What was I thinking? First time shooting raw, and first time really playing in lightroom - and i don't know a thing about either! Definitely fun to mess with the sliders, tho'!
A note about colour - there's been some interesting discussion threads on colour vs. b&w especially for street / urban shots... I have been looking for colour as a result, and mostly not finding it... here, our sky tends to be faded blue, or white... houses are desaturated colours and architecture is black and glass... the only real colour is the green foliage, and I find that gets old quite quickly... black and white seems to breathe life into things that would otherwise look rather dull... I was determined on "colour" for today, but in the end used the lightroom "yesteryear" preset... and so it goes...
I'm always open to constructive criticsm, but would particularly like it on the above... at some point I'd like to pull off a shot like this that is good... and of course, any pointers for things I could have done in Lightroom would be most helpful...
As always, I really appreciate all the views and comments on my pictures... it's what keeps me going :)
Mmmmm, I like the yesteryear.
I should give light room a whirl. There are no presets in PSE 10, only the sliders.
I tried a streetshot the other day and personally I liked the desaturated color I used as I felt color was too strong and B&W just meh. I think It really depends on the shot. I like the muted colors here too.
I like this processing and the composition here - and I have similar problems with the grey/beige buildings and often a washed out sky - which is why so much of my street stuff is in black and white too. It's really not helped by people wearing so many drab colours. When we were doing Maisel I was lurking by the only brightly coloured building in town hoping for someone colourful to walk past
You're one step ahead of me (or, more likely, five or six steps). Did you buy LR or start with a trial subscription? I think I'm going to ask for a photography-related course for my birthday that's coming up. I have so much to learn.
I'm not sure about the non-colour colours in this shot. I think it would have been better in B&W but that's personal preference. I like all the details of the boarding, brickwork and fencing but I think possibly these would also have been brought out more with B&W. How did you find shooting in RAW? I'm still being a bit of a scaredy cat about it as I don't have any proper editing software xx
I like all the lines and angles in this. I'd love to see a b&w version of it.
My person opinion on colour is if it doesn't specifically add to the shot, then get rid of it. ;)
I'm totally the wrong person to ask about RAW. Went there, didn't really see the point, went back to JPG. I only shoot in RAW in very contrasty situations where I think I'll irrevocably blow the highlights & want to recover it.
Until the size of RAW files becomes trivial in relation to storage & archive space (when it would be silly not to), I don't see myself shooting in RAW on a regular basis.
Cool old neighborhood, do you think it is worth shooting in RAW? I am a terrible editor so I haven't tried yet, I look forward to watching you process...it might motivate me.
I tried RAW for a while and didn't get any further with it - was just more aware of how much space I was taking up on the card and computer for no give back. I needed a higher learning curve at the time. The yesteryear effect looks nice here as these are older homes.......
Wish I could help more. I love LR. I take most of what I really love through that and am working on really learning to use more of it and less of the presets.
as i've only just started with RAW today, i really don't know whether i think it's "all that" yet... certainly many folks swear by it, and the converts seem to say they will never go back... sure wish this site supported polls - i'd try one on this for sure ;p
Jase - i spend a lot of time on the puter editing anyway, and i'm not sure this will add much more time... at least not once i figure out what i'm supposed to be doing!
@northy For me, it's not a religious objection to RAW (as some people view film/digital for example). It's purely a workflow thing. I had problems stepping up from a 10MP to an 18MP camera - file size-wise - just in JPG. RAW would totally blow my process out of the water.
For example, when I went around the zoo last month, I took hundreds of pictures & hand-on-heart, there are two I wished had been shot in RAW from a recovery PoV. Two.
I think if you have the storage/archive space & the tools, RAW makes sense, and I expect to end up there one day, but that day isn't today.
(And I do wonder if it's like the obsession with shooting in Manual).
I'll shut up & go away now. ;)
I love the desaturated color on this! I love B&W street shots but some desaturated color with added noise has a great effect! If there is a question about RAW, try setting your camera to take a RAW and JPEG at the same time of a shot then compare the two on your monitor! You'll see a big difference! The storage is a whole different issue tho!
I think this is pretty cool, I imagine a b&w version of this shot would have a very different, grittier feeling to it. I like working with RAW, just remember to export the jpegs in sRGB for web use to retain colour.
