The Mason

I'm not sure about this one- I think the subject is interesting but the almost monochromatic nature of the image is a bit bothersome. It falls on its face in B&W.

At any rate, this is construction in this part of the world- done by hand by skilled workers with very little in the way of tools. No levels, squares, or what-have-you and yet the final product is quite good. Probably better than this photograph



Wendy

Wendy, I'm impressed with your images under such trying conditions. This image is "flat" meaning without contrast which is why it has no "snap" or "pop." It won't work in B&W because the colors are so similar and will render the same shade of gray. You might be able to add some contrast, vibrance, and saturation with post processing which might improve this. Although I'm not an expert I'd be happy to modify your image if you wish.

Steve Robinson said:

Wendy, I'm impressed with your images under such trying conditions. This image is "flat" meaning without contrast which is why it has no "snap" or "pop." It won't work in B&W because the colors are so similar and will render the same shade of gray. You might be able to add some contrast, vibrance, and saturation with post processing which might improve this. Although I'm not an expert I'd be happy to modify your image if you wish.

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Steve-

Please do! I did very little work in NX2- just brought out the mason's face, which was shadowed. I'm afraid I need more time with the software packages available in order to get more out of the images...

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Since you've kindly allowed us to attempt at some pp on this image, here are my versions in color and bw. However, I am not sure whether my versions are any improvement or not. Tonality wise? Perhaps. Total picture improvement? I doubt...


Cheers,

Cem-

Your color version is, I think, more striking that the original. This is a tough one as everything is more or less the same color (hence the B&W failure). Thanks for taking the time to work on it- I am afraid this is one of those "might-have-been" images but each flop is a learning experience...

Wendy

Wendy Thurman said:

Cem-
I am afraid this is one of those "might-have-been" images but each flop is a learning experience...
Wendy

Click to expand...

Wendy,

I wouldn't give up on this one without seeing the raw file...hopefully, there is one?

Winston Mitchell said:

Wendy,

I wouldn't give up on this one without seeing the raw file...hopefully, there is one?

Click to expand...

I shoot everything in .nef RAW out of my D-700. This one is 14-bit and it should stand up to some serious work. For what it's worth, I shoot the images, look through the results, convert the "postables" to jpeg then link to them through Photobucket.

I am considering purchasing CS4 but don't know if that is a worthwhile purchase given that I have NX2 and Nikon's files don't seem to do as well with Photoshop work (or so I read). I am not experienced enough with digital post-processing to make an informed judgment despite all the web research I do. I nearly sprang for the software a few days ago but bought an 85/1.4 instead. Lordy, lordy.

If anyone wants a stab at the raw file, let me know via private email and I'll send it over. It's a 15MB file.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Here's my versions of your image. As I said I'm not an expert but I think you'll like these. It also looks like there may be some lens flare which shows up on the mason's face.