Tokyo skyline

SammyC

SammyC

Messages
2,302
Edit My Images
Yes
I want this one to be print worthy but I would appreciate some comments from you chaps to perfect it:

F1_IMG_4523_01.jpg


Don't hold back now! :)
 
The foreground is too dark for me. Rather than bringing up the foreground detail on the original, I would have made two exposures (assuming you're on a tripod; if not, keep a reference point at the same place in the veiwfinder), one for the sky and one for the foreground then combine them in Photoshop.
Digital is getting better, but still hasn't got the latitude of neg film.

Waiting 5 minutes might have made a more atmospheric shot, immediately after the sun had set.
 
Ah, well, I'll just have to go back to Tokyo then. What a shame! lol ;)
 
*lol* we always used to say that film was the cheapest part of any trip abroad - with digital there's no reason at all not to shoot the sh1t out of the subject.
 
If you shot in RAW then you could produce the 2 different exposures that could then be processed for HDR (See Bachs thread in Digital Manipulation section)
 
It was in raw so I'm sure I can get the detail. These are the kind of comments I want as I want to spend some time on it to get a good result.

Keep 'em coming!
 
This is the detail that's in the raw:

IMG_4523_01.jpg


I've not bothered to do too much to it, just exposure adjusted in RSE and slight curves in PS.

So, do you think more of this detail should be visible?
 
The shot first posted is way too dark in the foreground. It's a great shot and it's just about acceptable viewed on a monitor, but I think a print from that shot would be look even darker in the foreground, as you lose some of the luminance that you get from seeing it on a monitor.

The saving grace is you still have the RAW file. I'd duplicate the RAW image and process one for the sky and one for the foreground, save them as TIFFS then combine the two shots via layers in PS.

Definitely do-able I would think, but you'll need to excercise good judgement to get the depth of colour in the sky and the detail you need in the foreground, without the final result looking false.
 
Thanks for the advice CT (and others) I'll have another go at it!

Anything else before I butcher it again?!
 
See the breakdown of detail in the darker areas, like the trees? You'll have a job making it look as good as if you'd made two seperate exposures.
Shooting in RAW is no substitute for getting the exposure right in the first place, though it will be OK for adjustments up to 2.3 stop. Beyond that there's too much degradation in shadows for my liking.
 
TREES! There's trees in there! What a waste of valuable Tokyo real estate!

lol
 
I've tried to bring out the foreground detail a bit, its a bit of a hack as I don't have PS at work:

IMG_4523_02.jpg


I think the colours are better in the first one but that's becuase it's easier to adjust things in CS2 than the crap stuff I have at work!

What do you think?
 
A quick blend of 2 images you posted, with orange wash added over distant buildings. Foreground sharpened slightly & contrast increased. Not perfect by any means , but just another example of what can be altered.

IMG_4523_01copy.jpg
 
I'm not sure about that one Dave, I know you've not got much to work with but I think the buildings in shadow look better (more moody as daveyuk said).


This is one with a bit more detail added:

F1_IMG_4523_02.jpg
 
The original just needs that bit more punch for buildings....even if dark, some lights on in buildings would have done it. A hard one with the light being so low. Another option is to crop tighter :-

IMG_4523_01copy2.jpg


Once again, not saying this is better, just another view ;) In fact the more I play , the more I like the original the way it was :LOL:
 
I'm, all for the tighter crop.

But somebody riddle me this? why does the image posted on the site which I right clicked and saved as, appear a lot lighter in my CS2? is it my gamma? or just the web?








F1_IMG_4523_01.jpg
 
You gotta mismatch between your gamma and your CS2 gamma. f*** knows how to fix it. It's been discussed a number of times in the General forum though.
 
SammyC said:
You gotta mismatch between your gamma and your CS2 gamma. f*** knows how to fix it. It's been discussed a number of times in the General forum though.
Click to expand...


*father jack mode*

'feckin wimmins knickers!'

*jack mode :eek:ff:*


Probably the color management settings. oh well, off to read a tutorial! thanks for the heads up!

but how come my own pics appear the same on the web as they do in cs2? that's why I was puzzled!
 
gandhi said:
but how come my own pics appear the same on the web as they do in cs2? that's why I was puzzled!
Click to expand...

Cos this ain't your own pic. :LOL::naughty:
Maybe he was using a different profile to you.

Right click desktop, click properties, settings, advanced, colour management.

You should have a choice of Adobe RGB or sRGB.
Just make sure your monitor and PS are set to the same...usually sRGB, and hit 'set as default'

I like the original too, but with a tighter crop so there isn't as much black foreground.

HDR is great for taking interior shots for the estate agents but I like dark and moody too :coat:
 
I think it's a lovely shot, the colours of the sky are really nice. However, I find it hard to know what to focus on. I think if you cropped off about 2cm from the bottom and 1 from the top it would work, as I think making the buildings too light doesn't look right to me.

Anyway, I've tried my hand at lightening it up a bit:

tokyo_copy.jpg
 
Thanks for your comments Erin, I do agree with your thoughts on the crop and I think that's why everyone thought it was too dark originally.

Trouble I have though is that I want to keep the aspect ratio at 2x3 so that I can get it printed and fit into a normal frame. It's never easy is it! lol :)
 
SammyC said:
Thanks for your comments Erin, I do agree with your thoughts on the crop and I think that's why everyone thought it was too dark originally.

Trouble I have though is that I want to keep the aspect ratio at 2x3 so that I can get it printed and fit into a normal frame. It's never easy is it! lol :)
Click to expand...

Ok, I've uploaded your photo again at its original size, and lightenend it up a little. Looking at the photo again I actually like the dimensions.
 
Ok, I thought I'd put the three images side by side for comparison (appologies to those with smaller displays than myself).

Order is, original, brightened by me, brightened by SW:

F1_IMG_4523_01.jpg
F1_IMG_4523_02.jpg
tokyo_copy.jpg
 
I have to say that I still prefer the original, although when I got the middle one printed it came out the same as the original.
 
If YOU prefer the original and the middle one when printed comes out like the original, then you have the answer ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top