*Challenge 21 Spokane at Night

[gotta]

This is a better photo I believe for the contest.

[AltPro]

Gotta...

I think that this photo has real potential.
Nice vantage point for the composition, nice lighting, interesting color.
But for myself, the large building which you've chosen for the midground subject holds little interest. However that being said, if you want it as the subject, the focus on the lettering needs to be cleared and sharper, as does the entire mid area of the photo.

Also, the retaining wall in the lower right is a distraction. Might want to try and eliminate it?

Bonne chance.
ginette

[gotta]

Sorry Ginette, I really needed to use a different photo. I'd love to hear your criticism on this one.

Regards, Eric

[gotta]

I wonder if this will change the title?http://www.digitalgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif

[AltPro]

Sorry Ginette, I really needed to use a different photo. I'd love to hear your criticism on this one.

Regards, Eric
Eric...

No need to say "Sorry" to me... I was just giving you my honest impression.

This one, I like much better... I only wish that there were a small light in one of the windows... But in a perfect world... I really like the composition on this one, the clean white against the blackness of the sky and water. I like how the pier wall leads you visually towards the ship, rather than being a distraction. I like the little "boarding," sign... Really a much nicer image, but also a very different feel from the first.
:thumb
Kudos...

As for me... We're still having too much rain for me to risk bringing out my Camera... IF we keep up like this, I may have to invest in an "underwater case!" Instead of Virginia is for Lovers, they will have to change it to, Virginia is for Ducks! Almost two straight weeks of rain, and this night work is one of my favorite things to do!... Ug.

Good luck, and keep on shooting.
ginette

[PerezDesignGroup]

This is a better photo I believe for the contest.
Very nice photo! My only concern is that the boarding plank on the right is leading my eye away and off the photo. That aside, I love how the shadows vanish on the left side of the ship.

[pathfinder]

This is a better photo I believe for the contest.
Could the image use a little more contrast perhaps?

[AltPro]

Could the image use a little more contrast perhaps?
:roflFunny Path....:rofl

ginette

[pathfinder]

:roflFunny Path....:rofl

ginette
???? I am clueless I guess.:dunno

[wxwax]

:scratch Got me too, Altie. :rofl

I like the extra contrast, 'finder... I always do. Nice shot, Gotta.

[gotta]

You know, I played with the contrast a lot, and didn't like losing the handrail to washout. I wondered about the boarding ramp, but to include it in the picture would have brought many distractions with it. I'm still more comfortable with black and white since my first 10 years of photography were done in that format. Thanks for the comments.

Regards, Eric

[AltPro]

???? I am clueless I guess.:dunno Oops
No Path, Waxie... I am... I just didn't scroll down far enough to realize that Path had changed the photo's contrast... duh... my faux pas... :confused (http://misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=0#) I thought you were making a funny :Dthat the B&W coloration was not enough contrast in itself? Finger in my eye...:wxwax

Still... I'm not sure about masking out the boarding sign and super punching the contrast on this... I think gotta is headed in the right direction... (gotta, Please don't take any offense at all of this messing with your photo... It's really sort of a compliment... IF no one liked it they wouldn't play...) I tried a slightly different tack, to bring it up ever so slightly but didn't change the crop, as I really like the pier support being so old and worn and I think the sign offers something... Not to mention I love all the shadow detail... But that's my humble opinion...
In the end, all of this is left up to gotta's choosing...
ginette

http://throughthelensltd.smugmug.com/photos/8720230-M.jpg

[gotta]

Here is another picture I took that night with a little more of the dock and boat. This is how it came off the camera aside from resizing. I'd love to see what some of you would do with it. BTW, the lights on the dock really are green.:D

Regards, Eric

[wxwax]

I like Altie's version a lot. Not harsh, very smooth, good light where there needs to be. And Gotta, I agree with your decision to make it B&W... sometimes colors at night get funky.

[AltPro]

Here is another picture I took that night with a little more of the dock and boat. This is how it came off the camera aside from resizing. I'd love to see what some of you would do with it. BTW, the lights on the dock really are green.:D
Regards, Eric Eric...
This one would have really been the clincher... Only you lost just enough of the top of the boat, caught it just too close, for the framing to work, at least to my eye...
While I am a true fan of up close and personal, sometimes i like to see a wee bit more. I guess the real trick is in knowing just how much to capture...
I love the different colors of the lighting... The way it all walkway make the eye lead to the the ship, but the second wee problem I see is the focus on the sign to the right... But you might be able to clean it up a bit. I know how frustrating this must be... But I think I'd go with the first one, unless you have another view of the boat, I would stick with the first entry... I really liked it anyway...

If you liked my adjustments, I changed it from grayscale to RGB, adjusted the color balance adding a bit of yellow, red, magenta, & cyan through the mid and highlights, with a kick of blue, red and green, in the shadow. Then adjusted the contrast/brightness, lifting the contrast about 4 notches and the brightness near 9 I think.

Then tweaked the curves a bit.
Bonne chance, mon ami...
ginette