Muench University

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Comments

  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited March 22, 2009
    Thank you for posting all these. Looks like you choose the right one.
    Great job working the scenethumb.gif This is such an important practice especially if you are anyone like me, thinking it will be greener on the other side.
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2009
    449509960_bcDqZ-M.jpg

    I have been looking at this image wondering what is missingheadscratch.gif

    The light is soft, dark, moody and most appealingwings.gif
    The light fits the subject, desolate lighthouse on a far away island, perfectthumb.gif

    The point of view is low placing the lighthouse high up against the dark sky contrasting nicelyclap.gif

    What I believe could be better is the composition or aspect ratio. Imagine this light house smaller in a sea of darkness. If the aspect ratio were 1 to 2 or even 2 to 3 and there was more FG the lighthouse would become more dramatic even though smaller.
    So my question to you is, what was the story you were trying to tell?
  • hawkeye978hawkeye978 Registered Users Posts: 1,218 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2009
    Marc,

    Thanks for the feedback for this photo and all the others you have been providing. They have all been a great source of information for me.

    So, where to begin. There are a lot of different motivations for this picture. This lighthouse is one of the most photographed in New England. It's located in York Maine about 1 hour from my house. My family has loved to go here since my kids were very young and I probably have pictures spanning 20 years.

    Most of the pictures I have of this location are mid-day. Strong light but nothing subtle. I also have planned for a few years to get a picture of the lighthouse around Christmas when they have it decorated with Christmas lights. On top of that there was an article in Outdoor Photographer in I think November 2008 on panorama shooting that included a beautiful pano of this lighthouse. So I was trying to get the Christmas shot around sunset to get good light and try my hand at a panorama to generate the emotional feeling of the location. I think I may have been trying to be a little too ambitious.

    I was trying to get the mood at Christmas with the setting sun playing over the rocks and hopefully getting jewel tone sky to complement the whole scene. I was shooting with a Grad ND which was the first time I had tried that particular piece of hardware. I also had tighter shots to emphasize just the lighthouse. I had been pre-visualizing this shot for a few years and when it turned out I was very pleased. For me personally this shoot felt like a real breakthrough.

    I normally try to shoot at this location to include some of the shoreline rocks in the foreground to add interest. A gallery of many different versions of that shoot is found here. I have been working and reworking different versions to try to get things just right. I think my favorite current version is the following.

    450119643_b6W3C-L.jpg

    I agree with what you are saying about the crop. One of my struggles was to get the true feeling of the pano without losing the lighthouse details because of the aspect ratio. I feel that websites just can't display a large enough version of the picture. I've also wanted to get some version printed and because of the aspect ratio it's hard to find a print size that works.

    I'll go and rework some of the pictures over the next few hours and repost to get an opinion with a different composition/crop.

    Thanks again...
  • hawkeye978hawkeye978 Registered Users Posts: 1,218 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2009
    Marc,

    Here are three alternatives with the suggested crops and different compositions.

    #1 3:2 Crop

    499541134_3R9Hm-L.jpg

    #2 1:2 Crop

    499549418_Kykjs-L.jpg

    I tend to like the larger crop right now because I like the foreground rock and the dark blue swirl to the lower right.

    #3 1:2 Crop with Different Composition/Angle

    499851382_E7eTr-L.jpg

    Thanks..
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited March 27, 2009
    450119643_b6W3C-L.jpg

    I think this is the best composition and aspect ratio but, number 3 in your previous post is the best light.

    Including the right shoulder of the island adds depth and the warm glow from the previous version would create the moodwings.gif
  • hawkeye978hawkeye978 Registered Users Posts: 1,218 Major grins
    edited March 28, 2009
    Marc,

    I've taken your suggestion and adjusted the sky on the preferred composition. I adjusted the colors slightly in the sky and then applied a gradient to darken.

    500737478_2waJp-L.jpg

    I definitely like the darker sky in this. It does help highlight the lighthouse.

