Lake Artemesia Natural Area, MD.
Seeking any and all advice and comments. Thanks in advance.
Please view the large image!
Is this a composite: No
Canon T3i, 1/15 s, f/8, ISO 200, EF 24-105mm f/4 @ 70 mm, CPL.
Raw file processed in LRClassicCC and Topaz Denoise AI. TK resize/sharpening for web.
This is just the thing I would shoot, too. Tannic water is a tough hang though it’s beautiful in its way. Here’s my interpretation -
I hope you don’t mind. I liked it too much not to have a go.
Thank you @Kris_Smith. Lifting the shadows in the water was certainly an optional interpretation and does show the creek bed better, but I went with the higher contrast version.
No prob, Ronald. Your rules, you make 'em up. If you want me to take it down I will.
Oh no! It should be there; I was just responding. Thank you again for your willingness to comment.
This is a really fine image in my opinion. The design is so strong that it looks more like an abstract that what it actually represents. Certainly it is more powerful as an abstract. But as an abstract you really need that urc to be in focus. The black in that corner needs to be as well defined as the central black shape.
I agree this image has some very strong design elements, and the graphic shapes work really well together. I love the leaning branches on the left side, they add so much to this image. I do agree with @Igor_Doncov about wanting to the see the URC a little bit sharper. My other subjective comment is that I would prefer to clone away the leaf along the right edge, leaving just the center beech leaf for simplification.
Here is a rework where I added LR clarity to the URC only, and removed the second leaf. But these are small tweaks, overall, this is one fine image Ronald, it’s much more sophisticated than it looks at first glance.
This is very fine. Ed put it very well - it’s more sophisticated than at first glance. I definitely agree on the URC. It looks muddy. The leaves beneath the water are fascinating, and I wish I could see them just a tad better. With that in mind, I had a go at a rework also. I increased the exposure and clarity in the URC, dodged the whites a bit overall, cloned out that leave nearest the right edge, and tried to bring out some detail in the leaves under the water (by dodging the lights and burning the shadows using TK luminosity masks) while leaving the overall higher contrast intact.
Thank you @Bonnie_Lampley, @Igor_Doncov and @Ed_McGuirk for your time. I don’t want to belabor, but I’ve tried to improve the URC by adding contrast and sharpening, and it just looks weird. Any suggestions as to what could be done?
@Ronald_Murphy, it’s not the just the contrast that is low, it is the exposure (by just a bit). What I did (in ACR) was to draw a gradient filter over that corner, and increase the exposure, highlights, and whites, and also texture and clarity. I never use the contrast slider or increase sharpness, as I find adjusting other things usually gives a better result. Here’s a screen shot of my edit:
I like what Bonnie did in her rework, the added exposure helps. I also agree with her advice to avoid using Lightroom contrast and sharpness, they are relatively blunt instruments. As she said clarity, and texture can produce more natural looking results (texture is very sensitive, and should be used relatively sparingly).
