Motel Bistro

[JohnnyW]

Please give your comments on this picture. Is the angle ok? Colour settings etc? Anything to improve on?

[attap seed]

very ordinary angle, with pretty flat lighting and washed out sky.

can play around a little, eg, moving in closer and using the plants as frame/foregroung element.

try shooting in sidelight and when the sky is more interesting.

[munkey]

Colours wise lacks contrast.

[peepeedog]

if you don't mind, i edited it to show you what i think people would like to see



this is a good way to convert something that looks flat into something eye catching and probably more impactful.

i can delete it if you want
*the blown out parts can't be helped.. working in low res jpeg.

[JohnnyW]

Hi, How do you do that? Can guide me?

[dw8888]

Originally Posted by peepeedog if you don't mind, i edited it to show you what i think people would like to see this is a good way to convert something that looks flat into something eye catching and probably more impactful. i can delete it if you want *the blown out parts can't be helped.. working in low res jpeg.

You created a very big hotspot in the sky. Sorry not my cup of tea.

[JohnnyW]

Yea, come to think of it, I left too much space in the top =[

[kuantoh]

No expert here but a few suggestions:

1. U could have capture this shot from a lower angle. Try shooting low, even if it means lying on the ground. Take with the sky as the backdrop to create the impactful pic.

2. Timing of the shot. Its a cloudy day and quite hard to bring out the feel if shooting in this conditions (unless its a stormy cloudy afternoon etc). Btw, is this shot taken at afternoon timing. If u r travelling on a tight schedule with a tour group, it may be inevitable that u r shooting this at this time. Else, u could have taken this during sunrise/sunset timing which would bring abt a stronger feel.

3. Contrast. peepeedog has done quite a nice job for creating the contrasty version. Weather and angle of shoot is causing some blown highlights in the sky as well as the roof. U might wan to invest in a ND filter/polarizer when taking landscape/scenic shots.

However, its really the point of time of capture that matters. Plan what u wan to shoot, think abt a theme to shoot, find an angle to shoot before u press down the shutter. Keep on shooting... We r all learning along the way!

[peepeedog]

Originally Posted by dw8888 You created a very big hotspot in the sky. Sorry not my cup of tea.

as i said, i worked with the TS's low res jpeg. Raw files wouldn't produce such hot spots.

[JohnnyW]

Originally Posted by kuantoh No expert here but a few suggestions: 1. U could have capture this shot from a lower angle. Try shooting low, even if it means lying on the ground. Take with the sky as the backdrop to create the impactful pic. 2. Timing of the shot. Its a cloudy day and quite hard to bring out the feel if shooting in this conditions (unless its a stormy cloudy afternoon etc). Btw, is this shot taken at afternoon timing. If u r travelling on a tight schedule with a tour group, it may be inevitable that u r shooting this at this time. Else, u could have taken this during sunrise/sunset timing which would bring abt a stronger feel. 3. Contrast. peepeedog has done quite a nice job for creating the contrasty version. Weather and angle of shoot is causing some blown highlights in the sky as well as the roof. U might wan to invest in a ND filter/polarizer when taking landscape/scenic shots. However, its really the point of time of capture that matters. Plan what u wan to shoot, think abt a theme to shoot, find an angle to shoot before u press down the shutter. Keep on shooting... We r all learning along the way!

Ya in q tour group to Great ocean Road =[

Anyway I have PL Filters. Not on this shot though. How to effectively use it? Still trying but cant get it

[night86mare]

on original file - weak composition, typical and not much thought put in. the exposure is alright but definitely some work could be done to retrieve the details in the sky.

try different angles, walk around, squat down, tip toe, there will definitely be a more flattering angle which conveys a stronger idea.. or at least provide a stronger composition

the edited photo is surely, an improvement , hot spots aside.. i'm sure with careful layering the details under the roof can be retained, though that may need a bit more work.

[peepeedog]

Originally Posted by night86mare on original file - weak composition, typical and not much thought put in. the exposure is alright but definitely some work could be done to retrieve the details in the sky. try different angles, walk around, squat down, tip toe, there will definitely be a more flattering angle which conveys a stronger idea.. or at least provide a stronger composition the edited photo is surely, an improvement , hot spots aside.. i'm sure with careful layering the details under the roof can be retained, though that may need a bit more work.

haha yeah bro you spotted it. i was thinking of dodging and erasing away the lower layer but was too lazy

[yehosaphat]

Just to add, you should not have used f4 in this case. Since this is day time, all the more you should have chosen at least f11 to ensure your shot is sharp. And to improve, you could have included people in it for scale as well.

