MathewDH

An interesting design with good balance between the lights and darks. Very pleasing in its overall look and color choices. I like it.  CHEERS...Mathew

Hi Raymond,

 

I like the composition of the shapes and lines plus the skin texture. Perhaps higher contrast lighting to deepen the shadows would add to the image. Its something like a human Celtic Knot which is appealing.

 

CHEERS...Mathew

With infrared, you may find burning both the light areas and blown highlights will improve the contrast and details. Underexposure but shot in RAW will allow a lot more correction overall and help to minimize the blown highlights. Once an image is taken to black and white, you may find toning the image with the Color Balance controls can create some really interesting moods. I have found a chocolate sepia tone renders a beautiful finished image.

 

The Washington DC image should have been a little richer if you had checked the histogram and reduced the exposure. IR is tricky and making an item more natural looking means the black and white look needs to be closer to normal black and white.

 

Beyond these comments: Have a great time and success in your endevours.

If I could fly I be right behind it. A very nice simple shot. This would look great on a Baryta or matte finish paper.

 

CHEERS...Mathew

Greetings Israel,

 

What I find striking is not the clouds, but the interplay of the ground colors versus the sky colors. The browns and greens make a nice combination against the yellow and the blues. Where was the photo taken in 2009?

 

However, I think the image needs cropped  to emphasize the focus on the central region of the image. So I took the liberty of doing that and reposting it for you to study. Cropping was done to both sides and top. The dynamic action in the photo is taking place in the central clouds. I suspect the higher resolution image would look really nice if this was done to it and then printed for display.

 

I like to shoot clouds too. It is uncommon to have them as a dramatic background tied with an interesting foreground subject. Since the clouds are the focus of this image, and it lacks an interesting forgound subject, the copping helps to reveal that emphasis.

 

CHEERS...Mathew

Maria,

 

While I was scolling down the photos, your image stood out. It was the colors of red, green, and yellow. The red is striking. If there are sharpness issues like another poster mentioned, it cannot be decerned on a web quality display. A blue sky would have limited the impact of the yellow and grren in the composition. It has a feel visually of those Japanese and Chinese paintings. Print it large on good paper and it look lovely on your wall.

 

CHEERS...Mathew

I definately like the composition. The color does not bother me. You might try different sepia tints for a warmer tone. Stay away from cyan or blue as this might be too cool for the image.

 

Where was the photo taken?

 

CHEERS...Mathew

Hi Jerry,

 

It is a nice shot of Seattle from Gasworks Park.The problem with the shot is all of the drama is in the buildings and the middle sky. The lake water area is the problem in that there is no subject like a ship or a sailing boat to add something in that zone of the photo. Also, the balance is off due to too much sky. My eye wants to follow the long middle cloud as it slopes up from the middle left upwards to the right. My suggestion is to crop the picture to eliminate the upper cloud on the top right. You can see the cut line at the bottom of the upper cloud as it tracks straight across the sky from right to left. After doing this the cropped photo will be better centered and the eye will now track the buildings and the warm yellow colors of the clouds right behind the buildings. At this point you will note the dark streak in the water somewhat matches the long streak in the center new upper cloud.

 

At this point I am also thnking a further crop on the left may benefit the image.  That blue sky on the left is splitting the cloud like a pointing finger. Crop the left off to just where the point of the blue sky begins.

 

After doing the cropping, save the image and put it away. Look at it later in the day or even the next day. Do not compare it to the uncropped version. Assess the cropped version with your own eye and decide if that picture has now come to life by better defining the important points of the photo and increasing the dramatic effect on the smaller image. Even after all this cropping, you may want to still crop all of the upper left cloud out. the whole point of all of this is to find the best image within the captured subject.

 

Then print it at the largest size you think the image can look good. Are you using Costco or Moonphoto to print your images?

 

Mathew

Hi Rob,

 

Yeah, she looks very nice. My impression is she is a redhead but with colors being diffferent, one cannot tell. Was the of color for the clothing and makeup chosen for it to show up well in infrared?  Clothing color due to the dies can be radically different when shot in IR. The photo of the fellow I linked to before shows a pale stripe across his shirt. It was black in normal light. I still like the effect on skin. You may not need to retouch a model's face or skin but it can look like the makeup was painted on heavy to hide blemishes and wrinkles. It would be nice if the crtique area had breakdowns for B+W and maybe IR too since it straddles color too.

 

CHEERS...Mathew

Hi John,

 

     I like the sense of the immensity of nature compared to man-made items. Is that vignetting on the upper left corner?

 

CHEERS...Mathew

This and several other shots were done with a converted Canon 10D and

a 24-70 F2.8L lens. It was taken during the 2009 Northwest heatwave

from the Kent ridge area and the formation is over Maple Valley. People

were stopping and asking me if something had blown up. It was forming

that fast. A later panoramic can be found on my Newbie Forum

introduction. The photo made it into the judged 2009 Puyallup Fair

contest.

A very nice image. I like the flowing movement the eye follows to the people. The shadow and lighted portions of the sand balance very well. Try a square image by cropping from the right side. This will take the viewers eyes from the left of the image to the right side of the image. Another crop would be less on the right side, half way between the peaks of the two dunes. Where was the photo taken?

CHEERS...Mathew

Branden, A nice image with subtle sexual overtones from the V shape in the rails. However I do think there is too much sky. Try doing a crop from the top to about a 3x4 format. It will place the woman more to center of attention and still retain all of the great surrounding detail of the foliage and the rail lines. Let me know if it works for you.

CHEERS...Mathew

Toni, That is a very nice evening shot. A big open vista. You can also crop it square and still have a slight different look to it but still the same impact. Try cropping it just to the right of the small group of trees in the foreground. This eliminates the single cloud on the right side. Thus, you have two photos for the price of one. CHEERS...Mathew