weekly Gil Bev's 52s for 2018 - Week 6 Sharp Added

gilbouk

gilbouk

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Gil
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Hello to all!!

Really looking forward to the challenge and decided it was about time I created a thread in anticipation of all the fantastic photos I'll be posting (cough).

At least I'm hoping it will give me the excuse to use my camera more, and hopefully learn some new techniques for things I wouldn't normally take photos of.

Just as importantly, I'm hoping to get to know more members on the forum, and this seems the perfect way.

Really looking forward to seeing everybody's take on the themes each week!!

Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!!

Week 0 - Your Area
Week 1 - Gate(d)
Week 2 - People
Week 3 - Stark
Week 4 - Over
Week 5 - Age(ing)
Week 6 - Sharp
 
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Gil Bev said:
decided it was about time I created a thread in anticipation of all the fantastic photos I'll be posting (cough).
Click to expand...


Heal your coughing and get cracking! :p
… now you got me waiting… :confused:
 
Will add to the group when I have uploaded :) Thanks @Dave70D. So far the weather has been terrible here. I've managed an evening shot, but waiting to see if I can better it today before posting.
 
I was worried about getting a photo as the weather forecast for the area has not been good for this week. Luckily, the conditions were a bit better this morning, and I set off for a New Years walk to a vantage point I know well, towards the back of the town of Helensburgh which is where I grew up. This shot was taken up on the hillside behind the famous Hill House (Charles Rennie Mackintosh's domestic masterpiece). Not the best shot, perhaps would have done better on a tripod and using bracketing, however good enough for the practice round. Hope you all like it!!

Helensburgh from Glennan Burn by Gilbo B, on Flickr

Forgot to say - the peninsula sticking into the water is called Ardmore Point, and is supposed to be good for birds. I haven't been for some years as it's particularly bad for dog walkers who don't pick up their pet's mess!! Particularly when you're looking up at the trees, you're very susceptible to landing foul!! A shame really.
 
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If you have Lightroom, the dehaze slider can work wonder with shots like this. Good start to the year.
 
Thanks very much @sirch. Didn't know about that. First new thing I've learnt this year, cheers.

HSC_6258.jpg
 
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The picture looks so much better on Flickr seeing it larger I can see all the detail of the houses in the foreground a nice start to your challenge
 
A nice shot, and looks better on Flickr. However, I think it looks a little soft. I wonder if it was hand held, as the shutter speed is quite low - if handheld, you could have uppped the ISO and got a faster shutter and still retained your aperture for decent DOF....
Also, did you use AF or manual ?
 
Thanks for the feedback @Hertsman. Light was terrible so this has had a lot of playing about in Lightroom to make it as bright as it looks now. I was shooting handheld, and I was trying to go as slow as I could go with ISO 100. My buildings were all extremely dark so as to avoid clipping of the sky. I used AF yes. If I were to repeat, I would use a tripod, and maybe use bracketing and merge them in Lightroom during PP.
 
Hi Gil.
Good first post, the letterbox suits the image, it looks like you have some fine scenery in your neighbourhood, perfect for the 52 :)
As you say, bracketing might have helped, but to be honest there is a lot you can do in pp to give the shot more ompfh.
As Chris says, de-haze is useful, alternatively, in ps adding layers for levels (bumping the black point), curves (giving a bit more contrast using an S curve) and vibrance/saturation (to tone back anything that has got too contrasty) could be another way to go. But it really depends on how you want your image to turn out and we all have different opinions (it would be boring if we didn't).
 
I too like the letterbox shape for your landscape, and there is so much to see when you see that larger picture. great start
 
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LC2 said:
Hi Gil.
Good first post, the letterbox suits the image, it looks like you have some fine scenery in your neighbourhood, perfect for the 52 :)
As you say, bracketing might have helped, but to be honest there is a lot you can do in pp to give the shot more ompfh.
As Chris says, de-haze is useful, alternatively, in ps adding layers for levels (bumping the black point), curves (giving a bit more contrast using an S curve) and vibrance/saturation (to tone back anything that has got too contrasty) could be another way to go. But it really depends on how you want your image to turn out and we all have different opinions (it would be boring if we didn't).
Click to expand...

I have to admit, my skills with Photoshop are very limited, and so I've no clue as to how to go about the layers, and curves you mention. Do you go about your edits solely in Photoshop, or do you start in Lightroom. Other than trying my hand at de-noising, and perhaps extending the sky when panoramas go wrong, I don't really know much about Photoshop!!

If you feel up to the task - I could share you the RAW, and maybe you could demonstrate.... I'd be really appreciative of seeing other's take on PP.