    Thanks again for all your comments.
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited April 14, 2009
    better all aroundthumb.gif

    Very happy you had the goods to deliverwings.gif
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited April 14, 2009
    495269430_iPqnF-M.jpg

    Actually I have no idea what tree this isheadscratch.gif

    The clouds are phenomenal but the trees are too bulky :cry


    You have chosen a great composition
    Your exposure is wonderful
    The colors are right on

    I think the only way to change the focus from the tree to the clouds would be to back off, move away from the trees. Might you have a composition like that?
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 4, 2009
    I have not heard from the previous photographer, and the show must go on!

    I have been wanting to discuss this image.

    495269609_YwsWg-M.jpg

    The light is wonderful.
    The exposure is good, but could be a bit darker in post.
    The point of view is dynamic.
    The conditions are unusual.

    However, the composition is not workingheadscratch.gif

    Do you have others without the log? Even though it is adding some depth, it seams to be getting in the way.

    As I type this the temp is 80+ so I am definitely enjoying viewing the cool ice:D
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2009
    533432528_dy3G2-M.jpg

    Great moodthumb.gif
    Even better composition.
    Exposure looks good allowing time for water movement.
    Timing impeccablewings.gif


    I would like to see the foreground rocks darker. The distant rocks are darker for some reason and stand out, or stop the potential depth. By making the foreground rocks darker than, there could be additional depth.

    The crashing wave on the distant rock, ROCKSclap.gif

  • astockwellastockwell Registered Users Posts: 279 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2009
    533432528_dy3G2-M.jpg

    Great moodthumb.gif
    Even better composition.
    Exposure looks good allowing time for water movement.
    Timing impeccablewings.gif


    I would like to see the foreground rocks darker. The distant rocks are darker for some reason and stand out, or stop the potential depth. By making the foreground rocks darker than, there could be additional depth.

    The crashing wave on the distant rock, ROCKSclap.gif

    Thanks Marc. This really means alot, one coming from you, and two because it took so many mornings out to the same spot to get this shot I had envisioned. The wave action can be either really flat there, or really awesome, the trouble is getting the right sky behind it. The timing is just sitting shooting multiple shots until you get the right wave combo. This one worked perfect, with the wave breaking, and the wave coming into the chute at the same time. You should have seen how many shots I have that look like this, but the timing just wasn't right. Thanks, I really value your comments.

    -Andy
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2009
    This is what I am proposing

    before

    533432528_dy3G2-M.jpg


    with regional adjustments

    539201089_b6a2A-M.jpg

    Here are the two curves with the masks
    539201053_fyXuq-M.jpg

    Curves one is darker, and you can see I included a bit of the sky in the mask at a lower opacity.

    Curves two is lighter, this did not seam to degrade the pixels too bad but at such low resolution I could not really tell.


    In doing this I noticed some blown highlights :cry

    539206589_Y4iFP-S.jpg

    Not the end of the world but would look bad in print as the RGB values were 255 255 255, and that will not print any dot.


    Great image Andy
  • astockwellastockwell Registered Users Posts: 279 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2009
    This is what I am proposing

    before

    533432528_dy3G2-M.jpg


    with regional adjustments

    539201089_b6a2A-M.jpg

    Here are the two curves with the masks
    539201053_fyXuq-M.jpg

    Curves one is darker, and you can see I included a bit of the sky in the mask at a lower opacity.

    Curves two is lighter, this did not seam to degrade the pixels too bad but at such low resolution I could not really tell.


    In doing this I noticed some blown highlights :cry

    539206589_Y4iFP-S.jpg

    Not the end of the world but would look bad in print as the RGB values were 255 255 255, and that will not print any dot.


    Great image Andy

    Thanks again Marc for your comments, and adjustments. I will look at these, and see also if I can pull back the blown highlights. I did learn something from this, to pay a little more attention to pixel values that maybe close to clipped or just clipped when I am looking over the image.

    Thanks Alot,

    Andy
  • astockwellastockwell Registered Users Posts: 279 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2009
    In doing this I noticed some blown highlights :cry

    Marc,

    I took care of the highlights with a levels and curves mask, and brought up the rocks a little. Hopefully I didn't recover the highlights to much. It looked like I may have.

    541393300_Ayc2D-L.jpg

    -Andy
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2009
    Marc,

    I took care of the highlights with a levels and curves mask, and brought up the rocks a little. Hopefully I didn't recover the highlights to much. It looked like I may have.

    -Andy

    Looks like they are within range nowthumb.gif However, the preferred method is to set the highlights and shadows in your first two steps of either Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. This can be done by sliding the particular sliders "Exposure" or "Blacks" while holding down the opt key on a mac or similar on a PC. Once depressing the opt key and clicking the slider button the screen will show only the blown pixels until you move the slider in the opposite direction eliminating the blown pixels. You would end up with either a totally white or black screen. If you already know this, sorry for the redundancyrolleyes1.gif but if not it is really an important step. I do this same step at the very end of some image enhancment cases just to make sure I have not blown it. In this case I use the curves layer palette by holding down the opt key and clicking on the black slider on the bottom left corner of the curves box, and then the same for the highlights.
  • astockwellastockwell Registered Users Posts: 279 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2009
    Looks like they are within range nowthumb.gif However, the preferred method is to set the highlights and shadows in your first two steps of either Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. This can be done by sliding the particular sliders "Exposure" or "Blacks" while holding down the opt key on a mac or similar on a PC. Once depressing the opt key and clicking the slider button the screen will show only the blown pixels until you move the slider in the opposite direction eliminating the blown pixels. You would end up with either a totally white or black screen. If you already know this, sorry for the redundancyrolleyes1.gif but if not it is really an important step. I do this same step at the very end of some image enhancment cases just to make sure I have not blown it. In this case I use the curves layer palette by holding down the opt key and clicking on the black slider on the bottom left corner of the curves box, and then the same for the highlights.

    Thanks Marc, I would have gone back into LR, but didn't want to reprocess the raw. I will maybe attempt it later. Thanks. I appericiate it.

    -Andy
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2009
    539861692_jWMSr-M.jpg


    I am thrilled to see this image of rock artthumb.gif

    This is one of the most difficult subjects to photograph when considering adding a personal style to creating imagery. How do you keep yourself out of the art that already exists?

    Rock art is imagery that was already created, and most often photos of these ancient panels get artsy and lack respect for the context and environment of the subject.

    You have blended the Rabbit Brush with the shaman well.
    The light is soft allowing the brush to blend with the rock art.

    I would like it better with the crack in the rock at the top of the composition cropped out. You might want to make it a square cropping just above the small amount of wood fence showing up through the brush and equal amount on top.

    Have you taken many images of rock art?
  • ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2009


    I am thrilled to see this image of rock artthumb.gif

    This is one of the most difficult subjects to photograph when considering adding a personal style to creating imagery. How do you keep yourself out of the art that already exists?

    Rock art is imagery that was already created, and most often photos of these ancient panels get artsy and lack respect for the context and environment of the subject.

    You have blended the Rabbit Brush with the shaman well.
    The light is soft allowing the brush to blend with the rock art.

    I would like it better with the crack in the rock at the top of the composition cropped out. You might want to make it a square cropping just above the small amount of wood fence showing up through the brush and equal amount on top.

    Have you taken many images of rock art?

    Thanks Marc, I'll try that crop when I get home today .

    By the way, I did edit the bullet holes and the graffiti out of this image, I wanted to show the panel the way it should still look.

    I have taken quite a few rock art images, I'm completely addicted to the stuff. There are a couple caves down near you with some Chumash art that I've been wanting to get to.

    I've also been wanting to check out Little Petroglyph Canyon on the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, ever been there?

    http://www.maturango.org/#Pet
  • ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2009
    Marc I couldn't quite find the crop you were describing, if you get a chance could you show me what you were meaning.

    Here are three other ways I saw it.

    546987837_2ahnW-L.jpg

    546986955_685eT-L.jpg

    546987492_7kAPf-L.jpg
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 27, 2009
    Here is what I am thinking.

