Amateur pics took last night-c&c please

[jpgreenwood]

I took these last night locally. Nikon D3200, 35mm F1.8 prime lens. Please comment good and bad. What can I do to them in photoshop to make them POP.?

 

[basegreen]

The third has some potential - perhaps have a play around with the contrast/ shadows and maybe a touch more saturation?

 

[Cg_Girl]

I'd be interested in seeing a gritty black and white conversion on these...

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•
This is an interesting project with a lot of potential and a bold challenge
with only one light source… of any power!

The better success was achieved in the second shot though the far too
strong unbalanced parts of the scene are not working together.

I love the the "city light dome" made red shy in the BG.

 

[seaodyssey]

I too prefer the 2nd shot, it has more atmosphere, it might have been better to exclude a bit more of the bright light on the right hand side just a tad. In the other 2 the church is far too bright.

Pete

 

[Alastair]

The first and second shots are interesting, but I think you're framing the scene too tightly, they'd both benefit from pulling back a bit and getting more of the ground. A lot of people tend to crop very tight, but including more of the ground surface can help balance an image. It also means you're more likely to be holding the camera approximately level and not tilting back and looking up too steeply - which tilts the verticals. With the first shot, ten feet back and four feet higher might have made a big difference (if physically possible) - if the chopped prominent gravestone was included in its entirety it would make an interesting trinity with the leaning gravestone and the church door (all three being of a similar shape and very dark in the frame).

 

[kennysarmy]

Might look better in black and white.

 

[EdwardL]

What a challenge you have here and I feel you've done yourself justice. I thought I'd play with the first and see what happened. I use a package called Viveza which is part of the Nik Software suite (easy google search) and this is a package of 6 programs which sort of rest inside photoshop. I've not looked at the price for some time but I think it's around £80 - one of the best £80 I've ever spent.

When you said "pop" I took you at your word You will, of course, have much more success with the original file.

 

[aserota]

Is there a way you could softer the harsh flood light? Potentially using a graduated ND filter?

Agree with other comments though, a bit of PP and changing the images across to B&W could work well

 

[jpgreenwood]

Thanks guys. I have been accused of over-processing previous photos so thought I would post these eu natural. I have some others taken on a faster shutter speed which look a bit darker but thought I lost some of the details in the bricks down the side of the church. It was difficult to get much further away as the church is built up and the graveyard slopes away so I would have fallen off a 6ft wall. I will try again though if I get a clear evening. B&W is an easy fix. Would you suggest taking it B&W in camera or process it in PS? Is the direction of shot ok? Apart from the uphill look?

 

[Alastair]

Thanks guys. I have been accused of over-processing previous photos so thought I would post these eu natural.

I very much prefer your original processing, it's very clean and the colours appear to be accurate. The first two in particular are definitely heading for a style of night churchyard photography I like

 

[jpgreenwood]

Darker??? Better????

 

[jpgreenwood]

No photoshop processing has been carried out on any of these photos. Straight off the card.

 

[Alastair]

Versions at the top of the thread are the better ones. Digital needs a little processing, just like film needs developing.

 

[jpgreenwood]

I don't really understand what you mean Alistair? Im literally just starting out. Thanks for all the comments so far tho.

 

[Alastair]

I don't really understand what you mean Alistair? Im literally just starting out. Thanks for all the comments so far tho.

My mistake, I took 1st photo on post #12 as an unprocessed version of the 2nd photo in post #1.

I'm easily confuzzled. Must be tea time

 

[Mark Johnson]

Like the second darker ones more than he originals.

They are much more moody so to speak.

First ones are quite striking tho'.............

Mj

 

[juggler]

What can I do to them in photoshop to make them POP.?

Take a step back for a moment... Why did you take the photos? What drew you to the scene? If you do anything in photoshop it should be geared at enhancing that aspect.

For me the second (DSC_0081) is by far the most interesting, from a composition, lighting and mood point of view. I'd crop it and convert to mono.

 

[Shawn Eastman]

I like #2 in your first version. Could do with a very slight crop to rid of the little flare but in b&w with some tweaks I think that could be a super moody shot, although i like the redness of the sky also & that's the only shame in converting it to b&w.

Not so fussed on your second attempt at it though.. think you've panned too far left & the composition & interest just isn't as good for me. I prefer the addition of the grass & gravestones to the right of the church.