Wreck

been there....and took this shot as well
could that horizon be adjusted a bit
crop to the rear of the wreck to eliminate the non wrecks
and for me i would have used a different approach to pp...since i cant do hdr quite successfully..
 
Far too heavily processed for my liking. It's the first thing I see, then that's all I can see.
 
Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate that HDR is not to everyone liking (especially on here :)). I do photography as a way of relaxing from what can be sometimes a stressful job and do what I enjoy which includes HDR. Whilst I would rather have positive criticism I a take on board the view of others. I would say Pookey that you must see something even if in your eyes its cr@p :(
 
Too processed for me too but I like the wreck to the fore with the new yachts behind as a contrast. Might work as a contrasty B&W. I love the shape of these boats they're just begging to be photographed.
 
DerekL said:
Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate that HDR is not to everyone liking (especially on here :)). I do photography as a way of relaxing from what can be sometimes a stressful job and do what I enjoy which includes HDR. Whilst I would rather have positive criticism I a take on board the view of others. I would say Pookey that you must see something even if in your eyes its cr@p :(
Click to expand...

I never said it was crap.. they're your words, not mine :)

The crooked horizon is annoying me a bit.

The processing has just made it too noisy... things that should be dropped back into the background are hyper real and detailed now, and everything is vying for my attention too much. It's also hidden the original lighting too much too, so can't really see much of the image as it came off camera, and that makes it hard to critique.

As for the image, it's OK... not really my thing, but it's pleasant enough.
 
That's MUCH better
 
I agree, the second edit is much better, much more natural, although still leaning heavily to the left
 
DerekL said:
Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate that HDR is not to everyone liking (especially on here :)). I do photography as a way of relaxing from what can be sometimes a stressful job and do what I enjoy which includes HDR. Whilst I would rather have positive criticism I a take on board the view of others. I would say Pookey that you must see something even if in your eyes its cr@p :(
Click to expand...

HDR can be a sore point at times across the board, but as i would like to take it as best as i could...care to mention what software you used for your shot please
chears
Geof
 
Hi Derek I am new to Photoshop but if you go into Image, then custom rotate, rotate to right 3degrees, then crop the image within the tilted picture to put it back to square. then save. It tilts the boat slightly but it still looks good. You finish with good horizontal land line. Hope I am within critique etiquette
 
charlychuckchuck said:
Hi Derek I am new to Photoshop but if you go into Image, then custom rotate, rotate to right 3degrees, then crop the image within the tilted picture to put it back to square. then save. It tilts the boat slightly but it still looks good. You finish with good horizontal land line. Hope I am within critique etiquette
Click to expand...


Press CTRL+ ' to switch on Grid
Press CTRL +A to select the entire image
Press CTRL +T to switch on free transform

Then click and drag outside of the bounding box to free rotate and line up with your grid.


Easy as that. YOu may need to crop out any resulting white space, or repair with with content aware fill/patch afterwards though.
 
Hi Derek

That's a great starting image you've captured to go and have a play with. The second shot is - for me - exposed pretty much ideally: you can play with the shadow recovery and pull down highlights if you want etc, but the overall exposure feels about right to me.

So, looking at the image, how would you change the composition? My personal view is to clean up the foreground right of frame, and yes, you can do it in post if you don't want to get your hands dirty :)

Compositionally, I find the overlapping nature of the boats and background/horizon a bit too busy. There probably isn't much you could do with that - I'm guessing you couldn't have introduced any clear water between the wreck and the midground boats? It would be interesting to see what a higher vantage point would look like, as well.

To summarise, I think you've exposed the shot well and you've clearly thought about foreground/midground/background interest. How these elements combine has resulted in a scene with more complexity than it probably should, though. HTH!
 
pjm1 said:
Hi Derek

That's a great starting image you've captured to go and have a play with. The second shot is - for me - exposed pretty much ideally:
Click to expand...

We don't know that unless we see what came off camera, as the second one has already been processed. How much shadow recovery is possible without adversely affecting quality is determined by exposure in camera. If it's already been recovered for under-exposure, then further shadow recovery will be problematic due to increased noise.
 
Pookeyhead said:
We don't know that unless we see what came off camera, as the second one has already been processed. How much shadow recovery is possible without adversely affecting quality is determined by exposure in camera. If it's already been recovered for under-exposure, then further shadow recovery will be problematic due to increased noise.
Click to expand...

David, I think we're in danger of missing the wood for the trees here. Shadow recovery noise is something which may affect the image, but I would suggest the OP might wish to spend time thinking about the light on the scene and what's in frame and how it's positioned, first. I'm also assuming this image was the best exposed from within the set of bracketed ones (otherwise he'd have chosen a different one as a starting point)...
 
Sorry Derek I seem to have started a highjack of your thread. I think your picture is great and the comments constructive.(y)
 
Many thank to all for the above advice and comments. I will spend more time looking at the finished image to make sure of straight horizons (thanks to pookey for explaining how easy it is) etc.
The second image is from a bracketed set of 3 @ -2 ,0 +2 EV. I used the 0ev one. I did use the highlight and shadow sliders but not by much as it was pretty well exposed from scratch.
For those who asked the HDR was created in Photomatix software then in PS CC. Again many thanks for the comments I have learned quite a lot from it

Derek.
 
It has potential for sure. I feel the 1st shot would benefit from bringing down the highlights, maybe the exposure a touch. Also the saturation or vibrance as well as the aforementioned horizon straightening.

2nd version is better and more natural to the eye.

I also agree with what someone also posted regarding the background feeling a bit cluttered. I think if i was taking this shot i'd go for a shallower depth of field to soften the background and isolate the boat in foreground. I'd maybe also be inclined to frame the boat a bit more central to the shot or/ and perhaps with the stern in the left corner of the frame.
 
As a complete novice I prefer the HDR version, I like the vivid colours and sharp detail in the both the highlights and shadows, it keeps me searching your picture for more. However I would like to see it slightly less contract and brightness towards the left hand side of the image if possible where I feel it becomes slightly over exposed in the background? (I have never done any PP work on any of my pictures, except cropping so my opinion may not be worth listening to :p)
 
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