man and dog on rr-tracks

[geotography]

I know it lacks something...abit hazy. I am lukewarm to the take. I was here taking shots of the train and the man and the dog just happened to pass by...so it was a quick reactionary shot. Well, I thought it would be good to study. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[xxpinballxx]

i think the composition is a great and love the converging lines going diagonal and then back into the frame. I think this would be a great submission for our What Would you do thread. A fun pic to play around with.
I think its lacking interest for the most part. A bit drab in the sky which i know is impossible to catch a dramatic sky every time. I think maybe a bit of cooling the shot down and maybe even a different sky altogether. Might fair well to give it a vintage look and vignetting since the eyes seem to roll of the edges. Mind if I play around with it a bit?

[geotography]

No, I do not mind. I would like to hear back on your treatment so that I can learn from you. Thanks for your encouragement and feedback.

[Sid]

Geo your photos always have such potential, the biggest tip I can give you is to learn some imagine editing software.

As per my e.g. below.

[xxpinballxx]

Sid, great post work! I really like the feel you've added to it and the fact now it has focus.
I haven't played with it yet but will post it here afterwards Geo but Sid's post is an example of how a few tweaks and a bit time can totally change an image.

[geotography]

Fellas,

You have both inspired me...Sid, I appreciate your post work; and xxpinballxx, I will look forward to seeing yours as well. With my own hand and the tools that I presently have at my disposal, I needed to experience the tweaks. I know it is far from being what it could be but it is a start. I enjoy it lighter/warmer and I particularly want the structure to be in view because I believe that it is in the man's eye as he walks the track. So Sid, your work has helped me to see how one can tweak. As people a third my age would have said a few years ago, you rock! I still say that.
Talk soon.

[Nathan deGargoyle]

That's cheating geo. you've made the changes and edited your posts! But then again, rules were made to be bent/broken.

Anyway, your first version was good on the subjwects but poor on th background. Basicaly you had too much in focus, too small aperture. And your sky was losy.

had a play and got

[jujitsu1]

Had alittle edit of the pix above and came up with this . Hope you dont mind

[FocalFrenzy]

I don't know if you have any editing programs besides Picasa, so I only used it. I did a slight crop to downsize the overcast sky. I went to the "Effects" tab and chose "Tint". I picked a color in the warmer range, to match a rainy autumn afternoon, because you mentioned liking the shot warmer. I then used the slider bar to bring the original color back up in the image. That allowed the tint to only affect the sky and areas of highlight, as in the shoulders of the mans' jacket. I then applied the "Soft Focus" option from the effects tab. You can adjust the size and intensity of the outer blur. I don't know if this helps you any, but it shows you some of the options available to you. Good luck with your future edits.

[KathrynWilson]

Personally I think Sid's play with the sky cropped right out is by far the nicest. Takes out the snapshotty look.