The Hurlers

[Mike Parr]

Taken at Minions on Bodmin Moor
Enjoy
Mike

[Caz]

Re: The Hurlers

Striking images - I like them a lot. Good definition and composition. Difficult to choose between the two, but think I prefer the landscape one.

[Tom]

Re: The Hurlers

Both are very good with nice mood but I would exclude the out of focus grass in the foreground from both.

[Mike Parr]

Re: The Hurlers

I did toy with the idea of cropping out the foreground but thought it distorted the image,
thanks for the comments

[Stephen]

Re: The Hurlers

In some ways the out of focus area in the foreground is good as it concentrates the eye on the stones.

For me this is a great scene, but its not always easy to capture the feel you want with standing stones such as this. The light is everything and I can remember having similar problems with the stones at Castlerigg in the Lake District. You want to somehow capture the feel and drama of the place yet the light does not always help you. This is probably typical of the Bodmin Moor area, yet I feel as though somehow the stones should be made to stand out more

I had a go with the first image and with a little selective use of Levels etc felt that the composition had a little more punch and drama. What do you think?

[Mike Parr]

Re: The Hurlers

Stephen,
I thought you had done a small crop to the original, yes, you have made the stones stand out. I managed to arrange my screen so I could flick between my version and yours. the stones do jump out more on your version, and the sky is more in keeping with what I was seeing.
Its always a difficult decision as to how much you work an image to improve it, I had the image I wanted from the camera and basically cropped 1/8th off the bottom with some slight adjustments. The fact that I was happy with the image direct from ther camera was good for me as I had the camera doing what I wanted, for a change
Ive found in the past I have used PS to fix images rather than enhance them, for me I feel this dosen't help you learn to use your camera properly. I took six versions of this from the same position with different settings........I still think I could have got it better, but my backside got wet.........I was walking round with a damp patch for half an hour. So Im trying to use my camera more than my PC from now on.
cheers
Mike

[Stephen]

Re: The Hurlers

Mike, its my opinion that unless you are blessed with ideal conditions you will never get the sort of result you would really like straight out of the camera. It doesn't matter how much you tinker and tweak exposure in the camera, so far as I know they have never built a camera that will selectively lighten areas and add a vignette as well as extra contrast to selected areas.

You seem to be suggesting that to get the correct exposure is going to provide the end result and that the image should stand on its own merits without any further help. Yet this is surely not the case. My version of your shot proves (I think) that an image that is somewhat flat and lacking in drama, can be lifted to create a more pleasing result.

Now I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't try for the correct exposure, but the fact is that the camera just can't achieve what we would like all the time. So what's wrong with spending a little time at the PC to improve your photographs

[Mike Parr]

Re: The Hurlers

Your quite right Stephen,
In my way of not writing what Im trying to say I agree the camera cannot as yet capture what we see in our minds eye. I have many images I have taken that are very ordinary, these require enhancing to create the image I see when taking them. On the other hand I have very poorly taken images that require a lot of work and would be consigned to the tip if it were not for PS. I admit that having Image software is a great asset for the amateur. Do you not think that it stops people from learning the basics of good exposure, composition, etc as a lot of this is now fixed in PS and the like?

Should the photographer not try to get these right using the cameras ability and enhance with software rather than use it to mask the shortcomings of a poorly taken image?..............I for one have been guilty of this

I have found that having an image that was taken correctly and then manipulated has a far better end product than shall we say one that has an over/unserexposed sky, or requires exessive sharpening. If these were the days of 35mm id have wasted hundreds of pounds on film by now but thanks to Mr Adobe I still have some good photos.

So now I've meandered around the comment again, I would like to be sure I use my camera correctly and think more about composition and then spend hours gleefully plating with them in PS. Just to make my point I took similar images about 18mths ago, then I tried to capture all of the circle not thought to DOF or composing the image to give the mood I wanted and they were overexposed, this time I was happier with what the camera produced and having seen your version I know there is a cracking image there because I used my camera correctly this time.

Ok ive finished waffling now,