Thoughts really needed

Last fall the inside of our church looked really nice so I got the idea to set up and take a few photos with the plan of printing and framing one as a gift to the Pastor. I was somewhat proud of myself in that before setting up I knew the windows would blow out and I had a plan to deal with it - first time I had thought ahead on something like this. What I am interested in is overall feedback on the shot. It is too late now but what should I have done differently? Also there is a fair amount of gray on the walls (in real life to, old building, oil burner) is there a way I can further whiten the walls without heading toward fake? Finally, would you print it?

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My first thought is: No shadow, no depth. It looks very flat. I looked full screen on flickr, I'm not sure the focus is sharp all the way through.

As a "factual" photo, it does what is needed. As art, it lacks something.

How could I have added shadow? I have been doing more with OCF since but I am still not sure how I would light it to add shadow. Also any ideas for a fix in post? Also I realized after I could have used more DOF.

Any other thoughts? Ideas to get rid of them soot on the walls?

Hi Bill,

Hmmm....well, regarding your latest question, yes, there are a miriad of ways of re-doing the shot in various programs without it looking fake, including sorting out the ceiling imperfections.

But I'm afraid I'd go with reshooting the whole thing.

Why?

Main reason has already been stated - sadly, your final image is flat.
Besides this, maybe you can see that the crucifix isn't centrally lined up with the stained-glass window behind it.

I think that if that goes on your pastor's wall, after plenty of initial admiration he'll eventually wonder why Bill didn't line it up properly, even if he's not much into photography.

Personally, I'd go with an angled shot, using morning/evening light coming through those windows at an angle, hopefully with plenty of golden light in there.

Sorry.

Regards,
Simon

I don't think it's too flat too work with and I don't think you should really worry about faking it up a little either. A flatter image is easier to work with.

Here is my take of the image and I could go a lot further with it and bring out the details in the walls a little and bring strong colour to the windows.

The main subjects in the image however are Christ and the offerings of fruit and flowers, hence more light needs to be presented onto them and the other areas darkened slightly. The stairs are unnecessary.

Adding a vignette mask to the lower area and sides - but not the centre top - directs the eye up freeing it from the confines.

What do you think? Could you do more?

As for the crucifix not being right in the middle, that is easily fixed in PS. Cut an past it across and fill the missing bits in with the arches to either side, they are identical. But I wouldn't be that pedantic, it's not that a crucial point.

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I used a white neutralizer, added some contrast, darkened the bottom borders, upped the saturation slightly, and took out the dark marks on the back wall with the spot healing brush

The back wall looks too flat without the rendered corners in there, Brandon.

That looks even flatter to me, plus, you've removed the color from some of the items on the floor.

Wayne Eddy, thanks for taking the time to edit. I was just about to send this off to the round file but now I will go back and work for it some more.

Brandon, thanks for the input. I prefer Wayne Eddy's edit but thanks for having a go.

Yeah your right wayne. made it look like a huge flat wall with weird edges at the bottom. My Bad!

Wayne,
Can't thank you enough for your time to respond. As a result of your response I went back and re-worked my edit. I also addressed Simon's concern and centered the crucifix on the window, a definite improvement. I would Love to hear thoughts on the new edit. Thanks again everyone!

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Northwoods Bill wrote in post #15568628
Wayne,
Can't thank you enough for your time to respond. As a result of your response I went back and re-worked my edit. I also addressed Simon's concern and centered the crucifix on the window, a definite improvement. I would Love to hear thoughts on the new edit. Thanks again everyone!

Your new edit looks a 100% on the original, details are starting to come out.

Visually, I think your vignette is a too obvious and graduates from light to dark too quickly. Use a really BIG soft brush at about 50% opacity. Use a darker one on the bottom frame.

Though it's hard to tell from a compressed image, the fruit and flowers are still lacking a bit of detail, perhaps bringing the shadows out on them would be good. You need to be careful with this as the Christ figure should be the center of attention.

To try to get that gentle shaft of light look you could use a Levels Adjustment Layer (I used brightness/contrast), invert the Mask and paint a line from top to the fruit and flowers with a large soft brush.

This is an image worth hanging in my opinion.

Well done Bill!

A definite improvement.

Personally, I'd still re-shoot, but I think you've "saved" the shot, as that non-central crucifix was, IMO, something that needed addressing, irrespective of the issues in lighting.

Excellent stuff, all!

Regards,

Simon

wayne_eddy wrote in post #15568866
Though it's hard to tell from a compressed image, the fruit and flowers are still lacking a bit of detail, perhaps bringing the shadows out on them would be good. You need to be careful with this as the Christ figure should be the center of attention.

Wayne, are, you suggesting increasing or decreasing the shadows?