Thanks again @LC2
 
rpn said:
Nice start to your challenge, Gil. What a great view of your area. I've only pass-by Helensburgh once a few years ago on a motorbike with a group of bikers.
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I love Helensburgh, it's a fantastic town, and lies not far from the famous Banks of Loch Lomond. Over the years I grew up here, I've explored the area by bike, as well as climbed many of the surrounding mountains. A fond favourite of mine is The Cobbler, and I've also enjoyed the Arrochar Alps and Ben Lomond.

I hope the weather was good to you when you passed by. The West Coast is notorious for its rain which is a shame as when it rains you don't get to admire the scenery as much.
 
Hi and welcome Gil. (y)

Your image is quite striking, lots going on under a dramatic sky. It seems to have that watercolour effect I thought was deliberate but not sure now.
 
Gil Bev said:
I have to admit, my skills with Photoshop are very limited, and so I've no clue as to how to go about the layers, and curves you mention. Do you go about your edits solely in Photoshop, or do you start in Lightroom. Other than trying my hand at de-noising, and perhaps extending the sky when panoramas go wrong, I don't really know much about Photoshop!!
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it really depends. I spent a number of years using CS2 and Elements, I didn't get Lightroom until just recently.
So I'm quite happy delving into PS, using adjustment layers and doing things the long way (CS2 is ancient comparatively). I find the joy of PS being the use of masks and layers, whereas LR is more an overall tool (yes, I know you can use gradient filters and brushes, but LR feels more of a blunt instrument to me than PS (this may change as I use LR more)).

Gil Bev said:
If you feel up to the task - I could share you the RAW, and maybe you could demonstrate.... I'd be really appreciative of seeing other's take on PP.
Click to expand...
I'm more than happy to do a quick edit and share the .psd Do you have dropbox?
A (free) online resource I would recommend for PS is "phlearn". The You Tube videos that Aaron produces are really helpful and he's good at explaining.
 
LC2 said:
it really depends. I spent a number of years using CS2 and Elements, I didn't get Lightroom until just recently.
So I'm quite happy delving into PS, using adjustment layers and doing things the long way (CS2 is ancient comparatively). I find the joy of PS being the use of masks and layers, whereas LR is more an overall tool (yes, I know you can use gradient filters and brushes, but LR feels more of a blunt instrument to me than PS (this may change as I use LR more)).


I'm more than happy to do a quick edit and share the .psd Do you have dropbox?
A (free) online resource I would recommend for PS is "phlearn". The You Tube videos that Aaron produces are really helpful and he's good at explaining.
Click to expand...

I'm eternally grateful. It's exciting seeing what other people do, particularly as I'm just a beginner, it can give me some ideas - and some scope as to what's possible. I very much want to get to know Photoshop better, as there seems to be a lot more you can do.

Will definitely checkout your recommendations on youtube. Cheers!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yjjgk4vs9z5njwg/HSC_6258.NEF?dl=0

P.S. You will notice it's a very dark image - perhaps too dark, my intention was to avoid clipping the sky
 
Okay, I started by bumping the exposure up by .4 of a stop (in Adobe Camera RAW)boosted the Shadows and highlight (a little) and clarity to give me something like the brightness in your posted jpg
I then cropped it to approximately the same and went into PS (rather than carrying on in ACR).
This would be the 'Background' layer in the PSD
I then added a Levels Adjustment layer, grabbed the black point slider and moved it (to the point where the histogram starts showing data - If you hold the [ALT] key down while using the slider, stop when you start to see stuff appearing).
This gives you a black point.
I left the white point alone, i did move the midpoint a little to bring up the mid tones.
I then added a curves adjustment layer and introduced a slight S curve to give a bit of contrast.
And finally I added a vibrancy adjustment layer, upped the vibrancy a little and dropped the saturation.

Now, I've ended up with a completely different looking image to yours.
But each of the changes I made outside of ACR is easily tweakable. Simply click on the layer, open the properties and play. You can also turn the layer off, or duplicate it if you want to try something different whilst keeping the original.
The beauty is if you add a layer and make changes, then dont like it, you can edit it or delete it.
And then you can get into masks and other fun stuff :)

The PSD ended up looking like this
https://www.dropbox.com/s/42f3bscpsun4z0r/HSC_6258.psd?dl=0

Open it in PS and have a play.
 
LC2 said:
Okay, I started by bumping the exposure up by .4 of a stop (in Adobe Camera RAW)boosted the Shadows and highlight (a little) and clarity to give me something like the brightness in your posted jpg
I then cropped it to approximately the same and went into PS (rather than carrying on in ACR).
This would be the 'Background' layer in the PSD
I then added a Levels Adjustment layer, grabbed the black point slider and moved it (to the point where the histogram starts showing data - If you hold the [ALT] key down while using the slider, stop when you start to see stuff appearing).
This gives you a black point.
I left the white point alone, i did move the midpoint a little to bring up the mid tones.
I then added a curves adjustment layer and introduced a slight S curve to give a bit of contrast.
And finally I added a vibrancy adjustment layer, upped the vibrancy a little and dropped the saturation.

