Black and White Bridge

[jcarp]

First of all, I am brand new to DPS so forgive me if this isn't how things are done. I love photography and have just recently gotten back into it. I have grown a passion for black and whites. This is one that i took of a bridge in a suburb of Chicago. I added a sky for effect.
Shutter 1/40
Aperture f4.0
ISO 100
Camera EOS Digital Rebel XT
Taken in RAW
I don't know much about photography or photoshop, and this is just a product of what I've tried to learn online. If you could give me any critiques I would greatly appreciate it. I want to add a vignette but I don't know if it would make the sky too dark. Thanks for any input that you have

[windrider86]

a vingette would bring more emphasis to the middle. Which in my opinion wouldnt be bad thing. if kept very subtle.
The sky added reminds me of fire more than a sky but really cant decide if i like it or not. leaning more towrsd the like it than not.
please take care to only one post one image in the critique section per 24 hour period

[Visions]

I find your image very dramatic and commend you on your approach - most people would see the bridge rather than the details. What does worry me a bit about your picture is that the eye is drawn into the very centre of the image to a plain featureless rectangle. I like the dramatic sky and the strong lines of the bridge but call me old fashioned but I actually like a picture to lead my eye to something special. What did you feel was the focal point?
AJ

[jcarp]

AJ,
thank you for your response, and I definitely see what you are talking about how the metal rectangle is the focal point. I'm so new at this that I just took a picture of a bridge and decided to mess with it in photoshop. What I really wanted to bring out was the details. I don't know if this is an appropriate focal point or if it needs to be a specific region of the picture. Thank you for your critique, and how would you go about downplaying the rectangle so that it is not the focal point. I adjusted it a little bit what do you think?
Justin



-I find your image very dramatic and commend you on your approach - most people would see the bridge rather than the details. What does worry me a bit about your picture is that the eye is drawn into the very centre of the image to a plain featureless rectangle. I like the dramatic sky and the strong lines of the bridge but call me old fashioned but I actually like a picture to lead my eye to something special. What did you feel was the focal point?
AJ

[Visions]

What I really wanted to bring out was the details. I don't know if this is an appropriate focal point or if it needs to be a specific region of the picture. ......
how would you go about downplaying the rectangle so that it is not the focal point. I adjusted it a little bit what do you think?
Justin

As you are playing in Photoshop to change your picture to how you like it, you can also modify the things that are spoiling the overall image.
I have just copied your picture and very quickly worked on it in Photoshop. I have done almost nothing at all but by giving that rectangle some texture and also some toning it has made the difference so that now your eyes will flow all over the bridge and those spans (I like the way you increased the brightness on the left span) now take the eyes up to that dramatic sky.

Now to tell you how I textured that metal plate.
With the polygonal lasso tool (hidden under the regular lasso) I drew a shape down the same span the plate is bolted to that I felt would be the same size as the plate. So I created a rectangle shape on the lower part of the span. With me so far?
Then I held down Ctr while hitting the J key to copy and paste. This put the shape onto a new layer.
I dragged the shape up to cover the plate. The shape I had drawn was a bit larger than the shape it was to cover but that was OK.
In the layers palette I changed the blending mode to Multiply and reduced the opacity to about 45%
The eraser was used to remove the excess from the rectangle I had made into a layer.
Then the whole was flattened and now you see it.
AJ

[ingulita]

Visions - your 'texture' fix is really so effective. I'm not sure how you did it though, i can't get hang of lasso tool at all!! Could you recommend any online tutorials how to use it??

scarp - congratulations, I love the end result!

[Visions]

Originally Posted by ingulita

Visions - your 'texture' fix is really so effective. I'm not sure how you did it though, i can't get hang of lasso tool at all!! Could you recommend any online tutorials how to use it??

scarp - congratulations, I love the end result!

