Too dark?

On the dark side for me too. If you look at the histogram it's a good idea to have the graph touching the left (blacks) and right (whites). It doesn't matter if it's only a few pixels that are recording the extreme blacks and/or whites. After that, it's a matter of taste, especially with landscapes. Currently there is a trend for darker and more sinister landscapes - nothing wrong with that - but I expect that the best of these will still have the histogram touching both edges, albeit the white with only a knat's crotchet of a whisker of white recording.
 
I'll go against the grain slightly here. I actually think the first has a nice mood to it that is lost in brighter versions. The only part I don't like is the dark patch of seaweed on the left.
 
I'm glad you said that Gad-westy. I prefer the darkest one too and agree with what you said. The reason I fussed over it being too dark or not was that the brightness of the device you are viewing it on kinda makes it or breaks it.
 
garnier81 said:
I'm glad you said that Gad-westy. I prefer the darkest one too and agree with what you said. The reason I fussed over it being too dark or not was that the brightness of the device you are viewing it on kinda makes it or breaks it.
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LOL! It's really all a matter of taste (not to mention screens and monitors). I quite like all of them but if it had been me editing the image I would have left the sky and sun dark and just lifted the sand and posts. Haven't got time to work on it for more than a couple of mins but something like this:

sunset.png
 
IMO, this should have been sorted at the capture stage. Framed with the reflection of the sunset near the bottom of the frame so there's more sky in the shot and leaving the groyne as more of a silhouette would have made it a better shot. Horizon's a tiny bit off level too.
 
Guess we all have different tastes, the first shot is my preference, I like the mood the high contrast gives.
 
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I think the original reflects the hour and the residual light.
I prefer that!
 
Unfortunately all of the versions have haloing around the groyne, especially on the uprights.
 
An interesting post, in as much as it reflects everyone's individual taste. Which just underlines how subjective Photography is. Taking the composition as the OP posted it I prefer the darker edits, if I had to pick i'd say @WingTsun has it for me "Just" but the original is a very close second. Its a very difficult balance to get the light in the foreground correct, a lot of people lift the shadows too much which gives it an un real look.
I like the shot I'm a sucker for sunrise and sunset, and I love that semi circular arc from the sun on the left.
But as said above scrutiny of the histogram and judicial PP to taste at the end of the day its just down to personal preference.
(anyhow I though Beetle Juice was a dark character anyhow;))
 
viv1969 said:
Unfortunately all of the versions have haloing around the groyne, especially on the uprights.
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Yes in some cases much worse than others, just needs a little tickle;)
 
69Bonni said:
Yes in some cases much worse than others, just needs a little tickle;)
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A quick tickle? Or another run at it from the beginning.
There's a lot to be said for it ;)
 
viv1969 said:
Unfortunately all of the versions have haloing around the groyne, especially on the uprights.
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Any pointers on elimating haloing, for future reference? I notice it in a lot of my pics and it does annoy me, just slightly.
The pic posted was a single shot on self timer, on a tripod. Probably F11, iso100. 30 year old OM zuiko lens, no filter.
 
garnier81 said:
Any pointers on elimating haloing, for future reference? I notice it in a lot of my pics and it does annoy me, just slightly.
The pic posted was a single shot on self timer, on a tripod. Probably F11, iso100. 30 year old OM zuiko lens, no filter.
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Here ya go :)

There are other techniques too but this one's quite effective:
 
garnier81 said:
Any pointers on elimating haloing, for future reference? I notice it in a lot of my pics and it does annoy me, just slightly.
The pic posted was a single shot on self timer, on a tripod. Probably F11, iso100. 30 year old OM zuiko lens, no filter.
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Wandered in to this section by accident.. haloing can be caused by the clarity slider in LR / ACR, sharpening with a wide radius, boosting structure in Viveza, various of the filters in Color Efex Pro, lots of the sliders in Silver Efex Pro and various of the HDR pacakges. Anything which attempts to boost local contrast, bascically. Topaz Clarity tries not to do it but still can occasionally.
 
viv1969 said:
A quick tickle? Or another run at it from the beginning.
There's a lot to be said for it ;)
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Yeah that's what I'd do too applying all the lessons from this post sometimes it's better that way isn't it rather than getting in a muddle with part processed images(y)
 
juggler said:
Wandered in to this section by accident.. haloing can be caused by the clarity slider in LR / ACR, sharpening with a wide radius, boosting structure in Viveza, various of the filters in Color Efex Pro, lots of the sliders in Silver Efex Pro and various of the HDR pacakges. Anything which attempts to boost local contrast, bascically. Topaz Clarity tries not to do it but still can occasionally.
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I didn't know that, great to learn new stuff. (y)(y)
 
I have to agree with the other posts, didn't see anything wrong with the first image but dunc's edit does bring the dynamic range back.

im viewing on a surface pro 4
 
EdwardL said:
Here ya go :)

There are other techniques too but this one's quite effective:
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Shame in the demo he's managed to remove the natural rim-light on the Castle wall!

However, it's a good technique to remove the halo(s) caused through oversharpening. Bit puzzled, too. why he kept sampling - Photoshop always samples/clones following the cursor movement, no need for constant resampling like he's demonstrated.
 
chuckles said:
Hmmm - that video tends to support what I've thought - the sampling is continuous and always adjacent to the brush - there is no need to keep sampling manually as the previous video suggested.
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Yes your dead right @chuckles he only needed to run down the edge with the brush because as you say PS constantly resamples. Newer versions of PS even shows you what its resampling as you go.
There are so many ways of achieving the same ends nowadays isn't there.
I'll often open another adjustment layer in PS, select it as soft light and fill with 50% soft light grey, then brush over it with a very soft black brush to darken it. Not unlike the method used on the Lynda site.
I guess use whatever your more comfortable with @garnier81.
 
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Kodiak Qc said:
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I think the original reflects the hour and the residual light.
I prefer that!
Click to expand...
+1
depends on what you were trying to achieve, if it was to show it was getting dark and you wanted it a bit moody then I think you have achieved that goal, on the other hand the revised shots show more detail and look like they were shot earlier in the day with more light available the edited shots show that. Personally I prefer the moody dark version.
takes all sorts.
Matt
 
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