Retired

[Blank Page]

I haven't taken many pictures lately, but I was going through some shots from a foggy morning last winter that I had given up on and rediscovered this car resting comfortably in its old age in a farm field. The original is quite dark, and my first attempt at processing after I took it wasn't very good at all. I'm pleased with how it turned out this time, but I'd like more objective opinions on it.

[Tom]

Re: Retired

It's different but very nice. I really like the texture on the car, as a result of processing I presume. The fence on the background is nicely subdued as well.
Tthe overall treatment here reminds me of the Raymond Briggs movie and I wouldn't be surprised to see the snowman making an appearance.

[Blank Page]

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Yes, I think the splotchy texture on the car is from the processing (I thought that was one drawback of the shot). I had to boost the gamma and contrast a lot to get it to this point.

I'm not familiar with the Raymond Briggs movie, but a snowman would have been a nice touch.

[Bearface]

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I haven't taken many pictures lately, but I was going through some shots from a foggy morning last winter that I had given up on and rediscovered this car resting comfortably in its old age in a farm field. The original is quite dark, and my first attempt at processing after I took it wasn't very good at all. I'm pleased with how it turned out this time, but I'd like more objective opinions on it.

This is an interesting and potentially tricky scene, and I think you deserve some praise for managing the exposure so well. However I feel that dynamically, the composition could be described as a little flat.

The shot is taken virtually side-on, the subject falls dead-centre in the frame and you have effectively split the scene in two, giving the sky and the foreground equal amounts of space. Personally, I'd like to be led into the scene - you could perhaps have achieved this by taking the shot from a lower angle toward the front of the car and really giving the viewer a more dramatic perspective on the scene, maybe starting with the front of the car to the lower left and tapering away to the middle right. By moving in closer, you would also reveal more texture and detail, which even by itself would retain the interest and curiosity for longer. Finally, you could give more space to the foreground (the grass poking through the snow) and lose a little more of the sky, which if we're honest is a little uninteresting at these times of year.

Please don't think I'm being highly critical of your work - I actually think you have the basis for a superb image here. However I think it could be significantly improved, so hopefully you'll be wowing us with your second attempt this season

[Blank Page]

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I did treat it more as just a record of the scene rather than trying to say something with it, but I have to admit that after I got over my initial excitement with this shot, there was something that didn't seem quite right with it, and I think you just spelled it out for me. It could be more dynamic. I hope I can find it for a second try. The morning I took it, I was just driving aimlessly around country roads.

And please don't worry about being critical, that's why I'm here. I leave it to my friends and family to lie to me.

[Archangel]

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I haven't taken many pictures lately, but I was going through some shots from a foggy morning last winter that I had given up on and rediscovered this car resting comfortably in its old age in a farm field. The original is quite dark, and my first attempt at processing after I took it wasn't very good at all. I'm pleased with how it turned out this time, but I'd like more objective opinions on it.

Hi Blank Page,

The shot is interesting, but it could be better. I totally match Bearface's suggestion of distances and angles.
I would like better if the the car didn't have that post-processed look simply because it doesn't match with the rest of photo which looks totally smooth. Now the car as it has been post processed (rough splotches) looks like a foreign body in the rest of the smooth photo. The two alternatives I see would be, the whole photo to have a rough or a smooth look, but not partially.

I also think that the specific picture has the potential to look extremely nice with some different post processing.


Regards

George

[Blank Page]

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Hi Archangel,

Yours points are well taken. Re: the blotchy car, it seems to be a product of reducing the photo in size to upload here. I went back and had a look at the original edited version and it's not nearly as bad. I made another copy to show here but the colour got damaged in transit somehow . (I have to find out how to delete photos from my gallery.)

Thanks for your comments.

[Tom]

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Hi Archangel,

Yours points are well taken. Re: the blotchy car, it seems to be a product of reducing the photo in size to upload here. I went back and had a look at the original edited version and it's not nearly as bad. I made another copy to show here but the colour got damaged in transit somehow . (I have to find out how to delete photos from my gallery.)

Thanks for your comments.

To me anyway , the blotchy texture looks so like a layer of frost, so to me it is an asset.

[Blank Page]

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To me anyway , the blotchy texture looks so like a layer of frost, so to me it is an asset.

I wish it was frost, but I'd be lying if I said it was, and I'm not a liar , not right now anyway .

I took a couple of more tries at editing it, but the car itself takes up too little space in the frame and it's quite dark to begin with, so there was no significant improvement. Maybe I can find it again for another shot.

Thanks everyone, it's been a good lesson.

[Caz]

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Having been taken (dragged??) round steam/vintage thingy various rallies, I thought the shot was a refreshing change. I also thought the blotchy texture was frost... but do agree that it would possibly have been better taken at an angle.

Carol