Pavement Art/Jewellery

[Autumn]

We have a set subject "Metal" in our Photographic Society this season and when I was in Hong Kong, I noticed these metal studs in the pavement. I thought I may use them.

They look better on a dark background.

I would like your comments please. On my monitor on DP Now they look slightly darker than on Lightroom.

Do you have any preference between the two?

Can you offer anything to improve them?

Are they a 'No go' to start with?

Should I have kept them in colour? (I know you have not seen it)

I look forward to your comments. Thanks.

[peter]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

First one for me. If you had not said what they were I would never of guessed. The reason for saying the the first one is it looks kind of abstract. The second one just looks to uniformed for my liking.

Off topic how does your club work ie how many photos can you put in and what size do they have to be.

[Ian]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

I like these

I especially like the divergent direction of the 'stripe' through each - well, what are they?

Ian

[Cogito]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Close call for me - Slight problem with the second one that if I take a step away from my monitor, the studs can loose their obvious "metallic" look and become for me a series of glass bulbs (you know - like oven lights). However, I also really like the divergent stripes which are much more pronounced in the second image.

I suppose you could go back to colour which may prevent my "glass/metal" confusion, but I like the black and white treatment very much, and I guess on the original colour image there may be colour specs in the pavement which may distract from the effect you are going for?

On balance, IMO I prefer image one and would stay with the black and white.

Regards,

Neil.

[Autumn]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

I like these

well, what are they?

Ian

We went to The Peak when in Hong Kong. There was a viewing area and the paved area had these little studs in. Because I knew we had Metal as a fixed subject, I kept taking photos containing metal. It was a bit arty but unfortunately I don't think we quite got to the main building - we were looking at it!

Here is one of the originals before I messed around with it in Lightroom. It is the colour version.

[Autumn]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Here is another taken at the same place. I call it the Jelly Bean Sculpture. Of course this is also "Metal" but you can't really see what the beans are made from.

Comments invited.

[Autumn]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Off topic how does your club work ie how many photos can you put in and what size do they have to be.

6 Club competitions throughout the season including 2 fixed subject.

2 digital images,

2 slides,

2 mono prints

2 colour prints

Prints should be a minimum of 7" x 5" (although I have never seen one as small as that), within a mount no larger than 20" x 16".

Most people print on A3 or A4 paper.

[jojo]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Hi Audrey, my first reaction was a preference towards no 2. I thought that the regimental lines coupled with the hard, cold subject matter worked rather well. But then looking at it some more I have to agree with Peter's comments. Looking further at the first one, I do like the way the diagonal line of cement severs the uniformity of the studs and thereby adds some tension to the image. Not sure what type of sharpening you used but I think all those concentric metal rings could cope with a good dose - to me it looks a little soft. Have you tried LAB sharpening or using the High Pass filter on a duplicate layer and then changing the blend mode to hard light? Just a suggestion of course. Oh, and how refreshing to see such a clean bit of pavement!

jo

[Autumn]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Hi Audrey, Not sure what type of sharpening you used but I think all those concentric metal rings could cope with a good dose - to me it looks a little soft. Have you tried LAB sharpening or using the High Pass filter on a duplicate layer and then changing the blend mode to hard light? Just a suggestion of course. Oh, and how refreshing to see such a clean bit of pavement!

jo

No Jo I haven't tried the HP filter. I don't know how. I will have a look at it again though. I hate to see over sharpened images so I probably err on the reverse.

Thanks for your comments.

[peter]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

6 Club competitions throughout the season including 2 fixed subject.

2 digital images,

2 slides,

2 mono prints

2 colour prints

Prints should be a minimum of 7" x 5" (although I have never seen one as small as that), within a mount no larger than 20" x 16".

Most people print on A3 or A4 paper.

Thanks for that. We have two leagues that run throughout the the season these are a 6x4 class to which you must not have cropped the photo or done any photoshop work to. The next class is up to A4 these can be cropped and had any sort of photoshop work you want done to them.You enter say one in the small and two in the large section or the other way around. All the subjects are chosen by the committee at the start of the year with the first one being open. We then have a competition that runs through throughout the year which is split into 3 sections. We then have a print competition which is open, this one is what you would think is your best photo/print of the year. Then we have a portrait competition which really speaks for itself. Last one is a competition called the Lihou salver which is photos that have to be taken in a certain parish of the Island this is open in that it can be anything as long as it is in that area. Oh and we also fit in the odd competition with other local clubs

[jojo]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Hi Audrey, here is one ways of using HP for sharpening (if you Google high pass sharpening you will find many more - some more complex than others). Have a go and see what you think.

jo

[Jocelyn Walker]

Re: Pavement Art/Jewellery

Audrey I like the first image as its different...non conformist! I think that if the rings were as dark or saturated as they are in 2nd image, it may enhance overall effect even more! I do like the coloured version very much!