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Archive 2010 · Wondering which you like better...

  
 
gregfountain
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Wondering which you like better...


Ive come to another one of those situation where I can't decide which I like better. I hope you will chime in and help me decide!

Thanks,

Greg



Dec 24, 2010 at 05:44 PM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Wondering which you like better...


I understand your dilemma, Greg. The first has compelling 3 dimensionality and the second has an appealing composition. Both have excellent lighting. The first appeals to me slightly more because of better color. However, if the color of the second was slightly tweaked, I doubt I could pick one over the other.


Dec 24, 2010 at 07:02 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Wondering which you like better...


Karen pretty much nailed it, tweak on the second one to emulate the first one (if you're so inclined) and I think number two might win out, but only by a smidgeon.

I'm wondering why you are trying to decide between them ... both are quite nice, but I'm going with number two.



Dec 24, 2010 at 07:09 PM
deepjay
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Wondering which you like better...


Gorgeous!
#2 is more artsy, but since my taste is all in my mouth, I for #1!
David



Dec 24, 2010 at 07:15 PM
gregfountain
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Wondering which you like better...


Thanks Karen, Kent and David! My problem is the weekly theme. This week is "flower" and it's pretty much becoming my genre in photography ( I hope to be a Fine Art Photographer when I grow up!). I like #1 for it's complexity, and #2 wins for composition. Obviously, some of the color "bled" into the base of the flower as a result of reflection from the flash, but I'll see if I can tweak the colors a bit. I did very little to either of these besides a levels adjustment, some minor sharpening and obviously the crops.

Thanks for your help!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greg



Dec 24, 2010 at 07:22 PM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Wondering which you like better...


I'm for #2 because of the composition, #1 is wonderful but to my eye perhaps too centered.

I think I prefer Kent's re-work #1 but then 1) my color perception suffers, 2) this laptop display is not calibrated, and 3) I'm suffering from the after-effects of a big Christmas Eve family dinner

Best to all,

Bob



Dec 24, 2010 at 10:17 PM
DoogieH
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Wondering which you like better...


They are both great and it is personal preference.


Dec 24, 2010 at 10:20 PM
gregfountain
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Wondering which you like better...


Wow! I really appreciate the feedback and efforts to improve the daisy! How absolutely wonderful! Kent, I like your takes on it. One of the things I've learned over the past year is how levels of light affect color. And when I expose properly to control highlights, the darker regions of the image require more tweaking. I suppose a better camera with better dynamic range will help to that end, but the D700 has to wait until next year!

Karen. I really like what you've done. It looks like you bumped up the overall exposure a tad and then increased the luminance of the yellows and greens. Am I close? I was worried about pushing the highlights too far, but from I see you've done, it looks like there's room to improve while keeping them in an acceptable range. I'll play with it tomorrow morning and post to see if I am on the right track!

Once again, thanks for the effort and comments and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Greg





Dec 25, 2010 at 12:45 AM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Wondering which you like better...


I did some USM play that lightened the petals. More importantly, I made a selection of the center and applied exposure layer changes to it to bump exposure and gamma only to the center. I also selected the center and applied a vibrance bump to it. I also selected a bit of the petals near the center that had some yellow bleed and lowered the saturation and bumped the lightness of the selection to reduce the color contamination.


Dec 25, 2010 at 01:02 AM
gregfountain
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Wondering which you like better...


Impressive! I've been slowly diving into Photoshop, but I really need to get to a couple of classes. Can you recommend a good manual? There seems to be hundreds, but usually, those that know it well tend to use the same one....like on the lighting side, most recommended "Light: Science and Magic."

Anyway, I'll try creating some adjustment layers and attempt to select and adjust. Thanks!

Greg



Dec 25, 2010 at 03:24 AM
gregfountain
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Wondering which you like better...


Thanks Karen. I will give that a try. See...it's true, I've heard a lot of good things about Kelby and am thinking about doing some of their online courses as well! Ive watched a lot of tutorials for light room with Matt Kloskowski, who is also with Kelby.

Cheers! Greg



Dec 25, 2010 at 04:46 AM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Wondering which you like better...


Matt has an updated "Layers" book I've been considering. Might be a good book choice.


Dec 25, 2010 at 06:43 AM
sbeme
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Wondering which you like better...


Nice work, Greg.
I really like Karen's adjustments and prefer the second image overall. I think the first is well-processed and lit (though others could probably tweak it somehow) but it feels too centered for my taste, and a bit tightly cropped, especially at the top.
Scott



Dec 25, 2010 at 07:24 AM
gregfountain
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Wondering which you like better...


sbeme wrote:
Nice work, Greg.
I really like Karen's adjustments and prefer the second image overall. I think the first is well-processed and lit (though others could probably tweak it somehow) but it feels too centered for my taste, and a bit tightly cropped, especially at the top.
Scott



Thank you. I agree, and I went with the Daisy. The Iris is such a beautifully complex flower at that stage, it was hard to resist, but in the end, especially at the 640 pixel limit, it wasn't showing as well as I had hoped. I sometimes think if you have an image that reveals great detail, a less than perfect composition can be overcome...just didn't work this time.

Merry Christmas!

Greg




Dec 25, 2010 at 09:28 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Wondering which you like better...


Gets my vote ... Merry Christmas.


Dec 25, 2010 at 01:49 PM
jstephens62
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Wondering which you like better...


#1 is my pick


Dec 25, 2010 at 01:57 PM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Wondering which you like better...


Interesting thread -

I prefer your last rendition Karen - off center (eccentric ) works best for me. To me, the lines extending from the three major portions of the flower intersect the sides into more pleasing proportions than the centered version.

Bob



Dec 25, 2010 at 08:48 PM
gregfountain
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Wondering which you like better...


Thanks Karen! I cropped it with posting in the WA in mind, wanting to bring more of the flower into view at then limited size, but I plan on giving more room when I send it in for a print!


Dec 25, 2010 at 09:56 PM
gregfountain
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Wondering which you like better...


Thanks to all who helped me on these images! I decided to go with the recropped version of the iris, although I didn't leave as much room as your version Karen, but only on the submission, because of the size constraint....I wanted as much of the flower to show as possible at 640 pixels. In The "print" version, I left a lot more negative space and in a large format, it was the obvious choice.

Cheers and I hope everyone has an awesome 2011!

Greg



Dec 27, 2010 at 02:28 AM
djflan
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Wondering which you like better...


You don't always have to stick with the rule of thirds, esp. for symmetrical subjects. I think the first one is the best of the two. If you crop it too tightly, its going to look "boxed-in".

I may have overcooked this one. rotated the flower for symmetry. added vibrance, sharpened. lengthened the stem and added a grad nd to reduce visibility of the stem.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9083/flro.jpg



Jan 02, 2011 at 12:32 PM
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