carson wilson

This is my favorite in your Caribbean Colors collection.

I like this photo, notice it's the same building in my favorite in this "Travel, USA, Puerto Rico" collection. I think there's room for improvement though by removing the color cast, see the copy I uploaded here.

Alf, Thanks for this thoughtful photos.  I think you could go with either the color or this B&W.  The color one as you've presented it here has more detail and punch.  However, all that rich color does distract from the form itself and doesn't signify "remoteness" for me.  Instead, it looks a little fantastic.  I suspect with some work this B&W might achieve this purpose better.  Or possibly tone down the color image to reveal the form.  Best wishes, Carson.

This is from a 16-bit scan from Fuji NPS 160S. My main goal is to

reproduce the Fall colors in as appealing and accurate a way as

possible. Have I succeeded? Thanks for looking!

To me this image is as much about the background as the subject.  If the background isn't manipulated it's a very impressive find colorwise; if artificial it "makes" the image for me.

Steve, I'm reminded of poetry by this image.  Like a good poem it doesn't force the meaning, lets my mind fill in the blanks by its lack of clarity and saturation.  Importantly, the technique enhances the pose and scenery which are also subtle and ambiguous.

Gary and Stephen,

I paid my $25 and resubscribed to photo.net after seven years' absence in order to post this image for critique.  After seeing no comments earlier in the day I assumed I was now a mere drop in the ocean photo.net had become and of course there would be no critique.  I had wasted my money.

Or so I thought until just now!  Thanks for your considerate comments, they are more than I could have hoped for.

Gary, your revision certainly did bring out the Fall colors.  Thanks for your candor, I see that the "young lady" being right in the middle is a distraction, better placed off-center as you have.

As to contrast and saturation, I disagree somewhat: I've found that with time it's not just the intensity of an image that attracts me but also its subtle hues.  High-contrast, high saturation images have short term "shelf appeal," but soon tire.  In fact what attracts me about Fall is not just the strong colors but also the subtle hues we don't see the rest of the year.  So that's what I'm trying for.

Stephen, I see what you mean about the sky - I suspect I used a polarizer on the camera.

Anyway, thanks both for the encouragement, you've made it good to be back on photo.net!

Carson

I'm trying to get across the feeling of fall in this image. I've already

cropped this 35mm film image from the bottom, top, and right sides,

not sure whether I should crop more or it's good as-is. Also I've

attempted to balance color for enough saturation and contrast to be

attractive, but not so much as to make it garish. Should I use more,

less, OK as is?

I will appreciate any constructive comments you may have, thanks!

These blossoms confronted me outside my second story window every day

for a week until I finally broke down and photographed them. This one

was taken at about 7:30 AM as the sun was just breaking over the

cherry tree. I've tried to crop so that just items of interest are

visible. I also removed some of the yellow color cast from the rising

sun.

Tokina's 17mm lens made the roof and entryway to the Milwaukee Art

Museum into a single mural. I think it's a nice design and perhaps

could be used in a brochure or poster.

This was captured on Fuji Superia 400 color print film. The flowers

were growing on a trellis at about shoulder height. The exposure was

taken from about a foot from the flowers; this image is cropped to

about 90% of the 35mm frame.

I used Picture Window to mask all but the flowers and adjust hue,

saturation, and value separately for the flowers and the background.

I am trying to show the subtle tones of the petals and the beauty of

the light shining through from behind the flowers.

Carson

Bryan,

Thanks for your photo!

The rich earth tones in this image got my attention. From the small black artifact to the right of the top of the bridge, it appears that this is from slide film?

If you have good scanner or post-processing software, you might try clicking on the sky to set it to "white" and remove some or all of the color cast. I did this with Picture Window (see my version, attached to this message).

Carson

I love the color. That's no doubt due in part to the Velvia. I think probably also due to the slow speed of the Velvia, the image is blurred by camera motion. It's a delicate balance trying to use the slowest film you can and then get a sharp picture as well. The image looks nice at 3" high, though.

I enjoyed your story! However, the coyote seems to be looking to its left; I would have thought it would be looking straight at the camera if you were staring each other down. How so?

You did a good job of freezing the action. I like the shape of the net and the expression on the boy's face!

I think the top of the photo is distracting. The rock directly above the boy should either be entirely in the picture, or cropped out so that the sky ends to the left of the boy's hands.

The lighthouse is a little overexposed (no detail in the white areas), but that may have let you bring in more detail in the foreground rocks, which are rich in texture and make the photo interesting. If you can get to the site again, try making the rocks even more prominent in the frame (perhaps by getting closer or pointing the camera down).

The polarizer may have assisted in bringing out the rocks if there was any glare from them.

Interesting scenic.

I would:

1. Crop the left side so the upper-left corner doesn't show;

2. Raise the midtones so that the trees in the far foreground show;

I like the framing and the pose.

However, the image looks washed out. I suggest post-processing. I've used Picture Window on it (http://www.dl-c.com) to illustrate. I first set color to "full range" and corrected color balance to the white of the adult lion's chin using the Color Balance tool. I then further increased contrast and saturation with the Levels and Color tool. I then sharpened the image with Sharpen.

All of this would have worked better if I had use the original 48-bit scan rather than the JPEG.

See the following image:

It's an interesting study, and I like the contrasting background, but the lighting looks unnatural (which I know it was). The change in brightness between the illuminated part of the flowers and the shadow is stronger than it needs to be.

If I was working with a tripod, I would try using a constant light source rather than a flash, to make it easier to tell where the light will fall.

You can also use focus in addition to lighting to show dimension.

I captured this in my front yard, and like the photo because of the

way the rich colors compliment each other. I suspect the saturation

is largely due to the Fuji ASA 100 film I used. I've seen some good

feedback on photo.net and am hoping I can get some on this image.

Questions:

1. Do you like it?

2. What would you improve?

3. What would you keep the same?

How's my:

1. Exposure?

2. Framing (this is full-frame)?

3. Depth of field (the subject was about 12 feet from the camera)?

Would a circular polarizer have helped?

Thanks in advance; all comments welcome,

Carson