Lobster Boat Revision B

[bluetech]

Hi again...Bird is gone and the sky has some character. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks! Davehttp://www.offshorepursuits.com/images/lobster_boat_first_light_plymouth_3102009.jpg

[Living Daylight]

This looks well exposed to me now, and you seem to have added a graduated blue filter to the sky in photoshop or LR. I think it worked very well and adds some interest to the sky.

I might up the exposure a tiny bit more, but at this point it's not a big deal, just my personal preference. Also, if you enable photo editing in your profile people can edit your images for you.

It would also be easier for others if you kept all revisions in the same thread. That way when we go to our user control panel we will see that the thread has been updated.

Welcome to POTN! Well done!

[trophy_23]

Beautiful shot... where was this taken? I was just in Maine last week and wow what a scenic place... those lobster boats are something else!

[bluetech]

Beautiful shot... where was this taken? I was just in Maine last week and wow what a scenic place... those lobster boats are something else!

It was taken in Plymouth MA a couple of weeks ago.

[bluetech]

This looks well exposed to me now, and you seem to have added a graduated blue filter to the sky in photoshop or LR. I think it worked very well and adds some interest to the sky.

I might up the exposure a tiny bit more, but at this point it's not a big deal, just my personal preference. Also, if you enable photo editing in your profile people can edit your images for you.

It would also be easier for others if you kept all revisions in the same thread. That way when we go to our user control panel we will see that the thread has been updated.

Welcome to POTN! Well done!

Thank you for your guidence! I will in the future keep all the revisions in the original thread and allow editing. Again, I really appreciate the help. Dave

[Robert_Lay]

You were pointing the camera a little down (rather than at the horizon), and that causes the diverging verticals.

The horizon looks to be a bit tilted downward to the left.

The exposure is consistent with very late in the day with very low sun angle and almost no direct rays of the sun falling in the scene.
The scene could lose just a little of the sky if you wanted to crop a bit tighter vertically

[jetcode]

That's much nicer David. Another thing you can do is isolate the boats with a mask and tweak the contrast a little to brighten them. This technique can really draw the eye to the subject faster because the eye tends to go for the brightest most interesting element in an image first. I'm not sure the landing on the right is adding much. It grounds the image to the shore but is kind of muted. There isn't much of it and the boats and sky are big draw for the eye.

I also agree with Bob that if the sky top were cropped more this would place more focus on the boats and harbor scene.

[jetcode]

Beautiful shot... where was this taken? I was just in Maine last week and wow what a scenic place... those lobster boats are something else!

Please tell me! I was born there and am going to be there in a week or so with my family. I want to see if I can get some lake images. My uncle was a lobster fisherman. Too much to shoot in 5 days time.

[Naturalist]

MUCH better!!

[bluetech]

You were pointing the camera a little down (rather than at the horizon), and that causes the diverging verticals.

The horizon looks to be a bit tilted downward to the left.

The exposure is consistent with very late in the day with very low sun angle and almost no direct rays of the sun falling in the scene.
The scene could lose just a little of the sky if you wanted to crop a bit tighter vertically

Actually it was very early in the day with the sun just low on the horizon so there were no direct rays falling anywhere. I looked at the horizon when I read your reply and and it does appear to be tilted that way, but it is an illusion because of how the harbor curves back around there. If you check the roof of the Harbormaster's shack it is in fact level.

I agree with you on losing a little of the sky, but won't that throw my proportions out of whack if I just crop in that direction? I really would hate to lose anything on either side.

Thank you for the pointers. I really do appreciate the help. Dave

[bluetech]

That's much nicer David. Another thing you can do is isolate the boats with a mask and tweak the contrast a little to brighten them. This technique can really draw the eye to the subject faster because the eye tends to go for the brightest most interesting element in an image first. I'm not sure the landing on the right is adding much. It grounds the image to the shore but is kind of muted. There isn't much of it and the boats and sky are big draw for the eye.

I also agree with Bob that if the sky top were cropped more this would place more focus on the boats and harbor scene.

I am not quite sure at this point how to isolate the just boats with a mask...but I will figure it out. I also agree on losing some of the sky. I guess I can sacrifice some on the right side to keep the proportion right. I will give it a try. Thanks. Dave

[jetcode]

I am not quite sure at this point how to isolate the just boats with a mask...but I will figure it out. I also agree on losing some of the sky. I guess I can sacrifice some on the right side to keep the proportion right. I will give it a try. Thanks. Dave

You will likely have to hand paint them. Go to channels and select the red, green, blue channel to see which one of them produces the most contrast. Make a duplicate of the channel and create your mask. Making a mask is not that hard with shapes like these. It will likely take a little practice but it's not that hard. Remember that you can draw lines with the brush tool but clicking in the space, moving the cursor to a new location and while pressing shift click again. I do this to roughly outline a shape and then expand the brush size to fill in. Also you can change the brush hardness and opacity and flow and with these simple controls its pretty amazing what can be done. I had an image of the golden gate bridge where I had to make a mask for the bridge and every cable. It was a 4x10 image that had endless detail. If I can find it I will post here sometime.

[bluetech]

You will likely have to hand paint them. Go to channels and select the red, green, blue channel to see which one of them produces the most contrast. Make a duplicate of the channel and create your mask. Making a mask is not that hard with shapes like these. It will likely take a little practice but it's not that hard. Remember that you can draw lines with the brush tool but clicking in the space, moving the cursor to a new location and while pressing shift click again. I do this to roughly outline a shape and then expand the brush size to fill in. Also you can change the brush hardness and opacity and flow and with these simple controls its pretty amazing what can be done. I had an image of the golden gate bridge where I had to make a mask for the bridge and every cable. It was a 4x10 image that had endless detail. If I can find it I will post here sometime.

I cropped it as you and Bob sugested, then added contrast and brightened up the outboard side of the lobster boats. What do you think? Dave
http://www.offshorepursuits.com/images/lobster_boat_4.jpg

[jetcode]

Dave I recommend spending some time with this image and trying different interpretations. Take a day in between interpretations and come back at the end of a week or two and see which one really knocks you out. I am not the one you need to please here though others may disagree with that philosophy.

[bluetech]

Thanks. I will do that. I don't want to overwork it and turn it sour. I will leave it alone for awhile and go back to the original and try some different things. Thanks. Dave

[Robert_Lay]

I think you are right about the horizon.
OK on being morning twilight instead of evening twilight. I figured it had to be one or the other.
I think that last crop you did gives better proportions.

[bluetech]

I think you are right about the horizon.
OK on being morning twilight instead of evening twilight. I figured it had to be one or the other.
I think that last crop you did gives better proportions.

Bob,
Thanks. Dave