    20090527-qtrt1tc3rnwga5np1gj2rw2k3d.jpg


    My father has a few images taken from the Coso Range which I believe he took while on a tour at China Lake. I will see if I can find one to show you, as the figures are amazingwings.gif
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 27, 2009
    Here are some of the figures found in the Coso Range. Check out those frills around the ones headheadscratch.gif

    20090527-b6wcme99ja26satyaniaifkm46.jpg
  • ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited May 27, 2009
    Thanks Marc.

    Those are extremely cool, if only we knew what they meant.. I'm still thinking aliens :D Don't believe me, check out the one on the far left

    547899652_GKXov-L.jpg
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited May 29, 2009
    542081925_PKGk4-M.jpg

    Bold.

    Great light
    Great composition
    Great timing
    Most of all, Great subject!

    The tree has turned into, well lets just say, whatever the viewers imagination will allow:D

    The story of the tree is evident with no clouds, leaving the viewer time to contemplate the figure. I believe clouds would draw too much attention away. I dont know if that was intended but good jobthumb.gif

    There is a chance more space left and right may work better, might you have additional compositions?

    Very interesting image.
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2009
    544065792_juo9z-M.jpg

    I really enjoy this imagethumb.gifthumb

    The exposure is good
    The composition is superb
    The light is good
    The colors appear accurate

    The only complaint is that the bottom seams to be chopped off. I would like to see a tad more snow.

    I believe this works even though the tree is dead center because it is a second read to the red arches. The tree nicely breaks up the rather strong horizontal line through the composition, that could have split the composition.

    You could have shot this in jpeg:D because the light is so goodwings.gif
  • eoren1eoren1 Registered Users Posts: 2,391 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2009
    544065792_juo9z-M.jpg

    I really enjoy this imagethumb.gifthumb

    The exposure is good
    The composition is superb
    The light is good
    The colors appear accurate

    The only complaint is that the bottom seams to be chopped off. I would like to see a tad more snow.

    I believe this works even though the tree is dead center because it is a second read to the red arches. The tree nicely breaks up the rather strong horizontal line through the composition, that could have split the composition.

    You could have shot this in jpeg:D because the light is so goodwings.gif

    Wow Marc!
    Thank you for reviewing this photo and for the very kind wordsbowdown.gif
    I agree about the cut off bottom - this was shot with the 18-55 kit lens and I wasn't able to back up more. Also, I had gotten to the spot after kids had trampled a bit of the snow in front. I'll have to do better next Winter with my new 10-22 lens...
    You're right about the great light. However, it was a good thing I shot in RAW as there was a pink hue from the tree branches that I had to fix in post by selecting all but the red doors and hand rail and desaturating a bit.
    I just printed this to submit to our town's annual art walk and the white mat provided the illusion of more foreground which I was pleased with.
    Hope the local judges have a similar response to this shot.
    Thanks again,
    E
  • VrungelVrungel Registered Users Posts: 139 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2009
    542081925_PKGk4-M.jpg

    Bold.

    Great light
    Great composition
    Great timing
    Most of all, Great subject!

    The tree has turned into, well lets just say, whatever the viewers imagination will allow:D

    The story of the tree is evident with no clouds, leaving the viewer time to contemplate the figure. I believe clouds would draw too much attention away. I dont know if that was intended but good jobthumb.gif

    There is a chance more space left and right may work better, might you have additional compositions?

    Very interesting image.
    Marc, thanks a lot for review and kind words!!
    Your feedback means much to me.

    Here is another composition of the same pine (I also have that in B&W but can't decide which one is better):

    257026234_gMN2v-M.jpg
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited June 4, 2009
    Vrungel wrote:

    257026234_gMN2v-M.jpg
    This is perfect. Very glad you posted this image as it really shows the difference between what would be a normal good shot of a dead tree and something much better, your silhouette version.

    Because the composition changed, it is difficult to compare the effect of the clouds. However, they do distract from the shape of the tree.
    The tree from this angle has little to contemplate compared. In the silhouette, I first thought of Empire Strikes Back, then Alien vs Predatorne_nau.gif Now I see a dead tree.

