Too moody?

Took this one last night, but I am starting to think that maybe it is too overprcessed. Thoughts?

Photo from cubatahavana's gallery.

Not over-processed...looks good.

Looks fine to me. I'm sure someone at some point will say the shadows need lifting or the highlights reducing, as is the trend these days, but mheh, you know what, shadows are meant to be darker, and lights are meant to brighten things, so leave it alone

If ya wanna get technical...I set my black/white points about rgb 5/247.

I saw this on the other thread. I like it. The shadows look good - it's evocative of the single working light.

Vignetting in PP? It looks fine for blog entry. Maybe too dark for stock.

No, just didn't correct the 35mm vignetting wide open

The front of the counter needs to be toned way down to draw the eye to the stove top.
At least that's what I'd do.

Interesting, didn't think of that. Will do to see how it looks. Thanks for the tip

chauncey wrote in post #18244923
If ya wanna get technical...I set my black/white points about rgb 5/247.

How did you arrive at these values and what's the purpose of this? Do you do this for all images?

you were right

cubatahavana wrote in post #18247161
you were right

Better.
I'd pull the front cabinets down till the draw is the same value as the door next to the microwave.
I'd also do something to tone down the bright highlight on the stainless steel front of the stove.

Looks nice. I like the fact that the stove is on. What's cooking?

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It doesn't look processed at all to me.........I mean, it seems as if the scene would look just like this if I saw it with my eyeballs.

It seems to be too dark, overall, but I think that is probably intentional; you are trying to show what the space looks like at night time, with just the one little light on, correct? I mean, if this were daytime, or a properly lit kitchen, then the front of the stove would be illuminated, wouldn't it?

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Too moody or over-processed for? Taste in processing is very subjective, unless you're taking forensic photos where everything has to be as accurately portrayed as possible.

I think the question should be "Is the image processed properly for my intended use or desired result?" There are photoshop wizards that can remove half the things in your image and you'd be none the wiser, it's not about over-processing it's about proper processing for the end use, and if that end use is for it to be artistically pleasing to your eye, then be as crazy or as subtle as you want.

Processing is a skill that takes a lot of practice, it's not just something that happens. I think the gap between skill level and desired result is what can sometimes cause the overly-processed (subjective) look.

Your image doesn't look processed at all, which is a good thing if that's what you're aiming for. The moody-ness seems to be all in the lighting.