Now, I've ended up with a completely different looking image to yours.
But each of the changes I made outside of ACR is easily tweakable. Simply click on the layer, open the properties and play. You can also turn the layer off, or duplicate it if you want to try something different whilst keeping the original.
The beauty is if you add a layer and make changes, then dont like it, you can edit it or delete it.
And then you can get into masks and other fun stuff :)

The PSD ended up looking like this
https://www.dropbox.com/s/42f3bscpsun4z0r/HSC_6258.psd?dl=0

Open it in PS and have a play.
Click to expand...

I like how you've done this - and it opens up a completely different way of adjusting images rather than through Lightroom. I need to study what you've done, and how to edit each layer you've created - I've not ever adjusted these things before in Photoshop.

It certainly gives a much more realistic and moody take on the scene, and I'm realising how out of kilter my attempt was!! I'm guessing I went with how I wanted the image to look and mine does look quite artificial!!

I'm going to have a play with this and come back to you - I'm really appreciative of you taking the time to do this and hopefully I'll apply some of these things to my next landscape :)
 
There are no wrong ways to edit the image, and as long as it ends up the way you want, then whatever editing you do is the right edit.
Obviously there will be different opinions, as everyone is different, but take my Week 0 shot. It's a million miles away from the original shot (and all done in LR using Nik, so the devils own job to tweak afterwards ;) )
 
Gil Bev said:
I like how you've done this - and it opens up a completely different way of adjusting images rather than through Lightroom. I need to study what you've done, and how to edit each layer you've created - I've not ever adjusted these things before in Photoshop.

It certainly gives a much more realistic and moody take on the scene, and I'm realising how out of kilter my attempt was!! I'm guessing I went with how I wanted the image to look and mine does look quite artificial!!

I'm going to have a play with this and come back to you - I'm really appreciative of you taking the time to do this and hopefully I'll apply some of these things to my next landscape :)
Click to expand...


IMO I think you will grow with your photography and editing, as it is really good to see you taking on board the advice/help :)
 
LC2 said:
There are no wrong ways to edit the image, and as long as it ends up the way you want, then whatever editing you do is the right edit.
Obviously there will be different opinions, as everyone is different, but take my Week 0 shot. It's a million miles away from the original shot (and all done in LR using Nik, so the devils own job to tweak afterwards ;) )
Click to expand...

I meant I'm realising my taste might be changing now that I'm seeing examples of my images PPd by other people. How I wanted it to look might not be best for the picture and I'm realising turning landscapes into alien worlds which are far from reality might not always be doing my photos any good!! I have tamed my use of the vibrancy and saturation down over the past year or so and stopped flattening my images by bringing the shadows all the way up and my highlights all the way down which was a bad habit of mine - by contrast I took the same image over a year ago with my Sony and I do prefer the results this time round for the challenge

https://flic.kr/p/SZYdjD

although the original was shot at a prettier time of the year and in better conditions
 
Round your area - a viewpoint I know well, considering I used to live in Helensburgh when I was a little girl. well done for getting your first image in the bag, Image looks much better when viewed on flickr, can see much more in detail.
 
Pinkbikerbabe said:
Round your area - a viewpoint I know well, considering I used to live in Helensburgh when I was a little girl. well done for getting your first image in the bag, Image looks much better when viewed on flickr, can see much more in detail.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pinkbikerbabe, nice to hear you have memories from the area.
 
Your area
I prefer the edit version, the dehaze slider is a great tool, just be careful not to go to far (I'm not saying you have by the way) as it can do some strange things to colours.
You've got off to a good start (y)
 
Hi Gil, welcome aboard and good luck with your first 52. If you stick around you'll get to know the regulars as well as plenty of support and good advice.

That's a lovely viewpoint for your first shot, with lovely light shining on the water. Looking forward to seeing more of your images (y)
 
Hi Gil

Nice start to your 52 challange looks like you've got a good location to use for some/most of your 52 as others have said a little bit of work like TIm has done and it would really pop.

I'm looking forard to seeing your phots over the comping months.
 
Hi Gil, Welcome aboard and well done on a good start, great view point that I'm sure you could revisit every day and get a completely different picture. I'm not sure why but it does look a little sharper on Flickr :D
 
A bit of a cop-out for me on my first official week. Currently away on holiday and decided not to take my camera. A mistake as always - we've had some fantastic sunsets and there's been plenty of bird interest. Damn damn damn. I just hate paying extra for luggage and can fit all my holiday wear in my hand luggage albeit minus my camera.

So this week I have 2 pictures for you - both taken with my iPhone!! Which is your favourite? Next week I should have something more exceptional I promise!!


Glasgow Airport

Gate into our complex
 
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I actually prefer the first one, you get the sense of it being a busy time with people rushing around and going about their day! Nice take on it too!
 
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