I'm a big lover of brick, so I would have got up close to that first house to get all the texture from the brick and windows ( then stagger the houses behind by angling the camera so you get some good DOF). I still need to explore RAW and don't use lightroom - so I'm no help there! ;-)
I like the subtle colours in this Northy and think a B&W conversion could look good. I always shoot RAW after being advised to by a colege tutor who justified by saying that 'RAW files have more information which gives you more scope in processing' I think that the only extra work this causes me is having to convert them to jpegs so that friends and family can view them if they wish. As for B&W I always use Silver fx pro and would highly reccomend it, there are 30 or so presets. I choose the one which I think suits the image best and then tweek it till I'm happy.
as for shooting raw, being a control freak, the thought of having more control over the processing appeals to me... and forcing myself to take fewer, but better planned, shots would likely be a good exercise for me anyway...
out of curiousity, any idea why it is that when i export the edited RAW files from lighroom into jpg that the file size is so small compared to when i was shooting in jpg and editing in PSE?
you are SO good at b&w, that it doesn't surprise me that you tend to head this way. I had the opposite problem with one of my Urban Grunge challenges from last week, where the comment was made that it might be better in black and white, but I couldn't give up all the grungy reds in the brick and the overgrown weeds and the graffiti!
@rockinrobyn i wanted to try the demo first, but couldn't get it to download... and then in a pit of fique, i just bought the darned thing... as someone pointed out to me, it's a bit of a learning curve... but if i actually READ some instructions (duh!) it does start to make sense quite quickly! i'm going to ask for a course as well - someone said they took one and found it really helpful...
i've just recently switched to RAW too, but I'm using Aperture. I am a bit worried about storage.
i like the the "yesteryear" tones of this shot. Did you prefer this to a B&W version? I agree that it is hard to find colors in the streets......same way here. I see the beautiful colors some people find in their street shots and it makes me jealous!
@paulaag tx Paula... i was mostly just determined NOT to use b&w for once... i tried a b&w version later but didn't like it... which doesn't mean i don't think it would look good in b&w - just that the way i tried it didn't come off too well, and i haven't bothered to go back at it...
I use raw. I delete all photos of the camera immediately and most off the computer within a day or two. B&W in the end comes down to what you like I think. Many of my images look terrible in b&w, yours however always look fabulous. You have a great eye for tones, textures, contrast, line. Your shots are crisp and subtle. I like the washed out faded look you've used. I adore colour though mid-winter here is a little grey so I know what you mean about environment. I like the same-but-different in the photo above but maybe would focus more on the brick house because of it's gorgeous textures.
I like the effect you used as it does give it a very urban feel. I'm not an expert and don't have any experience with Lightroom so I'm afraid I can't be of much help.
@carolinedreams tx for the lovely comments! but wow - you delete so quickly? i'm always terrified to do this... which makes no sense since most of my photos are crap, and the ones that i think are ok usually end up here or on flickr within a day or so...
it's funny you mention about the brick house... in real life, it seemed pretty boring to me... but someone else mentioned it as well... maybe i need to go back and look at it more closely :)
@northy If I didn't delete I would get overwhelmed. I only keep the ones I really like. Most are rubbish! Or experimental. I keep family & holiday ones (some of them). Plus I make movies with schoolkids and that eats up the space too. Was chatting with friends about what we would do if the cyber-cloud collapsed. An argument for printing out some of those wonderful pieces of yours!
I find myself changing a lot of pictures to B&W, it seems that color detracts from the details. LR is nice because it doesn't increase files with layers, at least not yet, but it still eats up room.
I sort of have a thing with deleting, not unless I'm sure it's garbage, it might not look good today, but you may look at it down the road and love it. I can't express enough how much an external drive is worth every cent.
Shooting in RAW gives at least 5 extra stops for editing, more fun, more control. If you want the sky to be more blue but not mess with the buildings, there is a graduated filter in LR3, it has to be in four. You can drag it and adjust it, it really takes some playing with the get all the fun little features figured out, even then. One little note, if you haven't noticed yet, if you make a preset you like, you can name it and save it tool bar>develop>new preset. Check the boxes that apply.. blah blah lol sorry...
I only shoot in RAW now. I like the flexibility it offers. I do about 95% of my editing in Camera Raw. But, I also love taking stuff to Color Efex and Silver Efex. I'm really liking desaturated colors right now, too, so Silver Efex is taking the backseat.
I like the vintage feel of this shot. The faded colours capture the feeling of a hazy summer day in a way that a B&W shot wouldn't. I think it would look good in B&W too, though, but it would give a completely different effect.
I tried RAW and gave up....I have a space problem on my laptop too.
