Four Corners School

[EOBeav]

Is the foreground/subject in this too dark? Rationale for doing it this way: At sundown, objects naturally look a little darker than the sky. Also, any other comments/suggestions/questions you have pertaining to this image are welcome. Thanks in advance.



EXIF:
Camera: Canon 450D (XSi)
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L
Focal length: 17mm
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/6

[SwissJon]

Just a little.. It's an interesting subject, but part of the interest is in the complextities of the details. Bumping up the mid range should help, but here we see again the place where an ND Grad would have come useful.

It has been suggested to me that with significant subjects, you might want to put the sunset directly behind them.. It looks as though there is the ability to see all the way through this building from certain angles.. I wonder if you couldn't make something out of that?

Nice to see you're out and about with the camera

[troutwhisperer]

Like the subject and composition of the photo but think the school should be lightened up.


SwissJon, In this case how would you suggest orientating the ND Grad? If placed on or near the horizon would it have too much impact on the school making the upper portion of that building too dark? Should the filter be adjusted to run diaginally across the picture where the sunset is located? I am just starting to learn about filters so your thoughts will be appreciated

[dvtldav]

Fill flash in LR might lighten up the school and not affect the sky. Just a thought.

Dave

[Krusty79]

I used to be able to see your images when you started a thread, now I can't

[Krusty79]

Ok, got your PM. I thought the school looked dark also. Isn't the weathering of the building your subject? If so, I'd like to be able to see it in better detail. Too bad there wasn't a tattered flag hanging from the flagpole to enhance the feel. I don't have Lightroom, but I'm interested to see how the fill flash effect works.

An ND grad would be tough to use here. I don't see how you could use it without darkening the building further.

[EOBeav]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Bumping up the mid range should help, but here we see again the place where an ND Grad would have come useful.

I know people use the GND's all the time with good results, but I'm still on the fence. I still worry about objects in the foreground that stick up into the sky being too dark in the image.

It has been suggested to me that with significant subjects, you might want to put the sunset directly behind them.. It looks as though there is the ability to see all the way through this building from certain angles.. I wonder if you couldn't make something out of that?

This was just one angle I shot last evening. The next shot I post for critique will feature the sun in a more creative perspective. :-)

Nice to see you're out and about with the camera

Thanks; me too. It's cheap therapy.

[SwissJon]

I'd put a hard NDGrad horizontally at horizon level. Your camera can handle the darker subject, which you can then lighten up with the D/B brush in LR or PS in PP. ((Sheesh, that's a lot of acronyms!)

The point is not to lighten the foreground, but to make the sky a similar light intensity to the foreground and avoid the burned out area near the sunset. You can sort the line accross the subjetc out in PP easily because it will take a predictable path. As it is, your camera took an over all average, and you ended up with a burned out area and an under exposed foreground. Because the sky is quite dark towards the top, the other alternative would be to use a reverse ND Grad, but you might find that more difficult to sort out in PP.

I have neither an ND Grad or a reverse one at the moment, I'm just talking from what I've seen other people do.

[troutwhisperer]

Thanks for the input SwissJon, appreciated

[dvtldav]

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I don't have Lightroom, but I'm interested to see how the fill flash effect works.

EOBeav
I hope you don't mind that I took your photo and made some adjustments to it in LR3. If you want me to remove it let me know & I will and I understand but Krusty79 wanted to see what adding fill light would do.


Here is what I did in LR3:
WB +8 on Temperature to remove a little blue tint
Recovery: 76
Fill Light: 45
Clarity: +40
Contrast: +10




Dave