Santorini, Greece - C&C please

[pitrow]

Hi all, this is my first attempt at posting pics on here, so I hope it goes well.

A couple pics from my travels this summer. Looking for any C&C, thanks!!!

http://vang.smugmug.com/photos/665024358_gta2s-XL.jpg

http://vang.smugmug.com/photos/665024197_HypJv-XL.jpg

[mosesport]

I really like the second one a lot...although I think the exposure could come down anywhere from a half to a full stop. Maybe boost the contrast slight. The image appears slightly flat. I guess that's just how I'd do it though. It's still a great image either way.

As for the first, it's more comical than anything. Donkeys with beads. HA!

Nice work :D

[philodelphi]

I'm wondering if the donkeys would have been more interesting from a lower angle.
And the beautiful orange building (nice colors, by the way) is suffering from some pretty bad parallax distortion... it's not really that crooked, right?

[GorgeShooter]

The second one is very nice. Great comp and colors. The first one has a distracting background (crop out the upper portion) and the white donkey does not contrast enough to stand out. The shadows below eliminate a lot of detail in the brown donkey's legs.

[Roy Mathers]

I'm wondering if the donkeys would have been more interesting from a lower angle.
And the beautiful orange building (nice colors, by the way) is suffering from some pretty bad parallax distortion... it's not really that crooked, right?


I don't think you mean parallax, do you? Are you talking about converging verticals?

[pitrow]

I really like the second one a lot...although I think the exposure could come down anywhere from a half to a full stop. Maybe boost the contrast slight. The image appears slightly flat. I guess that's just how I'd do it though. It's still a great image either way.

Thanks. It's probably that way because my monitor isn't calibrated. One of the things on my list to do. I'll try to do some correcting and see what I can come up with.


I'm wondering if the donkeys would have been more interesting from a lower angle.
And the beautiful orange building (nice colors, by the way) is suffering from some pretty bad parallax distortion... it's not really that crooked, right?

Yeah, I should have gotten down lower for the shot, but with the amount of "donkey droppings" on the path baking in the 90 degree heat, I just didn't feel like getting down close to it! lol. And you're right, the second one does show a lot of convergence in it, but it was pretty much the only angle I could get the shot from, and not having a shift lens, what can I do? Are there any software programs that can correct that? I guess I don't mind convergence too much, I tend to focus more on the cloud formation than the building, but that's just me.


The second one is very nice. Great comp and colors. The first one has a distracting background (crop out the upper portion) and the white donkey does not contrast enough to stand out. The shadows below eliminate a lot of detail in the brown donkey's legs.

Thanks! Any ideas, other than cropping, what I can do to improve the donkeys? If not I guess I'll just have to go back and shoot it again! lol. P.S. What part of the gorge are you in? I'm just over on the west side of Portland.


Thanks for the C&C folks, keep 'em coming!

[mackmittonz]

The second one would be much better if the color saturation were higher. Looks slightly faded.

[crashthenet44]

Exposure is fine on the second. It really just needs a touch of curves adjust. I'd also like to the see the converging verticals fixed. Don't what apps you are using, but this is very easy to fix in Photoshop. Do a google search. You'll find plenty of tutorials. Finally, you've got some sensor dust showing in the top left corner. Might want to clone that out.

First one you needed to get lower. Sometimes you have to get down and ;)dirty to make the shot.

[philodelphi]

Roy, thanks for pointing out my error in calling this parallax distortion!
I corrected the converging lines in Photoshop:
http://www.davidbalick.com/photos/665467823_RKuQB-XL.jpg

[Roy Mathers]

Nicely done. Something that certainly wasn't easy to to do before the advent of digital!

[tohara]

colors and composition are great.

[pitrow]

How's this for my first attempt at straightening?

Saved as jpg with some compression to make it fit the reqs for upload.

[GorgeShooter]

Thanks! Any ideas, other than cropping, what I can do to improve the donkeys? If not I guess I'll just have to go back and shoot it again! lol. P.S. What part of the gorge are you in? I'm just over on the west side of Portland.

You could try fill light in PP if you're using Photoshop.

Fill flash might help when when you go back to take the pic.

I don't live in the Gorge but I go there often enough that I should. I live in the Oregon City area.

[phetaroi]

Roy, thanks for pointing out my error in calling this parallax distortion!
I corrected the converging lines in Photoshop:


I actually liked (really liked!) the original better. Maybe I'm weird. Will, I am weird...but I mean in terms of what I like photographically.

In regard to the donkeys, I agree with a couple of other posters -- crop the top a bit and maybe take the shot from a lower angle. I do like the color, although maybe a fill flash would have made the darker one a little more interesting. Still, my compliments...better than a head-on shot that I probably would have settled for.

[24alpha]

Yeah, I should have gotten down lower for the shot, but with the amount of "donkey droppings" on the path baking in the 90 degree heat, I just didn't feel like getting down close to it! lol.
Harden up. What happened to going all out for that perfect shot?:lol::lol::lol:

[philodelphi]

I have the Sigma 10-20 which does enormous converging lines distortion. I would say that, more often than not, this adds to the picture, and I end up straightening, then rejecting it and keeping the original pic.

[Roy Mathers]

It's not really a property of the Sigma as such. All lenses will give converging verticals, to a greater or lesser extent, when pointed upwards. The effect is more the wider the angle. The only ways to avoid converging verticals is to keep the camera level or use a specialised rise and tilt lens.

[pitrow]

I actually liked (really liked!) the original better. Maybe I'm weird. Will, I am weird...but I mean in terms of what I like photographically.

That's kinda where I'm at too... I think I like the original better than the corrected version. In the original, at least to me, the circular shape of the cloud and the way the church is leaning into it makes me feel like it's a whirlpool and the church is being sucked up into it. LOL. I know, I'm weird. But hey we can't all be perfect right? :lol: