Dialogue With The Stars

[ederius]

hi all,

ive already posted this image for C&C before but didnt receive much comments, hopefully the bros here can give me some pointers ! the idea was to use the monument as form of "connection" from the ground to the sky. i waited for awhile (and luck was on my side) for clouds to form "behind" the monument so that it'd stand out against a white background. the tip of the monument also served as a point of division from the white to blue sky.

please C&C on anything ! in particular, i'd like to know if you bros think this image is too "overcooked". i tried to keep the sky less fake but i felt the photo would loss it's dramatic feel if i toned down too much.

thanks !

 

[calebk]

I assume you kinda intended the "day-for-night" effect.

If it was from a realistic-HDR point of view, then yes it's overdone, but since you intended for the black point adjustment to be so high up, then I think it's fine. Maybe if the white point was brought up just a tad more, exposure would be more balanced. Right now it's quite surreal to begin with, just a tad underexposed across the frame. Tone-map it without losing the highlights on the top right hand corner. If you blow the highlights, then the feel will be lost.

 

[newlife]

had u waited a little longer for the thick cloud to cover the top tip:think: then u cud have had ur connection from the ground to the skyvery dramatic angle and imagination:thumbsup: the framing needs a little adustment to balance it out.....ur pic reminds me of the story from the bible: " the tower of babel":bsmilie:

 

[ederius]

I assume you kinda intended the "day-for-night" effect.

If it was from a realistic-HDR point of view, then yes it's overdone, but since you intended for the black point adjustment to be so high up, then I think it's fine. Maybe if the white point was brought up just a tad more, exposure would be more balanced. Right now it's quite surreal to begin with, just a tad underexposed across the frame. Tone-map it without losing the highlights on the top right hand corner. If you blow the highlights, then the feel will be lost.

agreed with the exposure, on 2nd look i felt it was a bit too dark as well. will look out in the future. thanks ! edit: i seems that my screen made the monument look brighter than it actually should. i saw the "true" brightness on another monitor. time to recalibrate haha ...

had u waited a little longer for the thick cloud to cover the top tip:think: then u cud have had ur connection from the ground to the skyvery dramatic angle and imagination:thumbsup: the framing needs a little adustment to balance it out.....ur pic reminds me of the story from the bible: " the tower of babel":bsmilie:

do you mean the drop shadow made the alignment seem a bit biased to the right ? i centred the image based on the picture itself and ignored the balancing requirement caused by the shadow

 

[night86mare]

very dramatic sky and angle you have chosen here, i really like the picture.

here, the sky details are not the problem - it is the pillar - for one you do not need the texture, and here the texture is way too finely detailed for comfort. if you have the 0ev photo or output from the original raw file you used to create this one.. layer it on top, and erase way to leave the normal 0ev texture while retaining the sky. alternatively, you can consider using the blur tool to manually blur the surface carefully.

 

[night86mare]

had u waited a little longer for the thick cloud to cover the top tip:think:

to be honest, this is one of the most ludicrous suggestions i have seen in a long long time, even coming from you.

 

[ederius]

very dramatic sky and angle you have chosen here, i really like the picture.

here, the sky details are not the problem - it is the pillar - for one you do not need the texture, and here the texture is way too finely detailed for comfort. if you have the 0ev photo or output from the original raw file you used to create this one.. layer it on top, and erase way to leave the normal 0ev texture while retaining the sky. alternatively, you can consider using the blur tool to manually blur the surface carefully.

hmm, do you mean to PS and use the paint tool to create a "see-thru" that'd repair the monument ? actually i tried that, but im impossibly unwieldy with the paint tool and will accidentally paint into the clouds, which spoils the image immediately. so i got lazy :embrass:

 

[night86mare]

hmm, do you mean to PS and use the paint tool to create a "see-thru" that'd repair the monument ? actually i tried that, but im impossibly unwieldy with the paint tool and will accidentally paint into the clouds, which spoils the image immediately. so i got lazy :embrass:

? paint tool?

no la, not repair. blur the details.

yes, you will use something like a paintbrush tool, the trick is to go large first carefully, then slowly reduce the brush size to sort out the smaller , narrower parts

probably a lot of work.. and probably optional here, another way is to redo the hdr and lessen the strength..