Photo for your review please.

Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
CR Pro
Nov 7, 2013
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Germany
sanj said:
How could I have done better?
I like the picture, I like the expression. Composition with the straights of the table leading into the background. Just really good.
I have nothing to criticize except for the horizon being exactly at half height (= compositon a little bit boring).
But right now I have no feeling if getting it higher or lower would make the picture look better or not.
(edit: I like both: the evening sky as well as the landscape)
But that is nothing for post, so please no reframing or so. You should have tried this during the session (camera higher or lower).
 
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Sep 25, 2010
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I like the perspective, it feels almost as if I'm sitting at the table, waiting for my friends to arrive. I like the light of the candles on the table and through the glasses. My only question is that it appears to have a bit of a "dead zone" between the table and sky: what would that look like slightly brightened so our eyes could walk continuously from table to cloud?
 
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I like the composition exactly as it appears ... sometimes, those rules (rule of thirds) need to go out the window and the allow the scene to emerge as presented. Because the sky has a dynamic sense already - with varying degrees of light change in it - one could actually state it is within that boundary if you choose a different line in that light variation as the point of transition.

It might appear different if the trees we absent, or less tall - but trees framing the scene to the degree it does allows a variety of interpretations of how the composition gets defined.

It reminds me of an exclusive outdoor restaurant where we often dined in a farming community years ago -- Ojai CA -- called the Ranch House -- outdoors, but very classy. If anyone is in that area ever, and if it still exists, it's worth the price (not cheap, but excellent food) ...

One comment:: It appears slightly soft -- and I'm not sure what any of us can do to change that in this kind of subdued light -- and in this case, I believe it adds rather than detracts from the image ... soft, intimate, romantic :)
 
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I like the colors and subdued lighting. The background looks great with the trees, hills, and sky exposed just right. I would turn up the brightness just a hair in the foreground and possibly on the tree on the right as there's a lot of pure black. The water in the pool on the right is considerably darker than the water on the right, with the the table obscuring the natural transition from light to dark, and it throws the balance off a bit. A small fill light or some careful adjustment in PS could fix that. Compositionally, I think the table and pool need a bit more separation as they blend together somewhat due to their reflective surfaces. An elevated or lower camera angle might do that for you.

These are nit picks - I think the image is very nice, and the setting is beautiful. I wish that was the view from my backyard!
 
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Jan 29, 2011
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Personally, 24mm TS-E 12-18" higher and shifted down, that puts the emphasis on the table, it takes up more of the frame and is more inclusive, it will also show a bit more of the scenery, after all you are selling Africa not the sky, and cut out a bit of the dead space sky. If it was shot wider than 20 I'd use the 17TS-E and do the same.

The reason I say that is because your perspective is one of inclusion, you are inviting the viewer to sit at the table, but the table space is too small to do so luxuriously, also moving up would clear a space to make the pool more prominent. If the pool edge went past the top edge of the table, as it would if you raised the camera, it would join the two halves together, as it is the pool looks like a small pool on the left and a dark mass on the right, but it is clearly a good sized pool. I would put a touch more light in the rock above the table light to give that more definition and I'd light the pool water, probably very subtly.

I don't like the cushions on the left, they look out of place and over sharpened, but I agree you need an anchoring element on that piece of grass.

As always with your critiques Sanj, I mean my comments in the most positive way.

P.S. I really don't like the starbursts from some of the lights.
 
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sanj said:
How could I have done better? Thx in advance.

These starbursts are sooc and not done with a PS plugin? Interesting.

For my quick thoughts, also meant in the most constructive way: +1 for pdb's about the table/sky releationship, this is the main problem as now you're basially looking at tree outlines and a patch of sky.

But the whole composition is weired (not that you could have changed much, tough) - my view is directed to the right by the reflection on the table, but the table itself points to the left towards the sun. It feels like my eyes are crossing while trying to take in the picture.
 
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Marsu42 said:
These starbursts are sooc and not done with a PS plugin? Interesting.
That's what the 9-bladed apertures in the new lenses all produce at f/16 and a little less so at f/11 - 11-24 f/4 16-35 f/4 IS, 24-70 f/2.8 II, and others. It takes a little getting used to, but I've grown to like it. You can drop the aperture to f/8 to get starbursts closer in appearance to the 8-bladed lenses.
 
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Image is really wonderful. Probably I would have used a flash(with blue/CTO gels) to light the stones on the right side of the frame a bit. Along with this, trying with painting the trees on the left side of the frame with a torch light/flash with gel would have opened up the trees a bit. Thats just my taste, feel free to disagree :)

Naveena
 
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TeT

I am smiling because I am happy...
Feb 17, 2014
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Horizon is good because to raise it would affect how much and the angle of the trees in the photo. Changing the horizon and the trees possibly become to much trees...

