I took this a couple weeks ago and was intrigued by the shadows. Looking at the fascinating photos on 365 with these shadows I have learned that this technique is called "low key." Am I correct? I've been working with this photo on and off in Photoshop trying to get a dramatic contrast. (Though I hope that that doesn't qualify me as a drama queen, just the photo!) I used a small tri-pod and cropped quite a bit. I think that I like it for a first try. I love the new stuff that I keep learning here!
Nice shot. very nice low key. I would try converting it to black and white in photoshop too and then adjust the reds and yellows up slightly to make it more dramatic. Low key always looks really good in b&w I think. I took a shot of a friend of mine and the lack of colour takes away from the grainyness too. Would love to see a b&w image of this. Great job. Always good to play with photos.
@onewing The graininess was a disappointment with this one; I tried the black and white during my editing but the graininess was still pronounced. I'll try again and take a second look at the reds and yellows. I wondered if the cropping affected it because I cropped a lot of the background out or if it was the settings that caused it. I'm thinking that it probably has to do with the settings that I used. The odd thing is that it wasn't as grainy as this in Photoshop. I've also noticed that photos that don't seem too blurred in Photoshop seem more blurred when I upload them on 365. I'm not experienced enough to know why but I'll just have to keep practicing. Thank you for your suggestions and kind comments. I'd like to upload the B & W just to show it to you but it isn't very good and I'm somewhat reluctant. I got some good practice with the contrast processing however and I'm pleased with that.
@april16 I think the difference from your screen to 365 is probably because you have saved it as a low quality file. I have checked out the exif data and it says it is saved as 198 kb which probably means you have saved it low quality. I usually reduce the file to 1000 pixels on the long edge and then make sure the quality is at maximum (usually 12) the maximum box is visible and the slider is at the large file end of the range. Format baseline standard. That usually gives a file of about 500 kb which is fine for downloading to 365. Hope that helps. When you save it though always do 'save as' instead of just 'save' and then call it by a different name or you will lose your original.
Hope you don't mind I copied your photo and had a play with it too in Photoshop and it looks quite reasonable considering the size of the file to start with. When you play again with this photo start with your original copy and go from there again. Good luck hope this helps. I am learning too so every little helps. At least I can see now when I am going wrong even though I don't always know how to get it right. ha ha.
@onewing Thank you so much. The first thing that I'm going to do is take a look at the "save" dialogue box which is what I think that you are referring to and see if I can take it from there. I'm not totally understanding everything here so I hope it's alright if I have more questions along the way. Thank you again!
A great first try April. Keep trying & learning. I like you am learning a lot and really enjoying the experience. There are a lot of helpful members on 365.
@amandal Thank you, Amanda! I like this one but it is very grainy. Maybe because it was dark, so that I could get the shadows, but the dark made it grainy, turn on the light, then I lose the shadows, turn off the light, but then it's grainy, AAHHH ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? Don't know about the shot/sleeveface selfies--I will think about it. I liked yours! Thank you for the encouragement!
May 22nd, 2014
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My low key are always very grainy, but i like it too...
Hope you don't mind I copied your photo and had a play with it too in Photoshop and it looks quite reasonable considering the size of the file to start with. When you play again with this photo start with your original copy and go from there again. Good luck hope this helps. I am learning too so every little helps. At least I can see now when I am going wrong even though I don't always know how to get it right. ha ha.