of greener pastures


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divingnemo

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Aug 12, 2009
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In the Sea
dreamy2.jpg




hey there fellow cs-ers. just stepped into the world of photography with the purchase of a 2nd-hand camera. pls, do c&c so i can get some directions :)

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
been reading up on pp and i'm not too sure if my pp turned out okay. did some tweaking with the curves, saturation. also as this is a hdr image does it look believable to you guys?
most importantly, composition-wise is this alright?

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
emm basically jus to hone my photography and pp skills. of cos i also intend to invoke a certain mood from the photo - a sense of yearning perhaps?

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
taken at slightly past midday. with sweaty brows and palms. wanted to feature the fluffy clouds that were littering the horizon.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
erm like i mentioned above, not too sure about pp and composition. hope you folks can help me out!

thanks guys :)
 

my n00b comments:
Composition-wise, i would try shifting the girl slightly more to the right. Alternatively, get the girl a bit get closer to the camera so that her positioning is more obvious, then get her to tilt her head or lean back further to see higher, line of sight above 45 degree (see the sky) and frame the pic vertically.
 

my n00b comments:
Composition-wise, i would try shifting the girl slightly more to the right. Alternatively, get the girl a bit get closer to the camera so that her positioning is more obvious, then get her to tilt her head or lean back further to see higher, line of sight above 45 degree (see the sky) and frame the pic vertically.

underexposed for me and it seems like there is something on your lens at the green grass area.
 

i also feel its underexposed - u say its mid day too.. looks much later, and darker, than that..
the composition is good, but i think if u got a bit closer to the girl, it wouldve been a bit better.. just my opinion :)
 

Using DNG filter it could be better, you can keep the good exposure for the clouds but get better exposure for the green and the girl.
 

my n00b comments:
Composition-wise, i would try shifting the girl slightly more to the right. Alternatively, get the girl a bit get closer to the camera so that her positioning is more obvious, then get her to tilt her head or lean back further to see higher, line of sight above 45 degree (see the sky) and frame the pic vertically.

thanks for that suggestion. yeah i think a vertical composition plus a repositioning of the subject would make it better. great food for thought :)

underexposed for me and it seems like there is something on your lens at the green grass area.

thanks for viewing. yes, after i posted this i realized that the foreground was dark. din seem to be that dark on my photoshop screen. oh well, point noted :)

i also feel its underexposed - u say its mid day too.. looks much later, and darker, than that..
the composition is good, but i think if u got a bit closer to the girl, it wouldve been a bit better.. just my opinion :)

thanks for that insight. yah, think more emphasis on the girl would work. jus need to negotiate the space allocated between the grass and the sky.. hmmm...

Using DNG filter it could be better, you can keep the good exposure for the clouds but get better exposure for the green and the girl.

point noted, thanks Octarine!
 

the mid day sun has washed out the colors, you could use a CPL filter to improve things, you are also working in less than optimal lighting conditions, some levels adjustment and PP would also help, especially since the theme is "greener pastures"
 

try to move more to the left or right? composition is good but angle not good enough imho, keep up the good shots:thumbsup:
 

the mid day sun has washed out the colors, you could use a CPL filter to improve things, you are also working in less than optimal lighting conditions, some levels adjustment and PP would also help, especially since the theme is "greener pastures"

thanks for the suggestions elavan. hmm i was already using a cpl filter that day... think i really need some polishing on pp sia

try to move more to the left or right? composition is good but angle not good enough imho, keep up the good shots:thumbsup:

thanks for the encouragement :)
 

you need to wait for better light, if you ask me. one where the light is falling on the grass, rather than the lighting here.

then you would not need to care about hdr or not, and you would not need to pp much. light plays a very huge role in photography, more than people often give it credit for. the usual mentality is that "anything, anytime also can take, after that let photoshop do the job".. which is untrue.

whether or not your grass is green or whether or not the girl can be seen, i think you will find it hard to keep it natural with the trees in black while the grass is lighted up with any form of post process, even if you are a digital wizard.

next - the composition. everything needs to work in harmony here. the eye is drawn to the brightest clouds in the sky first and foremost, but your subject is looking away from them to an area where there is no interest to the viewer.

you should place her lower from the area where the grass meets the tree (in your frame) - this can be done with either perspective or moving your subject by directing her if you can.. and place her in a position where she would have been looking at the bright clouds, i.e. left area, facing the other way. this will make for the best balance i can think of here.
 

you need to wait for better light, if you ask me. one where the light is falling on the grass, rather than the lighting here.

then you would not need to care about hdr or not, and you would not need to pp much. light plays a very huge role in photography, more than people often give it credit for. the usual mentality is that "anything, anytime also can take, after that let photoshop do the job".. which is untrue.

whether or not your grass is green or whether or not the girl can be seen, i think you will find it hard to keep it natural with the trees in black while the grass is lighted up with any form of post process, even if you are a digital wizard.

next - the composition. everything needs to work in harmony here. the eye is drawn to the brightest clouds in the sky first and foremost, but your subject is looking away from them to an area where there is no interest to the viewer.

you should place her lower from the area where the grass meets the tree (in your frame) - this can be done with either perspective or moving your subject by directing her if you can.. and place her in a position where she would have been looking at the bright clouds, i.e. left area, facing the other way. this will make for the best balance i can think of here.


you are absolutely spot on, my friend. im beginning to understand the importance of lighting after more shootings.. and i definitely had the 'take first, photoshop later' mentality when i first started out with the cam. spooky sia u can read my mind :eek: haha but yes, many thanks for that piece of golden advice

'the eye is drawn to the brightest clouds in the sky first and foremost, but your subject is looking away from them to an area where there is no interest to the viewer' -
yah i should have utilized my subject to direct the interest to the clouds, which i wanted to feature. the shot would have made much more sense then!
 

i enjoyed the composition :thumbsup: but not the pp work you applied
 

TS i like your idea though! just work on your exposure. prob your spotmeter is reading the sky so grass is underexposed.
 

Using DNG filter it could be better, you can keep the good exposure for the clouds but get better exposure for the green and the girl.


sorry, what's a DNG filter?
or did you mean GND?
 

The small image of the girl actually makes this pic special.

It help to emphasize the vastness of the world.

The mix of stormy clouds and bright cotton wool clouds portrays hope, and it's a reminder to us that no matter how dark and stormy our life is, one day it will pass and there will be light.
 

i enjoyed the composition :thumbsup: but not the pp work you applied

hey thanks for dropping by :) yep, after all the constructive comments above im gonna reflect on that. will post up other pics for critique soon

TS i like your idea though! just work on your exposure. prob your spotmeter is reading the sky so grass is underexposed.

i think i read the grass but poor lighting conditions + my own bad pp skills made it too dark. thanks for viewing man :)

The small image of the girl actually makes this pic special.

It help to emphasize the vastness of the world.

The mix of stormy clouds and bright cotton wool clouds portrays hope, and it's a reminder to us that no matter how dark and stormy our life is, one day it will pass and there will be light.

wow axedee, thanks for coming up with a writeup for my pic :)

I like this photo! :thumbsup:
If the upper half of the photo (sky) is darker and the lower half (human + grass) is brighter, it will be even better. ;)

definitely! will work on that, thanks for the suggestion :)
 

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