I dont know what to say here, its a picture of houses, whatever effect you put on it. Maybe b&w would have picked up the light differently but there is no real point of interest in this one. (sorry, such a non 365 project response)
Here in Australia it is now winter and colours are so much crisper, I remember in summer, everything looked more washed out.
Hmm, hope you're okay with this, but this picture is not really saying anything to me. To me, it seems like it is lacking a subject. The colours and muted, and it all looks a bit messy, with the open door, the rubbish bin.... God, I feel a bit bad writing this - like Monika says, it's not really a 365 kind of response.
@monika64@stuckinoz Monika, Janelle... possibly not a "365" kind of response, but the response i need nonetheless - so don't feel bad.... i would much rather know that this photo does not speak to you and why, then get no reaction at all, or worse, operate under a false assumption that it does speak... so thank you!
i kind of like grit, so the "messy" comment i prolly look on as a matter of opinion... but i do see what you both mean about there being a lack of point of interest... not sure b&w fixes the things... pulling out the light a bit more might... or maybe going for a slightly different angle... anyway, i'll think on it... many many tx for your honest feedback!
@northy I am here on behalf of the get pushed challenge!
I see several dozens of urban pictures, most street photography. Instead of picturing a finding, i dare you to photograph something you love in a way which portraits your love better.
For instance: if you love a book about aliens, photograph it in a way to tell this story: surround it with things that resemble flying sauces.
If you love your son, picture him in a moment which better expresses what you love most about him.
Tell a love story with your photo. That's your challenge. :)
Glad I stumbled on this discussion. I like the honest feedback here and I think we should all try to give more of it on 365.
I see the focal point as the open door. While this shot doesn't WOW me initially, it does make me spend time looking over all the details. I like these types of simple urban shots. A little more contrast and some subtle vignetting might give this photo more zing.
I prefer GraphicConverter to both PSE and LightRoom, but pretty much for the same reason you seem to feel a little exasperated... ;-p I just don't know those programs well enough... Now that my main computer has gotten some much needed RAM upgrades I might mess around more with them...
I actually like this picture for its colours and their washed out quality. That sort of lends a touch of 'real' to the buildings, if you know what I mean?
@bankmann tx! and yes, to me, the washed out colour gives that feeling of yesteryear which i was kind of aiming for... clearly not to everyone's taste, but i think i could edit a bit better to give it more punch without losing that quality :)
Whenever I get into 'what-can-I-do-to-wow-365-mode' I make myself stop and think about what I can do to wow myself. That's more important, I believe. That goes both for what I take pictures of, and what I do to them afterwards.
I usually go through a series of 'standard' processing variants to see how they affect the picture. GraphicConverter come with these built in. Of course I throw many of these away, but it's important to save those variants you like, so you can review them later. Using a HDR tool to combine them, can also give you surprisingly entertaining results.
@gabrielklee gives some very sound advice on story telling in photography. Something we should all take to heart. Me, too. ;-p
@bankmann well - i rarely set out to wow 365 - and in any event, most of the time i am stunned by what does wow! i had particularly asked for critique on this shot because i want to at some point take a photo like this that is really right... which isn't the same thing as an automatic crowd-pleaser... just that i have this thing about "yesteryear" and i expect i could do it better... and even if someone doesn't like yesteryear, that's ok... they may still have some helpful suggestions about composition, etc... i do need to learn more about telling stories... mostly i look for fleeting moments - but i don't think it's exactly the same thing...
@northy Healthy outlook. ;-) To get at that yesteryear feel, I often try b&w or sepia filters. If you temper those with colour - in PS you can do this with layers and opaqueness - you can get at it, I find. Try putting a crisp full-colour version on the bottom layer first.
Yesteryear - a useful preset. I don't have lightroom (or even Silver Efex pro anymore- the old version won't work on my shiny new laptop!) As all shots are now in colour you have to take an artistic decision on whether to convert to b&w and how. For me it depends upon how i saw it and if b&w better communicates what i want (for me, that is - whatever others think is their affair/problem!) If this preset does it for you, then it's 'right'. No-one knows what i was thinking with any shot I upload, but I know. So I am not impressed with myself if I had to fiddle with the software to get something acceptable. I try to use software to bring out what i saw when i pressed the shutter button. As for pulling off shots that are good enough for me I don't think you have any problems there! But of course only you can know if they are good enough for you.
@yrhenwr true... it is up to me to decide if i captured what i wanted to capture... but i know i have a lot to learn about composition and use of light, so always happy to get feedback :) i'm so sorry you no longer have silver effex... i think yours were the first b&w photos that really made me want that software - and i'm really loving it! what software are you using now?
