The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This was an opportunistic image since I did not anticipate the fog that morning. My goal was to reflect the peace and quiet of a summer dawn and find some of the warm light reflecting in the reeds in the mid ground.
Specific Feedback
Soliciting general feedback and impressions. Thinking maybe I should have stopped down to a smaller aperture for sharpness in the grass.
Technical Details
Nikon D800, 70-200 f/2.8 @ 98mm, 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 100. Levels and curve adjustments in PS with a luminosity mask to bring out subtle detail in the background.
I know that feeling all too well, but in your case, you took advantage of the conditions you were given.
That would have done the trick but as an alternative in post you can use the High Pass Filter in the Overlay Blending Mode to achieve very similar results, it may require some adjustment of the opacity or varying strengths of the High Pass Filter, or a combination of both.
It’s just a thought for adding a little perceived sharpness, I sometimes find this method more subtle when compared to Topaz Sharpen (for example).
And, in case you’re not already aware, you can enhance the fog if desired by using an Exposure Adjustment Layer in Ps, just slide the Offset slider to the right to your liking, a linear gradient applied to the mask can help with feathering the enhancement as desired. Disregard this tip if you’re already well aware of that method.
BTW, I’m not suggesting that you enhance the fog in any way because what you have here is perfect in my view!
Anyway, I love the composition and the scene along with the mood setting atmosphere.
And I love the subtle orange highlights in the tall grasses in the lower part of the BG!
Maybe you can go back at another time to get what you were originally after?
Mervin, thank you for your kind comments and processing suggestions. I’ve used Topaz Sharpen in other situations, but was afraid that it might adversely affect the soft fog, which I like. I did try your suggestion of using the high pass filter, but it didn’t change the softness of the grass; perhaps it is the fog itself that is keeping things from being overly sharp in the first place (at least I’d like to think so :)) or I didn’t apply the technique properly. In any event, I appreciate your thoughtful feedback.
Yeah, the High Pass Filter can be a Hit or Miss tool but I’ve learned over time how to have more Hits than Misses.
I just gave it a try and it did add a bit of definition to the grass, at least in my opinion.
See what you think, you may disagree with my thoughts on the results and that’s quite OK if you do, we all have different ways of seeing things.
The example is a tiny bit too harsh but it was just a quick edit to show what the technique can do in general terms.
The first thing I did was Copy the BG layer, then I converted that layer to a Smart Object, then applied the High Pass Filter with the Radius set at 1.0 Pixel, then I changed the Blend Mode to Overlay, and finally, I entered the Blend If Mode for the layer itself and adjusted the Underlying Layer (shown in the screen capture below) and that’s it for this example.
I kept toggling the new layer On and Off to make sure it didn’t affect the fog in any way and to my eyes, it didn’t seem to make a difference to the fog, just the grass (btw, the Blend If adjustment helped to isolate the effects of the High Pass Filter to just the grass.
I hope this helps, Robert!
If you need or want more details or clarification, don’t hesitate to ask, and again, if this doesn’t align with your standards or expectations, that’s OK!
(And please keep in mind that the above example is more of a rough draft (so to speak).
Foggy mornings are the best. Robert, you have proven that fact. @Merv, what you are saying about the high pass filter and Topaz Sharpeneer is helpful. I will have to experiment with it. I don’t use Topaz sharpener, but I put all my pictures through Topaz Denoise, which also sharpens. I like what you did. I find the grass to the left of the image to be very dominant and “heavy” in terms of balancing the composition. Cropping might help. Taking off the bottom but keeping all of the reflection on the right and then cropping in just a bit on the left helps diminish the effect. Because it is the sharpest and brightest green in the picture, it keeps my eye there. I’m posting what I did in PS along with the screen shot of how I did the vinette. I did burn the grass on the left down a bit .
The vignette I applied using the TK8 plugin, but I think it can be duplicated without the plugin. You will notice a Gaussian Blur with a radious of 104.9 pixels is applied to the vignette layer. It is in the Multiply Blend mode with an opacity of 10% . Again, thanks @Robert_Betka and @Merv for a great picture and wonderful learning expeerience. I am learning to deeply appreciate this site.
Well, Mervin, thanks to you I learned something new today! I followed your steps and I do see a subtle but noticeable improvement in the sharpness of the grasses. Thanks for taking the time for a more thorough description of the technique.
I like the crop that you did, @Barbara_Djordjevic.
To me, this crop puts me farther into the scene where Robert’s original puts me farther back in the scene.
As with all landscape images for me, I imagine myself being there in person and being able to imagine what’s in the periphery, that means that I have a harder time seeing when an image is unbalanced.
In this image, I imagine I’m in a row boat gliding through the water and I’m about to make my way through the bend (in Robert’s version), in your version, I’m still in the row boat but I’m a bit farther into the bend and I can still imagine what’s not visible in the image.
That may not be a good way to evaluate others images but it’s what sparks my imagination and emotions.
To me, I always appreciate other people’s visions and suggestions!
This is a lovely, peaceful image! I love the three overlapping layers, the reflection and the curve of the water.
For me, the grasses don’t need sharpening – their softness looks natural in the foggy setting. The thing that catches my attention is the darkness in the clump in the LL. I did a soft-edged quick mask selection and reduced the contrast with a curves, raising the LL end and lowering the UR end. A better job can be done in the raw file by first masking off that area from adjustments that increase contrast.
Thanks, Diane, for your feedback. I see how you lightened things up in the LL. I might play around with that a bit further so the shadow doesn’t distract.
Uh Uh, No Way for me! With my fused lumbar and bolted in titanium rods, I would never get back out of it without a lot of help, or maybe a saw!!
But you can have the canoe or kayak if you like, I’ll stick with the row boat. Lol
