airport flying right overhead

-- combined with the setting sun -- made this shot a "must take." I'm looking for overall

comments, and also advice on using the PS perspective correction tool (how did I do?).

Taken during a New Year's Eve parade in Boston. Please share your comments!

What I did was create a duplicate layer in Photoshop and Gaussian Blur it to my taste, then create a layer mask and "paint" in the original into the middle if the blur. Next, I created a "Layers" adjustment layer and darkened the image. I painted in the original through that mask as well.

 

You could also use the "burn" tool to darken the background, I just prefer levels because you can easily set a darkest point and not burn past it into black.

 

Now, I wouldn't do this to one of my photos because I don't feel that adding blur is Kosher (so to speak). However, it looks a lot better than the smudge tool! I'm okay with lightening and darkening (dodging and burning) as long as it doesn't drastically change the content of the picture.

oops...

Here's a quick illustration, if you don't mind...

The smudging is very distracting. I would either blur in a new layer and blend or burn in the background and blend. Otherwise, it is well-exposed and framed, but without context. I would have included part of the bus stop, or a modern bus in the background...

I'd love feedback and criticism on all aspects of this photo.

I'd love to hear tips and criticism on this photoshop experiment!

I'd love to hear your criticisms!

Thank you Carlos! I agree that I missed the highlight on the right side of the face. As for the rest, I was trying not too modify it TOO much, so I left a lighter spot in the top right corner and the shadow on the teeth. Do you think those detract too much?

Please comment on any aspect you think needs improvement!

This is the unprocessed "before" image.

I'm fighting my urges to manipulate too much. My fancy new Wacom tablet and I spent 20

minutes on this one. How much is it "improved"?

Newborn feet on their first day. I would love to hear any constructive criticism you want to

give!

I like it. Colors are good, and the sail doesn't get lost in the sky. I'd be curious to see the uncropped picture though, as I'm not sure there isn't a better way to crop it...

 

I would lose the border, but I wouldn't rate you lower for having it.

Please comment on composition, colors, and anything else that you see fit!

I took the picture for his outfit, and only noticed the sign later. What do you think?