I should give light room a whirl. There are no presets in PSE 10, only the sliders.
I tried a streetshot the other day and personally I liked the desaturated color I used as I felt color was too strong and B&W just meh. I think It really depends on the shot. I like the muted colors here too.
My person opinion on colour is if it doesn't specifically add to the shot, then get rid of it. ;)
I'm totally the wrong person to ask about RAW. Went there, didn't really see the point, went back to JPG. I only shoot in RAW in very contrasty situations where I think I'll irrevocably blow the highlights & want to recover it.
Until the size of RAW files becomes trivial in relation to storage & archive space (when it would be silly not to), I don't see myself shooting in RAW on a regular basis.
Wish I could help more. I love LR. I take most of what I really love through that and am working on really learning to use more of it and less of the presets.
as i've only just started with RAW today, i really don't know whether i think it's "all that" yet... certainly many folks swear by it, and the converts seem to say they will never go back... sure wish this site supported polls - i'd try one on this for sure ;p
Jase - i spend a lot of time on the puter editing anyway, and i'm not sure this will add much more time... at least not once i figure out what i'm supposed to be doing!
For example, when I went around the zoo last month, I took hundreds of pictures & hand-on-heart, there are two I wished had been shot in RAW from a recovery PoV. Two.
I think if you have the storage/archive space & the tools, RAW makes sense, and I expect to end up there one day, but that day isn't today.
(And I do wonder if it's like the obsession with shooting in Manual).
I'll shut up & go away now. ;)
as for shooting raw, being a control freak, the thought of having more control over the processing appeals to me... and forcing myself to take fewer, but better planned, shots would likely be a good exercise for me anyway...
out of curiousity, any idea why it is that when i export the edited RAW files from lighroom into jpg that the file size is so small compared to when i was shooting in jpg and editing in PSE?
i like the the "yesteryear" tones of this shot. Did you prefer this to a B&W version? I agree that it is hard to find colors in the streets......same way here. I see the beautiful colors some people find in their street shots and it makes me jealous!
it's funny you mention about the brick house... in real life, it seemed pretty boring to me... but someone else mentioned it as well... maybe i need to go back and look at it more closely :)
I sort of have a thing with deleting, not unless I'm sure it's garbage, it might not look good today, but you may look at it down the road and love it. I can't express enough how much an external drive is worth every cent.
Shooting in RAW gives at least 5 extra stops for editing, more fun, more control. If you want the sky to be more blue but not mess with the buildings, there is a graduated filter in LR3, it has to be in four. You can drag it and adjust it, it really takes some playing with the get all the fun little features figured out, even then. One little note, if you haven't noticed yet, if you make a preset you like, you can name it and save it tool bar>develop>new preset. Check the boxes that apply.. blah blah lol sorry...
I dont know what to say here, its a picture of houses, whatever effect you put on it. Maybe b&w would have picked up the light differently but there is no real point of interest in this one. (sorry, such a non 365 project response)
Here in Australia it is now winter and colours are so much crisper, I remember in summer, everything looked more washed out.
i kind of like grit, so the "messy" comment i prolly look on as a matter of opinion... but i do see what you both mean about there being a lack of point of interest... not sure b&w fixes the things... pulling out the light a bit more might... or maybe going for a slightly different angle... anyway, i'll think on it... many many tx for your honest feedback!
I see several dozens of urban pictures, most street photography. Instead of picturing a finding, i dare you to photograph something you love in a way which portraits your love better.
For instance: if you love a book about aliens, photograph it in a way to tell this story: surround it with things that resemble flying sauces.
If you love your son, picture him in a moment which better expresses what you love most about him.
Tell a love story with your photo. That's your challenge. :)
I see the focal point as the open door. While this shot doesn't WOW me initially, it does make me spend time looking over all the details. I like these types of simple urban shots. A little more contrast and some subtle vignetting might give this photo more zing.
I actually like this picture for its colours and their washed out quality. That sort of lends a touch of 'real' to the buildings, if you know what I mean?
Whenever I get into 'what-can-I-do-to-wow-365-mode' I make myself stop and think about what I can do to wow myself. That's more important, I believe. That goes both for what I take pictures of, and what I do to them afterwards.
I usually go through a series of 'standard' processing variants to see how they affect the picture. GraphicConverter come with these built in. Of course I throw many of these away, but it's important to save those variants you like, so you can review them later. Using a HDR tool to combine them, can also give you surprisingly entertaining results.
@gabrielklee gives some very sound advice on story telling in photography. Something we should all take to heart. Me, too. ;-p