    It is one of the greater mysteries of photography, that is when the shape of the subject transcends the subject itself and becomes more. I have noticed this in silhouettes occasionally. I don't really have a list of tips for attaining this phenomena but silhouette would be at the top. I believe it has something to do with the lack of detail within the subject. Without detail it is becomes subject to ones imaginationeek7.gif

    Great jobthumb.gif
  • VrungelVrungel Registered Users Posts: 139 Major grins
    edited June 4, 2009
    This is perfect. Very glad you posted this image as it really shows the difference between what would be a normal good shot of a dead tree and something much better, your silhouette version.

    Because the composition changed, it is difficult to compare the effect of the clouds. However, they do distract from the shape of the tree.
    The tree from this angle has little to contemplate compared. In the silhouette, I first thought of Empire Strikes Back, then Alien vs Predatorne_nau.gif Now I see a dead tree.

    It is one of the greater mysteries of photography, that is when the shape of the subject transcends the subject itself and becomes more. I have noticed this in silhouettes occasionally. I don't really have a list of tips for attaining this phenomena but silhouette would be at the top. I believe it has something to do with the lack of detail within the subject. Without detail it is becomes subject to ones imaginationeek7.gif

    Great jobthumb.gif

    yes, I agree, clouds do distract from the tree and lack of details within the subject certainly helps in silhouette case.

    thanks a lot for review !
    :D
  • Marc MuenchMarc Muench Registered Users Posts: 1,420 Major grins
    edited June 8, 2009
    This image could be spectacular, but!

    544066029_4KY8G-L.jpg

    I find two elements distracting me.

    The bright street lamp in the upper left corner
    The composition

    20090608-xbybcbtiu6utaafn4caby1emfx.jpg

    The street lamp might become an issue if you could not position the camera so it is out of frame.
    However, by moving the POV you may solve both the street lamp problem as well as the compositional issue. I have drawn two lines in yellow to exaggerate what I believe are dominant compositional lines distracting from the skyline, reflection and walkway. What I believe would help is to join the three subjects, water, skyline and walkway by breaking up the borders between them "yellow lines" with elements in the frame. Maybe lowering the POV would force the chain up into the skyline a bit breaking up the horizontal line?

    What I like in this image is the exposure and the colors.
  • eoren1eoren1 Registered Users Posts: 2,391 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2009
    This image could be spectacular, but!

    I find two elements distracting me.
    The bright street lamp in the upper left corner
    The composition

    20090608-xbybcbtiu6utaafn4caby1emfx.jpg

    The street lamp might become an issue if you could not position the camera so it is out of frame.
    However, by moving the POV you may solve both the street lamp problem as well as the compositional issue. I have drawn two lines in yellow to exaggerate what I believe are dominant compositional lines distracting from the skyline, reflection and walkway. What I believe would help is to join the three subjects, water, skyline and walkway by breaking up the borders between them "yellow lines" with elements in the frame. Maybe lowering the POV would force the chain up into the skyline a bit breaking up the horizontal line?

    What I like in this image is the exposure and the colors.
    Hi Marc,
    Thanks for the comments/critiques on this shot.
    Regarding repositioning to lose the streetlamp, from this spot, any attempt to remove the lamp would basically involve cropping much of the cobblestoned path. As you can see, the lamps continue along the pathway but I can see about walking in front of this one and judging whether the next point in the curve allows me to keep the skyline the way I want it (note the brighter building with the clock in the back that I was trying to keep in the frame) while removing the very bright distraction.
    The thoughts on lowering the camera are interesting. The alternative may be to go much higher too - not sure I'll be able to pull that off with the tripod as there wasn't anything else to set it on.
    I also realized a bit belatedly that I should have closed down a bit more to try to get more of a 'Muench star' effect from the lights.
    It may be a while before I can get back to this spot but I'll definitely try to get this to be a 'specatular' image.
    Thanks again for a great critique.
    Eyal
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