Autumn fading into winter - comments or suggestions?

[Carmelo75]

here is a shot I have taken today, after the first snow has fallen here in geneva.

this is my final PP, but somehow I am still not convinced of the result. Any suggestion to improve it? What about the composition? Does it work for you?

As usual, I'm open to any comment. Feel free to modify the image, if that helps to explain any improvement.

Due to the unusual format of the image (tall & thin) I post two versions, one smaller and one bigger. Here it comes:








Thanks for looking.

Carmelo.

[Miguel Delinquento]

I think this is a very cool shot. I find little to criticize, the composition is graceful and meaningful. Contrast is compelling, the texture strong. I like the fade to white at the top. Kudos to you for capturing a wonderful scene artfully .

Because of the offbeat dimensions, this image looks like it could be used for illustration or decoration, but I'm sure it would work as an art print. It will look more "correct" when printed out very large. Make sure your sharpening techniques do this justice.

M

[adbsgicom]

Beautiful! It definately requires a larger format (the small version is really hard to appreciate). In the tall version, I think you may want a little less of the sky since it is so bright. I tried looking at it w/o the sky at all, and that didn't work, but with about 1/2 as much as is there, I found it less overpowering. I hope you have high ceilings in your home (or know someone who does).

[Carmelo75]

hi miguel and andrew, thanks for the comments, it looks like I am too crytical on this shot...

Andrew, I totally agree about the sky crop, will do it for the final version

Miguel, since you mention sharpening, I would like to show here a crop of the original file (at about 50% magnification) and two different sharpenings, I'm curious to know which one you find best...

Unfortunately, the original was not very sharp, as I have shooted with a long focal (about 400mm) and the subject was far away. Therefore sharpening is not straightforward, and I'm not really an expert on the subject.

Thanks again, Carmelo.

[Carmelo75]

the original shot...

[Carmelo75]

unsharp mask with radius=3...

[Carmelo75]

unsharp mask with radius=15...

[Miguel Delinquento]

Carmelo75, I find it impossible to evaluate sharpening on a computer monitor, especially at 50% size. In my own work, I'll use Lightroom (and sometimes NIK in CS3) at a 1:1 on screen, but what comes out of the printer is far more important to me.

I follow the 3-stage sharpening workflow proposed by the late Bruce Fraser. Lightroom is configured by default to follow this approach more or less. But with some homework on your part you can improve your sharpening workflow using your tools quite significantly--it's a skill that will benefit your photography forever more.

Everything always looks sharper reduced to a small screen size and I was concerned that your original may not scale up all that well.

Did you have the 400mm lens on a tripod for the shot?

M

Originally Posted by Carmelo75

hi miguel and andrew, thanks for the comments, it looks like I am too crytical on this shot...

Andrew, I totally agree about the sky crop, will do it for the final version

Miguel, since you mention sharpening, I would like to show here a crop of the original file (at about 50% magnification) and two different sharpenings, I'm curious to know which one you find best...

Unfortunately, the original was not very sharp, as I have shooted with a long focal (about 400mm) and the subject was far away. Therefore sharpening is not straightforward, and I'm not really an expert on the subject.

Thanks again, Carmelo.

[Carmelo75]

Originally Posted by Miguel Delinquento

Carmelo75, I find it impossible to evaluate sharpening on a computer monitor, especially at 50% size. In my own work, I'll use Lightroom (and sometimes NIK in CS3) at a 1:1 on screen, but what comes out of the printer is far more important to me.

I follow the 3-stage sharpening workflow proposed by the late Bruce Fraser. Lightroom is configured by default to follow this approach more or less. But with some homework on your part you can improve your sharpening workflow using your tools quite significantly--it's a skill that will benefit your photography forever more.

Everything always looks sharper reduced to a small screen size and I was concerned that your original may not scale up all that well.

Did you have the 400mm lens on a tripod for the shot?

M

I had the camera on the tripod, closed the diaphragm at f8, and I did the focus manually in liveview mode at 100% magnification... I think should be good enough...

I suspect there was a bit of moist that prevented the image to be sharp at such distance. Moreover, I am using a sigma 70-300 zoom from the pre-digital era, and it is probably not the best performer with aps-c sensors, especially at the higher end of the focal range.

On the other end, the original image was obtained by stitching three vertical shots. As such, it is an heavy 25Mpixels file tat should print not so bad...

I'll try your suggested sharpening method, and eventually post a final version of the image when it is ready.

Thanks a lot again, Carmelo.

[digidrone]

I like this Carmelo, just like the layers from top to bottom.
I wish I could see the final print!

[Carmelo75]

Originally Posted by digidrone

I like this Carmelo, just like the layers from top to bottom.
I wish I could see the final print!

I cannot wait to print it as well!

Thanks for the nice comment Royce.

[craig_d]

This is a very cool shot. I also agree with Andrew that there a bit too much sky, but that's easily corrected and the shot is great anyway. Good work!

[Carmelo75]

Originally Posted by craig_d

This is a very cool shot. I also agree with Andrew that there a bit too much sky, but that's easily corrected and the shot is great anyway. Good work!

Thanks Craig, I've already tried the suggested crop and it really improves... I'm very happy you liked the shot!!!

Carmelo.