Row of condos taken late afternoon

[wrdgirl]

Hi!

I posted this picture in the current assignment forum. I'm posting it here because I am in need of feedback.

I can't seem to capture the lighting properly. The photo looks a bit boring and grey. I even tried editing in LR3 but I run into the risk of over contrasting or too grey. What could I have changed in my settings if I am to use the equipment that I used to shoot this photo?

Thanks!!

EXIF Info:

Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
f/5
1/500s
ISO-100
Exposure 0-step
24mm
Max aperture 3
Metering Partial
No flash

[RichardTaylor]

I feel for a subject like this shooting around f8-f11 would give you a bit more depth of field.
Are the walls or trim cream or white?
If they are white you may want to adjust the white balance.

Other than that it looks ok, especially considering the light.

I wonder how it would look shot in more flattering light?

[Weird Girl]

I think it would be less grey and boring if you try to capture it when the sun is slightly hitting the front of them. Looks like maybe early morning would be best?

If you want to try to save this image though, I would try bumping the vibrancy up to maybe 7, change it from linear to medium contrast, maybe take down the blue slightly to create a more interesting sky- if you feel it makes the clouds too grey- you can use the exposure brush to go over them. You could also try moving the lights slider up a tad, maybe the darks slider down just by 2-3, and the shadows slider up a bit until it looks good to you.

I watched a few LR3 tutorials the other day that really helped me out. Also, if you hit Y on your keyboard, it will give you a before and after view which has really helped me be able to see if anything looks off to me.

Would love to see what you come up with!

[Hill Country Hack]

I agree with the previous posters. The focus seems a bit soft. It most likely is due to shallower DOF with the f5. Shoot in better time of day.

In LR, you can try upping the clarity. I used to utilize the contrast slider a lot. I've switched around and now use the clarity slider more and just a bump of contrast (usually no more than 30). Thanks to Big Fuzzy for that tip.

Adjust the f stop, utilize Hyperfocal Distance – Photographer’s Friend and shoot in more flattering light (blue and golden hours)

[wrdgirl]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

I feel for a subject like this shooting around f8-f11 would give you a bit more depth of field.
Are the walls or trim cream or white?
If they are white you may want to adjust the white balance.

Other than that it looks ok, especially considering the light.

I wonder how it would look shot in more flattering light?

Thank you for the feedback!

The sidings are actually cream colored but the original shot was much "greyer" that I had to edit to bring out the color. Unfortunately it brought too much of the brown part of the building out.

[wrdgirl]

Originally Posted by Weird Girl

I think it would be less grey and boring if you try to capture it when the sun is slightly hitting the front of them. Looks like maybe early morning would be best?

If you want to try to save this image though, I would try bumping the vibrancy up to maybe 7, change it from linear to medium contrast, maybe take down the blue slightly to create a more interesting sky- if you feel it makes the clouds too grey- you can use the exposure brush to go over them. You could also try moving the lights slider up a tad, maybe the darks slider down just by 2-3, and the shadows slider up a bit until it looks good to you.

I watched a few LR3 tutorials the other day that really helped me out. Also, if you hit Y on your keyboard, it will give you a before and after view which has really helped me be able to see if anything looks off to me.

Would love to see what you come up with!

Hmm maybe the lighting could be it. The reason why I shot it at that hour was really a spurt of the moment because the sky looked really pretty at the time but unfortunately the lighting is not ideal to make the condos "pop".

[wrdgirl]

Originally Posted by Hill Country Hack

I agree with the previous posters. The focus seems a bit soft. It most likely is due to shallower DOF with the f5. Shoot in better time of day.

In LR, you can try upping the clarity. I used to utilize the contrast slider a lot. I've switched around and now use the clarity slider more and just a bump of contrast (usually no more than 30). Thanks to Big Fuzzy for that tip.

Adjust the f stop, utilize Hyperfocal Distance – Photographer’s Friend and shoot in more flattering light (blue and golden hours)

I shot at f/5 because I wanted to capture more of the light. I think I will up the f-stop number next time and see how the photo looks after post-processing.

It's really hard to shoot at other times of the day because that's the time when the clouds look pretty LOL I didn't know how to make the sky look good without discounting the quality of the condos...