Photography Critique

**Rainer.** · 08-18-2009, 11:37 AM

I like 1 and 3. Hey, no shame in using some good post processing. Photoshop is like the digital photographer's darkroom.

OiBoyz · 08-18-2009, 12:16 PM

Three is the most visually interesting to me.

metropolis4 · 08-18-2009, 02:33 PM

My only objection to doing post processing so far has just been that the programs seem so complicated to do some of the simple touch up stuff I wanted to do. I just downloaded a trial version of Lightroom 2 though and it seems like exactly what I've been looking for. Is it worth $200? In the long run will I be better off with Photoshop?

Most of what I want to do is simple light/color adjustments, contrast, dodge/burn and vignette... Lightroom seems to do all of these really simply. The only thing I can't figure out how to do with it is selectively blurring. Programs like Gimp seem impossible to use for vignettes, I love that there's a built in tool for it in Lightroom

sunsurfer · 08-18-2009, 03:40 PM

Does anybody know what those things are called?

(Sorry, I can't remember how to make these bigger to save my life)

guitarguy90 · 08-18-2009, 04:22 PM

Haha, we always called them "helicopters" as kids. They're seeds from a maple tree (I think), but I don't know if they have a formal name.

**Rainer.** · 08-18-2009, 05:53 PM

You should be able to do selective blurring with the brush tool... maybe, maybe not. But if you like the demo, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet. I do most of my editing in Lightroom or Camera RAW. Photoshop is unnecessarily complicated for a lot of simple tasks, I agree; but is essential for some others.

tht00 · 08-18-2009, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunsurfer

Attachment 90612

Attachment 90613
Does anybody know what those things are called?

(Sorry, I can't remember how to make these bigger to save my life)

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarguy90

Haha, we always called them "helicopters" as kids. They're seeds from a maple tree (I think), but I don't know if they have a formal name.

Yup. They're from the Maple tree.

Apparently, they are officially known as samara, though, that's the first time I've ever heard then called that.

I usually just call them "Maple seeds" or something similar.

metropolis4 · 08-21-2009, 11:09 AM

My first attempts at using photo editing software:

**Rainer.** · 08-21-2009, 11:54 AM

Dunno if I'm a huge fan of those particular photos, but I'd definitely get rid of those borders ASAP.

That top one might be some sort of faux-TTL or darkroom print type deal, but that bottom one just is not doin' it for me.

ApparentlyNothing · 08-21-2009, 12:09 PM

Yeah, that white, blurry border has got to go.

metropolis4 · 08-21-2009, 03:05 PM

Ouch, fair enough

The top one was just the first thing I could find to take a pic of while sitting at my computer. I wanted a RAW pic to work with so I just turned around and shot. I liked the border on that one because it reminded me of watching old slides at my grandparents house. It started looking a little vintage to me so I tried to take it a bit further that direction with a bit of green tint and the border.

The bottom one is a film print using a cheap 200mm lense that gave it a lot of dark vignetting on the edges. I was wondering if changing them white would brighten up the picture a bit...

I guess I need to learn not to overdo it with new toys

...Besides the borders? Editing tips?

**Rainer.** · 08-21-2009, 03:20 PM

Basically, just do what's best for the picture. I'd stay away from thinking of borders as decoration, but, rather, use them as an extension of the image. The frame becomes a very important element in a photo as soon as you add it in.

I'd rather avoid any editing that looks blatantly like digital afterthought.

White darkroom print borders look like this:

I'd personally try to make a bit more of a natural border if I were going for a fade-to-white.

metropolis4 · 08-22-2009, 11:38 AM

Thanks... good advice. I tried to avoid anything to blatantly 'digital edited' for the most part. I guess I got a little carried away with the borders though. I'm gonna remove them and try again.

Are those two pics yours? They're brilliant...

By the way, I really appreciate all of you taking the time to give me tips and advice. There are some really amazing photographers in here and I'm grateful to be able to learn from you. I really want to learn to get better at this photography thing and I've already learned tons from everyone here. This is a very humbling experience for me

Guitar4God · 08-23-2009, 03:49 PM

Didn't want to start a thread with this so please allow me to ask here:

I learnt this at the workshop yesterday, thought I remembered what I saw but could not duplicate it when I got home:
(a) Can you please tell me how to Mass (Masque, Mast) / blend a picture into a background with same edging colour - MS PowerPoint or other graphic tools.

I looked up the web but what I saw was to download a Mass Software:
(b) is this the solution - was avoiding downloading

Thanks much

**Rainer.** · 08-23-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

Thanks... good advice. I tried to avoid anything to blatantly 'digital edited' for the most part. I guess I got a little carried away with the borders though. I'm gonna remove them and try again.

Are those two pics yours? They're brilliant...

Yeah, haha, thanks. I have a good bit of B&W darkroom experience under my belt, so I try to carry the look over to my digital images when the mood moves me to do so.