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Archive 2015 · Separated by Water

  
 
Anurag
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Separated by Water


The sky was a boring grey so I figured I'd try some sort of a selective coloration. Thoughts?









Feb 14, 2015 at 08:59 PM
sbeme
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Separated by Water


Weird. My previous comment disappeared. Let's see if it shows up later.
Anyhow....


Good to experiment. The image reads like two pictures to me. After being drawn to the brighter, colorful, in focus foreground, my eye quickly goes to the pier. There the blur is uncomfortably strong. If you crop just above the pier the image looks more natural to my eye. The pier remains out of focus, of course, but reads as background and provides a visual "stop", containing the primary subject.
Image would be stronger with more interest in the material on the shore.

Scott



Feb 15, 2015 at 12:06 PM
oldrattler
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Separated by Water


We learn by doing, but sometimes it does not work. The OOF water, pier, and sky is too much for me. I like the idea but not the execution. Sorry. Jim


Feb 15, 2015 at 12:20 PM
Anurag
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Separated by Water


Thanks for the input gents.

The idea was to use the water line to separate not just the color portion from the black and white portion but the part in focus from that out of focus as well. I'd seemed cool in my head. I wasn't thrilled with the result but figured I'd put it up here to see if anyone could make something good of it.

The pier being blurry is entirely a function of the lens being shot at f/1.4. I didn't blur anything in post - if anything, I think I tried adding a bit of clarity/sharpening.

I'll try again in the near future, hopefully, with a better result.



Feb 15, 2015 at 12:32 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Separated by Water


Rather than having the stark transition @ the water line, maybe (experimenting) with a gradient saturation reduction so it doesn't "divide" the pic in two.

While saturation doesn't fall of to totally unsaturated in a natural state, more distant does reduce, while closer does retain. The close proximity of the desat looks unnatural, so wondering if retaining "some" sat fading to unsat might transition us a bit.



Feb 15, 2015 at 02:49 PM
eeneryma
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Separated by Water


I give you a lot of credit for experimenting, for that is how we learn and grow. But in my experience, it's rare that selective coloration is an effective technique that enhances the essence of a photo. It has a tendency to come off as an artificial gimmick.
I also agree with Scott that a more pleasing crop would be right above the pier. My eye travels back and forth from the color and in focus bottom portion to the blurred black and white top portion. It feels uncomfortable and unsatisfying for the eye to stay long on the blurred part.
+1 for all the other comments.



Feb 15, 2015 at 03:10 PM
FarmerJohn
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Separated by Water


+1 good work on experimenting!

+1 that more foreground interest would help. I think low/close to show off the seaweed detail would work well.

I think cropping from the top as Scott suggested and from the bottom to get rid of the OOF close seaweed would help. I did a browser crop and it worked well.

This next set of comments is based on my crop. Also, I am biased to support selective color since I did a series with it last year. I think you did a pretty good job on the selective coloration. I think the waterline is a pretty natural break, especially since breaking surf is pretty close to white and the ocean is monochromatic in some ways. I think you could transition it a bit more by having the distant seaweed partially de-saturated. What I found (with helpful feedback from this forum) is that the best selective color images had the selective color as only one aspect of them. I think the other things mentioned (crop/foreground detail) will help the image overall, and then the selective color won't seem so gimmicky.

Tried to illustrate







Feb 15, 2015 at 08:59 PM
lighthound
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Separated by Water



I can't comment on the selective coloration but I agree with others about the crop. Scott nailed it as farmer John shows in his edit.

I learned some good information with this thread. Thanks to the op for sharing and to all critiques.



Feb 15, 2015 at 09:37 PM





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