post processing critique

let me know if anything looks corny, improving composition, etc etc.

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these too

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I really like the idea of the first one - and it works really well BUT you have a green halo all around the pink flower - be careful to remove that too. My guess is the image isn't perfectly focussed and hecne you left it? Because for me that sort of ruins it.

Car - no opinion, I'm not a car fan.

The sign - considering I have no idea who or what SFGH is there is zero appeal in that sign for me.
"Standard tourist snapshot" - I think this would only work well put into the right context so that people know what it actually is.

The lens - I find it too dark - but I'm sure many people will like it.

First off, nice flower. Go crazy with selective color, get it out of your system, and never do it again. In most cases, it's an indicator that the photographer had little faith in his or her compositional skills and felt the need to tell the viewer what was important. Or it's an insult to the viewer because you felt that you had to tell them where to look. Photography 101 students go through this faze, along with taking pictures of street signs and things reflected in puddles.

I second detlevCM's comments regarding the others. There's a list going around the Internet of seven things that one should never take pictures of. My car was one of them. If my camera isn't on the list, it should be. Unless there's something rare and remarkable about them. Go out and look for things of more general interest to shoot.

i couldnt disagree more emphatically. while it is a phase most of us go through, it also has its place in photography. telling people where to look with color and/or composition is your opinion...possibly not the poster's. so you didnt like the technique....no need to tell OP to stop. implying that the photographer has no confidence in his/her skills is as insulting as it could get whether you meant it here or not. and i believe such commentary has no place in this forum. trying to mold him in your direction does not make you a teacher or helpful. let the OP find his own path.

if we all listened to this kind of criticism, there would be no originality....or shots of reflections apparently.

thanks for all the comments!

1. about the flower, the green area around it is just me not knowing how to layer properly and when i ran a brush tool over it, i went too far on the edges. i normally don't do selective coloring, or PP in general, but i thought the pink would look just fabulous against gray. =D

2. it's not technically my car haha but if it's a less than desirable thing to see then i'll keep it to a minimum.

3. SFGH - San Francisco Genera Hospital. i meant it to be just a snapshot but i thought the contrast would be nice, i'm not too sure about it either hah.

4. the lens. again that was just a contrast thing for me. i just downloaded a new PP program so i just threw that in there for the hell of it =)

to joe: i get what you're saying about the selective coloring, but i've seen some AMAZING puddle reflection shots. so i disagree with you saying everyone should just up and stop because they can be creative when done properly. and as far as my composition skills, the flower is smack dab in the center on purpose if that's where you're getting at. i don't have great comp skills, but i could've used rule of thirds and did the exact same thing with the color.

again thanks for the feedback.

Flower shows inadequate selection skills and I agree with Joe.
Car has misplaced shadows if you want the rear light source.
No opinion on last two...what PP software did you pick up?

^^ i'm using GIMP. its free and im broke, perfect combo. i've never used anything like gimp or PS before so i need to learn a lot. and oh yeah the shadow forgot about that.

what do you mean by inadequate selection skills?

The green fringe

The second one on the first set is the best. The selective coloring is so 1990.

When doing detail work around the edge of an object...ie. the flower...enlarge it to about 400-600 and decrease the size of the brush you are using. That will allow you to get right against the object and eliminate the "over" actions.

Flower shot, as mentioned, has some missed edges (along with the edge of the stem). The background in the Kharman Ghia shot looks really funky, with lots of haloing around the trees. The last two just don't seem to hold any interest.

I agree about the selective color...that is, forget about it. IMO, it's plain cheesy or gimmicky...much like most of the images that are passed off as 'HDR' and does nothing for the original composition.

chopper5654 wrote in post #11139016
i couldnt disagree more emphatically. while it is a phase most of us go through, it also has its place in photography. telling people where to look with color and/or composition is your opinion...possibly not the poster's. so you didnt like the technique....no need to tell OP to stop. implying that the photographer has no confidence in his/her skills is as insulting as it could get whether you meant it here or not. and i believe such commentary has no place in this forum. trying to mold him in your direction does not make you a teacher or helpful. let the OP find his own path.

if we all listened to this kind of criticism, there would be no originality....or shots of reflections apparently.

First off, I doubt the critique was meant as an insult to the OP. Second, this is a 'critique' forum, along with the good, the bad, and the ugly. There's nothing to be gained by the OP if everyone posted "great shot"...that just enables the continuation of either poor technique, poor composition, or whatever the weakness may be. Sort of like what one sees on American Idol...some kid starts crying because the real-life judge that holds the money tells him or her that the talent just isn't there (unfortunately, the poor kid was enabled over the years by everyone saying "Wow, you're really great"). Harsh criticism? Maybe...but that's real life. Take it for what it is, use what's necessary, learn, and move on. The bottom line is, the OP (or anyone for that matter) only has to satisfy him/herself. If that's all that anyone is interested in, then don't post in a critique forum and just be happy with your results.

droberts wrote in post #11145172
When doing detail work around the edge of an object...ie. the flower...enlarge it to about 400-600 and decrease the size of the brush you are using. That will allow you to get right against the object and eliminate the "over" actions.

i never thought about doing that. DUH! how stupid i am. haha like i said i'm still new at this and im currently without a camera so once i pick up new gear i could get in more practice.

thanks for the feedback everyone.

argyle wrote in post #11145752
Flower shot, as mentioned, has some missed edges (along with the edge of the stem). The background in the Kharman Ghia shot looks really funky, with lots of haloing around the trees. The last two just don't seem to hold any interest.

I agree about the selective color...that is, forget about it. IMO, it's plain cheesy or gimmicky...much like most of the images that are passed off as 'HDR' and does nothing for the original composition.

First off, I doubt the critique was meant as an insult to the OP. Second, this is a 'critique' forum, along with the good, the bad, and the ugly. There's nothing to be gained by the OP if everyone posted "great shot"...that just enables the continuation of either poor technique, poor composition, or whatever the weakness may be. Sort of like what one sees on American Idol...some kid starts crying because the real-life judge that holds the money tells him or her that the talent just isn't there (unfortunately, the poor kid was enabled over the years by everyone saying "Wow, you're really great"). Harsh criticism? Maybe...but that's real life. Take it for what it is, use what's necessary, learn, and move on. The bottom line is, the OP (or anyone for that matter) only has to satisfy him/herself. If that's all that anyone is interested in, then don't post in a critique forum and just be happy with your results.

yeah i agree with that bottom paragraph, i didnt really take it as an insult haha. i'll take any criticism even a plain "this sucks". anything to let me know how i need to improve!!