I am so sorry, ingulita I did not return to this thread so unintentionally ignored you. You DO have Photoshop? I know it is quite a complex program but once you have overcome your initial fright at all the buttons and stuff and start to experiment you will find that it is not such a bad program after all! This is how I have learned - and am still learning.
I am afraid I cannot put my finger on a video tutorial on the web for you but once you learn just a little something about the lasso tool you should be able to follow the steps I mentioned in that last mail.
Take a look at the tool box down the left side of your Photoshop screen. Some of the tools have a little arrow down in the right hand corner. This indicates that there are alternative tools hidden below. Hold down any of those tool and see what happens.
When you slide your curser over to one of the other listed tools and left click, that new tool will replace the original in the tool bar (but the original will be back in place when you next start Photoshop)
Under the regular Lasso tool - which will give you freehand selections - are the Polygonal lasso and the Magnetic lasso. Both are very useful indeed. I chose the Polygonal lasso because it allowed me to draw a shape with straight lines. All you have to do is click and release, move to another location and click to make and end to the first line, move over to another place and click to anchor the next straight line.
Take a look at the texture on that metal plate in the picture. Can you see a wood knot? That will give you a clue as to where I drew the shape. I could have drawn my shape on any part of the structure.
Once it has been drawn (I hope you will try this) - only takes five clicks to draw a closed rectangle, Hold down the Ctrl key and press J. This is the quick way of telling the program to copy and paste. Now the shape you have drawn is on a new layer over the top of the original.
The shape can be rotated so that it is in the same orientation as the object it is to cover.
To do this hold down Ctrl while hitting the T key (quicker than going through the menu) A box with nodes will surround your selection and by hovering the mouse just outside one of the corners and getting a curved double ended arrow you can rotate this selection so that it is matching the shape it is to cover.
When it looks right hit the Enter key on the keyboard.
Use the cursor to drag the shape over the top of the metal plate.
In the layers palette over on the right you can see the background and what looks to be a transparent layer above it - this is the layer with the cutout in it. With this layer selected click on the blending options - at the moment it has "Normal" written there. Go though all those options and see what happens,
The other thing you will need to do is to change the opacity - that option is to the right of the blending options.
Finally, of course. the picture must be flattened before it can be saved as a jpg image.
You do not need a visual tutorial to follow these instructions. Copy my instructions and paste them into a Word document and print them out. Have them beside you as you play with your picture and see if you too can make a featureless plate into a textured one.
Good luck - (Let me know how you get on!)
AJ

[ingulita]

Hi Vision, thank you for your note!

I've got photoshop elments and it does have losso tools.
I understood most of the instructions, only thing i'm not sure is which part you copied form, that's what you did, didn't you, you coppied a wood plate form one of the panels and put on top of overexposed plate?
I'll have to try, i didn't think it could give such a "natural" result, so did you leave belnding mode of layers normal?

Thanks again!
It requires so much time to play around in photoshop, I'll try it out at my next 'my time'

[Visions]

Originally Posted by ingulita

Hi Vision, thank you for your note!

I've got photoshop elments and it does have losso tools.
I understood most of the instructions, only thing i'm not sure is which part you copied form, that's what you did, didn't you, you coppied a wood plate form one of the panels and put on top of overexposed plate?
I'll have to try, i didn't think it could give such a "natural" result, so did you leave belnding mode of layers normal?

Thanks again!
It requires so much time to play around in photoshop, I'll try it out at my next 'my time'

Good to see you are having a go! I have created a little image from the bottom right side of the picture to show where the rectangle shape was taken.

I have Elements on my computer so that I can help out a friend - so if you run into problems with the program just let me know and I will see if I can help.
You asked if I left the blending mode to Normal, "No", is the quick answer! Click on "Normal" and a heap of options is shown. Use Multiply when you need to combine really light things to make them combine to make things darker (good for over-exposed images) If your image is really dark or a subject in your picture is really dark - backlighting causes this - select and Ctr + J then use "Screen" - again and again if necessary.
But I digress!
For the copy of the timber, drag it over the metal plate, (use the move tool)
Change the blending mode to Multiply
Now reduce the Opacity (also in the Layers palette) to around 45%
If any of the rectangle extends past the metal plate, erase it. Zoom right in to see what you are doing first.
Have fun!
AJ

[ingulita]

thank you vision, i'll try this technique