PP Skills improvement /learning communal thread!

Well this is good fun.

The image is cluttered, depth of field used is questionable in terms of accurately capturing everything in the scene, but is effective in drawing attention to the fireplace at the expense of the chair and right-most pumpkin.

It put me in mind of this sort of composition (not quite the one I had in my mind's eye but a similar style - old master's still life)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...,_Adriaen_van_Utrecht,_1644_-_Rijksmuseum.jpg

If I wanted to create an image that conjured a sense of that, I would need to crop/rotate and apply some heavy PP in terms of split toning, saturation, clarity and the like. And I'd want a bit more evening light coming in from frame top left:

8Np3DQ5.jpg


Not intended to be an accurate capture of the scene, but a mood and a reproduction of a style of painting, perhaps? Yes that chair leg is offputting, but so are the cut off objects at the edge of frame in the van Utrecht painting.
 
pjm1 said:
If I wanted to create an image that conjured a sense of that, I would need to crop/rotate and apply some heavy PP in terms of split toning, saturation, clarity and the like. And I'd want a bit more evening light coming in from frame top left:
Click to expand...
•


What stops you, Paul?

Go for it… make it a masterpiece!

As I couldn't do without the chair and possibly
other elements, I decided to integrate them in
my rendition.
 
pjm1 said:
Well that was my image below
Click to expand...
•

…maybe you will want to go further, take another direction
or what not? Let it grow on you!

Thanks for taking the time!
 
•


To answer a question:

No, as all my tweaks were performed in CO v.9.1
through 9 adjustment layers. I used Affinity Photo
(my pixel editor) to replace the missing bit only!

Give it a go!
 
pjm1 said:
Well this is good fun.

The image is cluttered, depth of field used is questionable in terms of accurately capturing everything in the scene, but is effective in drawing attention to the fireplace at the expense of the chair and right-most pumpkin.

It put me in mind of this sort of composition (not quite the one I had in my mind's eye but a similar style - old master's still life)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...,_Adriaen_van_Utrecht,_1644_-_Rijksmuseum.jpg

If I wanted to create an image that conjured a sense of that, I would need to crop/rotate and apply some heavy PP in terms of split toning, saturation, clarity and the like. And I'd want a bit more evening light coming in from frame top left:

8Np3DQ5.jpg


Not intended to be an accurate capture of the scene, but a mood and a reproduction of a style of painting, perhaps? Yes that chair leg is offputting, but so are the cut off objects at the edge of frame in the van Utrecht painting.
Click to expand...

Again, something that went through my mind - perhaps not quite the "full on" Pronkstilleven kind of shot, but certainly reminiscent in a way of the Ontbijt type of Old Masters... Actually, the "props" in this shot are such that I'd have loved free reign for a hour or so with them to set up something more close to that genre... Especially with the "Pumpkin/Squash" and it's North American Associations to Halloween - working a few Vanitas elements in there would have been a nice twist.
 
Thought I'd try a couple of variations.

I did basic processing in lightroom, including straightening and distortion, removal of the small orange at the front that was out of place on the original and cropping to lose as much of the peripheral distraction as I could without cramping the image too much. I also tried to remove the fireplace ornament on the RHS, but couldn't do a clean enough job with the wallpaper replacement. This gave me a starting image to moved across into On1 perfect effects to produce 2 versions:

Version 1 - used a glow preset (chargemore normal muted) to soften the image and darken the parts that were already darker to simplify things. Some colour was restored in the gourds using a brush to remove about 50% of the effect and bring back both colour and brightness and provide a focal point. Finally an almost square off-centre vignette was added to reduce the intensity of the peripheral rubbish.

Kodiak01-8984_zpsy72p4zfs.jpg~original



Version 2 - I wanted the opposite effect here, so back in perfect effects added a sunshine filter that warmed and increased contrast. To increase the idea of sunlight more I then used a brush to add more warmth and brightness to parts of the image that looked like they might have sunlight on them: the brass statue, gourds, parts of the fireplace and wallpaper. Finally added a gradient at the top to lighten the junk on the mantlepiece and reduce it's contrast & impact - hopefully it's distraction from the image.

Kodiak02-8984_zpswfqxb4vp.jpg~original
 
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big soft moose said:
Thats much more like the original "how would you edit this photo thread" which was quite light hearted and frequently included the addition of dragons, jet fighters, meerkats , and random models (sometimes all at the same time if @leftcurl was playing ;) )

ETA - that thread is here https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/the-how-would-you-edit-this-photo-game.302434/page-159
Click to expand...
I miss that thread. Seems to have died a death :(

I wanted to put a unicorn in the fireplace image too, but I havent been able to capture any on my camera. Anyone know whereabouts I can get them? :)
 
_MH-8984_print.jpg


Wanted to go for a "classical painting" or vintage look, bowl of fruit style. Cloned out the chair on the right and the picture on the mantle, radial blur to diminish the impact of the dresser, bunch of noise over everything, and some fairly variable warm toning across the image.
 
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Kodiak Qc said:
•


That is the sense of the exercise!
Take something that is insignificant to you and, through
your artistic intent, make it significant!
Click to expand...


Not sure how processing this in any way can change it from what it is.

There's no raw file to download BTW... or at least I can't see a link to one.
 
I'll have a go. :)
 
BTW.. there's already a thread like this...

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/the-pp-game.347318/


Anyhoo.... just tried to extract the most quality from it.... the raw was horrible though.

Not sure how much learning is going on in here as no one is saying what they did.

Just contrast and curves adjustments... desaturated colours a bit, and did some localised dodging and burning to exaggerate the lighting and to add to it a bit... makes it more like a home instead of a museum exhibit.. Also cropped tight as the room was a distraction. Retouched out the chair arm.

Hard to see what the original intent was, as I don't think there was any... just a shot of a fireplace.

Click to zoom in, then click again to view full res (May not work on mobile devices)



Still essentially the same photo though.... editing doesn't really change anything.
 
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@BillN_33

I like the TS approach of yours!
 
Looks like I'm not very observant today! Lazy weekend.... just sat here eating... Zzzzzz...
 
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