Sailing the Sky - newbie/first post here

[jerots]

1. In what area is critique to be sought?
Erm anything which comes into your mind

2. What one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
The impression of a sailing ship amidst the clouds (fog)

3. Under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Dark condition, taken from my house HDB corridor. This is actually MBS, the ship/banana building beside the Singapore Flyer / the building seen in some pictures of the Helix). Crop a little lower for this image and you can see part of the Singapore Flyer wheel already.

4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture.
I like the fact that it gives people the impression of a ship. But somehow it feels a little empty when i open up the image in its actual size. When seen from the thumbnail, i feel that it's good.

Another thing to note in the original photo, the sky was dull. I adjusted the settings in lightroom in order to get the sun out behind. Also, I had to be careful in setting the noise so as to not destroy the details of the cloud shapes above. As I look carefully now, some noise can be seen. Are there any ways I can improve on it?

 

[catchlights]

image too small for viewing. try post a slightly bigger image

 

[jerots]

Ok done

 

[wildcat]

Another thing to note in the original photo, the sky was dull. I adjusted the settings in lightroom in order to get the sun out behind. Also, I had to be careful in setting the noise so as to not destroy the details of the cloud shapes above. As I look carefully now, some noise can be seen. Are there any ways I can improve on it?

Sometimes, dull skies... cannot be saved. That I learnt the hard way. Can try for hours to create magic but unless you cheat (i.e. put in another sky), some things may not be worth saving. And yes, glad you noticed the noise already. The problem with LR is you can't use Layers unlike PS. When you do multiple things with a picture, it is difficult to see what you did that caused that. With layers, I can individually hide until I find the layer that caused the problem I am trying to locate, and thus, easier for me to debug the issue.

Of course, you can step backwards until you find the issue but that's like, a bit duh so next time you do PP again, you will be aware to notice about the noise or other problem before you make too many changes

 

[pokiemon]

sorry i dont get the impression it is a ship sailing thru the clouds. all i see is overblown sky.

 

[jerots]

Sometimes, dull skies... cannot be saved. That I learnt the hard way. Can try for hours to create magic but unless you cheat (i.e. put in another sky), some things may not be worth saving. And yes, glad you noticed the noise already. The problem with LR is you can't use Layers unlike PS. When you do multiple things with a picture, it is difficult to see what you did that caused that. With layers, I can individually hide until I find the layer that caused the problem I am trying to locate, and thus, easier for me to debug the issue.

Of course, you can step backwards until you find the issue but that's like, a bit duh so next time you do PP again, you will be aware to notice about the noise or other problem before you make too many changes

ay thanks for your feedback! learnt from your comments about dull skies and using layers for "debug" it is indeed an issue for me~

sorry i dont get the impression it is a ship sailing thru the clouds. all i see is overblown sky.

hmm, regarding the sky, you think this would be better?

i thought if the current portion of sky was 'overblown', it would bring out the shapes of the clouds, in turn adding on to the composition. also, it acts to show the sun being covered :think:
heh actually, it doesnt feel like sailing the sky for me too now that i look at it. maybe it's because i knew it wasn't on water. but does it at least give the impression of a (lost?) ship amidst some fog?