Tubs Stream

Specific Feedback Requested

composition/processing

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No

1 Like

Hi Mario! I like the composition on this a lot. It makes me want to take a seat on one of those rocks and watch my dog play in the water :slight_smile: I also love the foggy look in the water from the long exposure and the way the trees and rocks lead the eye.

Personally I would not have gone quite so heavy on the vignette, it feels a bit distracting. Also as a result the rocks in the center of the frame are the brightest part of the image, whereas maybe it could be more effective to have the water be the brightest since that is the focal point. So I might try to have the center of the vignette be on the water or just remove it altogether. It also seems like the picture is quite soft, perhaps due to camera shake. You can try hanging a weight like your camera bag on the tripod and use a remote shutter release to try to reduce that.

Thanks for sharing, I hope this is helpful! I’m a new user and hope to keep seeing your work here!

1 Like

Thank You Mathew
I agree. I decreased the vignette and darkened the center to focus on the stream which is in fact the focus of the shot. I checked and my image stabilization was on when I was shooting with the tripod yesterday.

1 Like

That looks wonderful! Ah yeah that makes sense about IS.

I actually liked the vignette to a degree but it was a bit strong. The rework does look better though. I thought the water in the original was unnaturally blue but you’ve taken care of that.

It’s been my experience that when you shoot moving water the image stabilizer doesn’t know to ignore it and tries to get it in focus. The result is that the non moving parts of the image tend to be slightly out of focus. After ruining several images that way (Canon said it was no longer an issue) I turn off the stabilizer when using the tripod. Just my experience. That could be the reason for the softness but there are numerous other possibilities.

1 Like

Mario, I agree with the comments from @Matthew_Chatham on the vignette being too strong. In addition to the vignette being too noticeable, the very darkest tones in the corners also got really blocked up as result.

In a recent post by Dave Wallace, @David_Kingham discussed a Lightroom technique for adding vignettes that helps avoid blocking up some of the darkest tones. See his description below.

“These days I use a radial filter to create my vignettes by lowering the exposure and use the luminosity range mask to pull it slightly out of the darkest shadows and brightest highlights. I will often bring down the saturation and decrease the contrast of the radial filter vignette as well since darkening will add saturation and contrast”. - David Kingham

Another technique that I use for vignettes is via TK Luminosity Masks, where I make a Midtones 2 selection, and use that to paint and burn the frame edges. This avoids blocking up darks too much, and you can vary the opacity of the brush while burning to add vignette in different degrees where it’s needed.

I also think @Igor_Doncov is right about the Canon IS. I shoot Canon as well, and I think I read somewhere to turn it off when on a tripod, unless you are using one of the Great White lenses such as 500mm or 600mm.

2 Likes