Help with photo

brokenarms

I took this photo a while back and printed it. But every time I look at it I get a little disappointed. I feel it has no punch and the RAW image had more potential. What I was after and what I got ended up to be two different thinks.
I want to revisit it and reprint it


The Craigavon Bridge. Derry by gsxr100, on Flickr

I wanted more of a clear punchy image with more contrast and white but could not get it right in photo shop. Maybe I could have cropped it a little better .

My question is. With my setup of a tamron 17-50 2.8 and a polarizing filter on a d3100 what whould have been a better setting .

Could someone explain a workflow that I could use in CS5 to get a sharp striking clear image like the one posted below.

I know I can get in the general ball park of the edit but have problems getting it just the way I like it in most cases with photoshop. I have had an slr for fun for 5 years now and feel I should be doing better .

Here is the exif of my shot which was processed in HDR

I focused it manually the best I could and ended up at infinity
Camera Nikon D3100
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 17 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 E
Subfile Type Full-resolution Image
Image Width 1400
Image Height 786
Bits Per Sample 16 16 16
Compression Uncompressed
Photometric Interpretation RGB
Strip Byte Counts 6602400
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Planar Configuration Chunky
Software Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
Creator Tool Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
Lens 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8
Approximate Focus Distance 14.1
History Software Agent Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 (Windows)
Format image/tiff
Date Created 2012:12:27
Time Created 01:04:26+00:00
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2012:12:27 01:04:26
Date and Time (Digitized) 2012:12:27 01:04:26
Max Aperture Value 2.8
Subject Distance 14.1 m
Metering Mode Center-weighted average
Light Source Cloudy
Color Space sRGB
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Manual
Focal Length (35mm format) 25 mm
Scene Capture Type Portrait


Beneath The Bridge. by Adam Jensen, on Flickr

Ballyman

The bottom one is a HDR i'd say so I'd say steer clear of that anyway although the B&W can disguise it somewhat.

You need light. Your top pic doesn't have any really to help create proper shadows and depth. Go back again another day when you have a low sun onto the bridge and have another go.

dnme

Hi brokenarms
Another thing to consider is that you don't have all that much in the foreground. You might consider a re-composition whereby you get closer to the bridge. If you're looking for impact (especially for a print), you need something in the foreground. Also avoid the middle of the day. Dawn or Dusk will give you much better light. The contrast of the bridge and it's reflection may be lost somewhat in b&w, wonder what the colour version looks like?

Finally, don't be afraid of HDR. HDR is just that, the use of dynamic range balancing. A lot of people confuse it with tone mapping. If you use Photoshop to burn or dodge, or you use exposure / highlights / shadows / blacks / whites sliders in Lightroom, you are adjusting the dynamic range of an image and thus making it HDR. Nothing wrong with that at all, we all do it all the time.

Finally,
Whats the story of this image? What story are you telling with it? Where do you want the observer to look and focus? Bear these questions in mind when taking / editing the image.

Zillah

Quick and dirty three minute version with curves and dodge/burn. I'd take 10 or 15 to do it properly. With curves I clipped the black and white a little and gave it a gentle s-curve. I used dodge(highlights) at about 4% and burn(shadows) also at about 4% to make the greyer bits punchier still. The problem is that the line of the bridge is so dark that full image contrast will plunge it into darkness, so you've got to selectively increase the contrast for some areas. The houses along the bank on the left especially.

ImagenEstilo

Adam,

If you want, can you send me on the RAW version of the file. It is a Nikon .NEF is it not??

I presume you want it black and white?. If you send me on the RAW file, I will faff about in Capture NX2 and then do something on it in Silver EFEX Pro and see what I can come up with.

Is there anything in particular you want from the image. Personally I like it.

PM me if you want email addresses etc.
Dave

brokenarms

PM sent.

Looking back at the original I see the original is a little soft even though I spent loads of effort trying to focus. I guess the limitations of the lens is showing as well as everything else. Getting the river so calm and the light perfect would be lucky on a weekend trip . I dont live there. Remebering back it was hard to expose and the sky would blow out if I wanted the get the coluor on the bridge. So I tried hdr . that was bland so I went to b&W . still low contrast and soft.
900 long downsized

allfred

My understanding is that you used a 17-50mm, possibly the lens is a bit soft on both ends? Never used that lens, but as far as I know, lenses tends to be a bit soft at both ends.

Maybe it would be nice to do a test @17mm and than @27mm f7-9

brokenarms

allfred wrote: »

My understanding is that you used a 17-50mm, possibly the lens is a bit soft on both ends? Never used that lens, but as far as I know, lenses tends to be a bit soft at both ends.

Maybe it would be nice to do a test @17mm and than @27mm f7-9

Yes I think I will. Im going back there for Easter. The sweet spot on that lens is 35mm at f5.6.
I think 5.6 will be a little shallow for a shot like this though. I would love a nice wide angle in the future, when better times are upon me.

Will give it ago on easter morning .

The_Gatsby

I like the colour version better, makes me feel like I'm looking into the past or something!

Although I think the black and white could look good if you got some nice lighting

.Longshanks.

Photoshop
1) high pass filter --> set blending method to overlay/screen --> drop opacity to 25%
2) increase the blacks via levels

amdgilmore

My first reaction looking at it was that it looked like you had adjusted the brightness and contrast for the entire image - which would explain why it's a little flat.

You could work with dodging and burning in Photoshop, but I find that quite clumsy (but maybe that's the result of my own limitations working with Photoshop). Lightroom's local adjustment brush is much better for this kind of work.

Alternatively, take the advice above and bracket your shots. Layer them in Photoshop and erase the parts you don't want to create a better balance of light and shadow in the final image. This isn't technically HDR but it's more or less the same idea.

ImagenEstilo

Kenneth,

I've done a bit of work on those images and sent them on in a mail to you.

Dave