However a touch of light on the immediate background might be nice, but just a touch...

Good luck duplicating that scene just to throw some light on it...

Very nice photo...
 
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This is good, but from a commercial photographers POV, there is a conflict of interest... you got a gorgeous sky and ambiance... nice tablescape and setting... so what is YOUR intended subject, as you have 2. So i'm not quite sure, as a viewer, what to look at... There is nothing pulling my attention one way or the other... And you do that by lighting. If it is the tablescape you want the eye to go to, light it more... you have nice candle accents which is great, but add some directional lighting, some fill lighting... Make that the center of your focus... so your eye goes directly there... Likewise, if you want it to be more the scene and not so much the table, crop, burn, darken slightly... Make it there, in the foreground, but not bright enough to steal the attention from the overall scene... Just my 2 cents.
 
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Jan 22, 2012
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rpt said:
sanj said:
How could I have done better? Thx in advance.

1dc. 16-35mm F4 IS lens. F22. 1/160 shutter. ISO 160. Tripod. I blended two exposures using layer mask in PS. I also changed focus according to what I was exposing for. Please critique.
Looks nice. I prefer the horizon to be at or close to the top 1/3rd mark.

Hi Rustom.
Thanks for your suggestion. I will keep that in mind in future. I must not forget (or blindly follow) the rules!
Hope all well with you.
 
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Jan 22, 2012
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Maximilian said:
sanj said:
How could I have done better?
I like the picture, I like the expression. Composition with the straights of the table leading into the background. Just really good.
I have nothing to criticize except for the horizon being exactly at half height (= compositon a little bit boring).
But right now I have no feeling if getting it higher or lower would make the picture look better or not.
(edit: I like both: the evening sky as well as the landscape)
But that is nothing for post, so please no reframing or so. You should have tried this during the session (camera higher or lower).

Thank you and I agree! Do you live in Europe? As I can't picture an American using the term "I like the expression" when discussing a photo. They will give excellent suggestions no doubt, but would not use that term. I think. :) :)
 
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Jan 22, 2012
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Orangutan said:
I like the perspective, it feels almost as if I'm sitting at the table, waiting for my friends to arrive. I like the light of the candles on the table and through the glasses. My only question is that it appears to have a bit of a "dead zone" between the table and sky: what would that look like slightly brightened so our eyes could walk continuously from table to cloud?

Yes, that is something I have been wondering if I should lift the blacks a little. Let me try! Appreciate.
 
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Jan 22, 2012
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monkey44 said:
I like the composition exactly as it appears ... sometimes, those rules (rule of thirds) need to go out the window and the allow the scene to emerge as presented. Because the sky has a dynamic sense already - with varying degrees of light change in it - one could actually state it is within that boundary if you choose a different line in that light variation as the point of transition.

It might appear different if the trees we absent, or less tall - but trees framing the scene to the degree it does allows a variety of interpretations of how the composition gets defined.

It reminds me of an exclusive outdoor restaurant where we often dined in a farming community years ago -- Ojai CA -- called the Ranch House -- outdoors, but very classy. If anyone is in that area ever, and if it still exists, it's worth the price (not cheap, but excellent food) ...

One comment:: It appears slightly soft -- and I'm not sure what any of us can do to change that in this kind of subdued light -- and in this case, I believe it adds rather than detracts from the image ... soft, intimate, romantic :)

Thank you for your thoughts. I too believe that we should not forget the rules but break them as well. When I had visualized the shot I had thought that there will be lots of nice clouds in the sky but when I shot this they were not there and I did not re adjust my visualization. Must learn to be more spontaneous. My girlfriend is right!

But is is not soft on my monitor. Wonder what happened. I downloaded the photo from the forum and it is still sharp to me. Hmmm.
 
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Jan 22, 2012
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mackguyver said:
I like the colors and subdued lighting. The background looks great with the trees, hills, and sky exposed just right. I would turn up the brightness just a hair in the foreground and possibly on the tree on the right as there's a lot of pure black. The water in the pool on the right is considerably darker than the water on the right, with the the table obscuring the natural transition from light to dark, and it throws the balance off a bit. A small fill light or some careful adjustment in PS could fix that. Compositionally, I think the table and pool need a bit more separation as they blend together somewhat due to their reflective surfaces. An elevated or lower camera angle might do that for you.

These are nit picks - I think the image is very nice, and the setting is beautiful. I wish that was the view from my backyard!

Great observations - let me try and give some details in the blacks. View from back yard? That would be greatttttt. The view is of Meru National park in Kenya. I could hear distant roars of lions as I was wrapping the shoot. It was SUPER.
 
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