TheScottishSpotter's Photography Topic! *Update : 10/07/09 !*

[The Queen]

Thanks for the tips Mb. Yeah I agree with the grass actually, looking again, maybe it should be toned down a little.

 

I must say though I didn't realise you could see the curviture of the earth, until you mentioned it. ;)

 

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Ok I tried doing what you suggested Mb and heres the result. ;)

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/ArbroathCliffs1small3.jpg

[Car Freak]

ohhh. i rarely post process any of my images, except for the ones i really like. well i can't atm as my laptop is dead and i'm using my sister's laptop which doesn't have PS. :p

Use http://www.picnik.com - I can't be bothered with PS either so I use that instead

 

You should when you get a chance. I never used to do any post processing but now I do it with nearly every image I upload on the net. It has made a huge difference!

Same here

 

And about your photo, i agree about the grass, but IMO the people should remain in the shot because they add a bit of, er, interest to the shot. Can't find the exact word at the moment... Also, maybe you should up the colour temperature a bit? Slightly too cold as it is

[KoenigseggBG]

Ok I tried doing what you suggested Mb and heres the result. ;)

That looks so smooth. I love the view aswell and that the horizon is like no-ending. You can also remove that black boat on upper right if you want. ;)

[Mb]

Couldn't resist to do a little edit :p

 

 

What did i do:

- Took away some of the green

- I let the see and air as blue as it was, looks awesome imo.

- Deleted people

- Took away boat

- Aligned the horizon.

[Iced_Bullet]

If anything I'd say you made the horizon wonky, when you look at the overall change, I think that part was fine originally :)

[The Queen]

I don't actually see any change in the horizon but I do like how you have taken away the people and the boat as it gives a sense of being alone with nobody else around. Nice edit Mb!

[Iced_Bullet]

View the 2 images in seprate tabs to compare the horizons :)

[The Queen]

Ah yes I see it now. I actually lined up the horizon so it was straight in the first place by placing the photo on a new canvas and lining the horizon with the edge of the canvas, but obviously I have made a mess of it. :p

[Iced_Bullet]

If you look here, you will see you did the horizon correctly originally (and didn't make a mess ;)) :)

 

Clickeh:

[Speedtouch]

TSS's first edit simply took out saturation, making it look bland, and Mb's edit just doesn't look as good - the sea has been made more blue, which doesn't really work when you have removed some of the green.

I also feel that the people and boat added a little bit of detail to otherwise a fairly [i don't want to use the word ordinary here, but you get the idea] picture. It does work without the people, as they are on the land, but I think the boat should be left in.

And indeed Mb - what did you align the horizon with exactly?

 

For me, the original is the best one here.

[The Queen]

Hm... I'm stuck then as I like a bit of every edit and I also like the original with the people.

 

I suppose it all boils down to taste and if you like the people and boat then thats what you like but others may not like this.

 

Anyway moving on to the next image. :p

 

I thought I would try something a bit different. I'm not usually one for taking photo's of trucks but this one was in the right place at the right time and it was one of my favourite liveries so couldn't miss out on the opportunity.

I have selectively coloured this image for several reasons. The audi to the left was a bright blue colour and that was distracting to the eye so had to somehow lose the vibrance of the colour without cloning it out as that wouldn't have worked. I wanted to also make the viewers attention more focused on the truck than anything else.

 

Some of the parts of buildings I had to clone out also as I wanted a good crop and this was the only way I could do so and I also blurred the background a little to make the truck pop out from everything else around so that you could see the truck was the main focus object in the image and I think I have managed this quite well.

 

#10 - Innovate Logistics Lorry, passing through Perth City Centre.

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/IMG_4488edit7small.jpg

 

As always comments and crits welcome. I'm interested to see the responses to this as it's not something you take a photo of every day and it's a bit "different" shall we say, so yeah. ;)

[KoenigseggBG]

Hmm, let`s say the colours are kinda confusing. The bright colours (orange and blue) on the truck imo contrast a bit too much with the background. Plus, the background looks a bit blurred for me, dunno if it`s meant to be. ;)

[Speedtouch]

First things first, never ever use any kind of photoshop blur to 'bring out' a subject. It just makes the photo look weird. You've done more than enough to bring out the lorry by making the background B&W, which I'm not a fan of either - try boosting the reds in the original photo to bring out the orange, without having to remove all the other colours (depends obviously on what the bg colours were, but try it out).

The problem with these is that it looks like you photoshopped the lorry in - so it doesn't quite work IMO. But other than that nice composition and set out!

[Iced_Bullet]

Either of you think that the lorry may have been moving and he did a slight moving of the camera to keep the truck sharp, like your PhotW entry (Spedtouch)?

[Speedtouch]

^ Nah I think the lorry would be moving too slowly for that to have any effect - its clear that the background blurring is PS blur, and not real.

[Mb]

Mate, i didn't change the sea.. :lol:

[Speed]

The problem with these is that it looks like you photoshopped the lorry in - so it doesn't quite work IMO.

 

Exactly what I thought, maybe upload the original version, in full colour, so we can compare :)

[The Queen]

Ok thanks for the comments everyone. Not gonna quote them individually. I have spent like half an hour in photoshop doing some more edits and I have another two which incorporate the ideas which people have said.

 

The first one is with no blurred background and still has the B&W background as I think it really does suit the shot.

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/IMG_4488edit9small.jpg

 

The second is with no blurred background but still has the original background and have saturated the colours on the truck to make it stand out a bit. Not too fond of this though.

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/IMG_4488edit11.jpg

[Baltoman]

That Audi is not that bright. Why don't you just change the audi to a darker color?

[The Queen]

Right next photo. Taken today so fresh from the camera.

 

Lovely SL55 AMG spotted, parked up today in St Andrews when I had a wander around so couldn't help myself from taking a photo!

I think I did well, the photo is sharp, I like the crop, the rear lights really stand out and like the overall composition.

 

#11 - Mercedes SL55 AMG parked up, St Andrews.

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/IMG_9523edit3smalllogo1tsspt.jpg

 

As always comments and crits welcomed. ;)

[Speedtouch]

I would try and darken the background a bit (maybe play with the curves or select it separately and turn down the exposure), and also re-do the numberplate to make it look more realistic - it needs to look like its just a blank numberplate, rather than blanked out.

 

But everything else is damn perfect for my liking :)

[CarMadMike]

I love it, But the only negative i can think of are the cars to the right of the image, they kind of make that side of the car a lot darker than the rest of the image :)...... Though thats something that cant be edited in PS

[The Queen]

Thanks for the comments Davey. About the background, yeah I could probably darken it, will maybe do an edit and post it up early tomorrow as I don't have time to do it now.

 

Yeah I suppose the plate needs redoing but it's not too bad imo.

 

I love it, But the only negative i can think of are the cars to the right of the image, they kind of make that side of the car a lot darker than the rest of the image ...... Though thats something that cant be edited in PS

 

Not too sure on this. I quite like the shadow effect this gives on the image without the car being the same brightness all around.

[HighlineDSG]

uhm, My conclusion of your photos are that they are absolutely magnificent! and the way you fix them makes them absolutely beautiful! :)

[a nugget]

i agree with Speedtouch, the background is a bit overexposed. But other than that, it's an amazing photo, good job!