[nichpr]

Found this fern this morning. Loved the simplicity of the composition and it seemed to be reaching out for a hug......
Looking forward to your comments.
- Paul

[skipper954]

Hi Paul

I really like the composition here. The strong diagonals. The contrast between the curved fern and it's small leaves and the bg leaves. It works really well.

What am not really happy with is that it is all green. And it seems a bit flat. Perhaps a touch of levels would help.

But again, I absolutely think the composition is a winner.

skip

[nichpr]

Skip, I've started shooting RAW over the past few weeks after your comment about the lighting temp on the piglets shot. I opened this shot in Adobe Camera Raw and adjusted the exposure and contrast sliders and thought that, if done properly, that would make further levels adjustment in PS unnecessary. BTW, I use your tutorial on ACR - turning down the saturation before adjusting the exposure.

As I am new to this RAW thing, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
- Paul

[skipper954]

Hi Paul

Generally those changes in Cam Raw help a great deal, and perhaps what I as seeing is a result of compression for submission. Use cs2 to save for web, make longest side of image 800pix and the size just under 200. There is a tutorial somewhere on pixalo explaining this.

In ACR, you can adjust the black and white points using curves and get similar results to levels. But I find that I do have to fine tune the images in ps.

When I adjust the right hand sliders in the unsaturated image, I look at both the histogram and the image to decide where to stop. And then with the color back I sometimes tweak that as well. There is not always a fast easy answer!

I did do a slight adjustment in levels. Hope you think it is an improvement.

Note, the adjustment was so slight that when I posted it, even though it looked better on my screen, there was no discernable change here. So perhaps what I am seeing is mostly the result of compression. And I deleted the pimp.

skip

[Markulous]

Yeah, is just a touch flat and levels adjustment would sort but is a lovely image nonethless!

[b.van_der_dylan]

This shot has a lot of great detail in it . I like the alternate arrangement of the blades. Not worried about the green , to me that is what a fern is all about. A real foliage plant and your shot is a fine tribute to it.

[fionaB]

lovely detail and composition, like the others have said a tad flat but nothing that a curves tweak or perhaps another layer done in overlay blend then brought down in opacity? ust a thought.

Fi

[JMitchell]

Nice contrast between the curved fern leaves and the straight lines. Maybe a touch more contrast would help, but not a big issue for me...

[Rob Barron]

I'm going to disagree with the concensus here Paul, I love this shot and don't find it too flat. Yes it could have the contrast increased but I honestly don't feel it needs it. The slight sofntess in the lighting complements the whole image so doesn't really need a lot of contrast. It's a cracking composition and the colour is excellent. I know others might disagree but I'll say what I honestly think: leave it as it is and enjoy it

Cheers,
Rob

[nichpr]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I learn something with each posting - here, I tried several different techniques for increasing contrast:
Fiona, your suggestion on the new layer with overlay blending, varying the opacity was an interesting new option that I will use again. I think I can see how it might produce different results in different circumstances and seems like one that is the most adjustable. I also tried reapplying a bit stronger curves adjustment and finally, the straightforward brightness/contrast adjustment - all 3 produced similar results.
Thanks again, your comments were helpful.
- Paul

[BityBabyNurse]

Wow, thats the prettiest fern I've ever seen. nice saturation. love the curls on the top edges of the fern. Well Done!

[bonniedidit]

Paul - I find myself wondering if you arranged the fern on the other leaves to arrive at this composition. While I can see why you'd get comments about it being "flat", in my mind the lower contrast tells a softer, gentler story.