[pcpsk59]

Originally Posted by JohnnyW Please give your comments on this picture. Is the angle ok? Colour settings etc? Anything to improve on?

Originally Posted by peepeedog if you don't mind, i edited it to show you what i think people would like to see this is a good way to convert something that looks flat into something eye catching and probably more impactful. i can delete it if you want *the blown out parts can't be helped.. working in low res jpeg.

Hi JohnnyW,

Composition might not be that much great and not much bad. Picture looks very simple and bit flat for me. Any way you should practice with you Post processing skills to enhance your picture well. Photoshop is very easy and great software to tune your image.

I'm sorry to say this to peepeedog, your post image is not my good for me and your reason too.

Well, let me tell you.. want i did in your image.

>> Cropped at the top

>> added some perspective to show some depth

>> Clouds are copied, pasted in new layer, desaturate it and change the layer in Multiply.

>> Hue adjusted 4 times in different areas with layer mask.

>> Image sharpened

>> Contrast increased

>> From Burn tool, pillars contrast burnt to highlight graphical lines

>> Framed.

hope you like improvements

[dw8888]

Look like this topic is very interesting.
As my point of view, when I look at the photo, I am interested to see the water area,the word on the and then the entrance staircase.
So I crop until like this.

[JohnnyW]

Originally Posted by pcpsk59 Hi JohnnyW, Composition might not be that much great and not much bad. Picture looks very simple and bit flat for me. Any way you should practice with you Post processing skills to enhance your picture well. Photoshop is very easy and great software to tune your image. I'm sorry to say this to peepeedog, your post image is not my good for me and your reason too. Well, let me tell you.. want i did in your image. >> Cropped at the top >> added some perspective to show some depth >> Clouds are copied, pasted in new layer, desaturate it and change the layer in Multiply. >> Hue adjusted 4 times in different areas with layer mask. >> Image sharpened >> Contrast increased >> From Burn tool, pillars contrast burnt to highlight graphical lines >> Framed. hope you like improvements

Hi pcpsk59,

Thanks for the detail step by step what you did for post processing. I have no experience in PS and just started recently to learn PS from lynda.com PS Tutorial Videos. I will put more effort in learning how to post process pictures.

Nonetheless, I am happy this topic drew much attention so that we can learn from each other. I will have more pictures up for critique on a weekly basis. Hope I will improve as time passes. =)

[JohnnyW]

Originally Posted by dw8888 Look like this topic is very interesting. As my point of view, when I look at the photo, I am interested to see the water area,the word on the and then the entrance staircase. So I crop until like this.

Hi dw8888,

It seems to me the image is cut off here and there. But do not misunderstand my words. Not saying it is not good or bad, but I respect each individual point of view and artistic approach.

I feel that after your cropping, it brings the bistro main subject out more. As in more feel of the bistro. Which I think is good. But I guess to many green plants in the foreground due to the original picture that I feel slightly uncomfortable. Nonetheless it is a pretty good crop!

[latestmistake-]

i did some changes, hope you appreciate it.

-contrast
-levels
-render filter

i made the image have some holga/toy-camera vintage effect.
i hope you like it!

my photoshop skills arent that good la, 15 year old trying to lean even more

[attap seed]

actually, i feel that no matter how much PP is done to this picture, it remains pretty "ordinary".

just the type of Point n Shoot pic (dun misunderstand, i shoot plenty of these straight forward record shots nowadays).

actually, after all the PP, the very initial shot still does the job, which is to tell ppl that, "here's a pic of Motel Bistro."

PP can make a potential shot outstanding, but it will never make something "ordinary" extraordinary.

[JohnnyW]

Originally Posted by attap seed actually, i feel that no matter how much PP is done to this picture, it remains pretty "ordinary". just the type of Point n Shoot pic (dun misunderstand, i shoot plenty of these straight forward record shots nowadays). actually, after all the PP, the very initial shot still does the job, which is to tell ppl that, "here's a pic of Motel Bistro." PP can make a potential shot outstanding, but it will never make something "ordinary" extraordinary.

Yea I recently convert from PnS to dSLR. So I guess still exploring the creativity. I do agree this pic is just PnS. Just that I find that the bistro is nice =]