Back yard shot

lcraft · 18-02-2007, 02:15

I wanted to play with something that made me think warm.

This is a back yard shot. It was 70 degrees warmer the day I took this than it was today. It was kind of hazy down low and the sky was very bright. There was a lot of fog that night.

I was fishing in my pond sitting in the shade of the cedar tree whose branches show up in the foreground. We ate fish wrapped in foil tossed on the grill that night..

I cheated, it really isn't a panorama shot. I cropped a large part of the foreground out of it.

Rob Barron · 18-02-2007, 15:37

It looks like a lovely scene and I have no problem at all with the composition and letterbox proportions. It just seems very dark which I am certain that day wasn't unless this was taken when the sun had dropped below the surrounding trees and things and we don't have a lot of light left in our main area.

You said you cropped off a lot of FG but did you crop the sky as well? I'd like a bit more of that here to lighten the picture overall and to let us see the whole of the near trees just across the water and give the image a sense of completion.

Is it as dark on everyone else's monitor or does mine need a major recalibration? I am guessing it is just under-exposed in the land areas as the sky is spot on.

Cheers,
Rob

**Dabhand16** · 18-02-2007, 15:43

I'm getting dark too, Rob. Like you, I'd like to see a little more sky to reveal the top of the tree on the LHS.

skipper954 · 18-02-2007, 16:25

Dark here too. I agree with the crop.

This is one of those classic examples of a shot with a huge variation in brightness, and the camera can't expose well. It cries out for a tripod and/or expanded dynamic range manipulation.

skip

nichpr · 18-02-2007, 16:57

I'm gona guess that there was a great deal of sky in the frame and the camera metered for the sky leaving the trees a bit dark. If so, this is a good learning opportunity for the use of selective metering, exposure lock etc.
- Paul

lcraft · 18-02-2007, 17:06

In the original the sky was extremely bright, I adjusted the exposure afterwards to pop the sky. Later today I will grab the original file and show what I started with.

Heh right now I have a very insistent 5 year old showing me in painstaking detail how each of his toy planes and helicopters crashes and rescues one another. I get in a half word in between a tap to the arm and him saying "dad..."

**Dabhand16** · 18-02-2007, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcraft

Heh right now I have a very insistent 5 year old showing me in painstaking detail how each of his toy planes and helicopters crashes and rescues one another. I get in a half word in between a tap to the arm and him saying "dad..."

No contest.......

MALY · 18-02-2007, 17:16

dark? nothing a lil photoshop can't fix.

Rob Barron · 18-02-2007, 17:59

True MALY but it's worth a little reminder for people that some people are happy for others to adjust their pictures for them and some are not and that should always be respected. So, if a person has the 'Image-Edit' logo with a little tick on it in the section underneath their name, they are letting others know that we can have a little play and brighten pictures, clone things out, recrop, etc. but if they don't have this logo showing, and lcraft does not, then we respect that person's wishes and do not make adjustments without their consent

In this case, I have already had a private play with it and it is a beautiful picture once adjusted but I shall not be posting it unless or until Loyd says he wants us to

Cheers,
Rob

lcraft · 18-02-2007, 19:53

I didn't realize there was a setting to say go ahead and do edits.

By all means, go for it.

**Dabhand16** · 18-02-2007, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcraft

I didn't realize there was a setting to say go ahead and do edits.

By all means, go for it.

Hi there, Icraft. If you go the your user control panel (user CP on the left hand side of the forums banner at the top of the forums) and select 'edit profile', scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a check box to give/deny permission to edit images.

Check this box and save the changes, and viola! You will find people will not only suggest things, but will be able to show you what they meant too.

lcraft · 18-02-2007, 20:44

The twice aforementioned box has been checked now.

**Angela** · 18-02-2007, 20:48

I quite like this and don't think it's too dark...but then if I see a lighter version I will possibly see what it is you're all talking about! I would like to see the top of the second tree in from the left though, without that it just looks "cropped", if you see what I mean! that would also give a bit more sky which I think would balance the shot out better.

18-02-2007, 21:04	#14 (permalink)
Dabhand16 Pixalo Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Dunstable Bedfordshire UK Posts: 11,019