Sunset over the oat field

[John Liddle]

We had a nice sunset a day or two ago and so I wandered down the road and into the field. All very peaceful and reminiscent of "Curfew tolls the knell of parting day", apart from getting bitten by a blasted horse fly!

Sunset over the oats by John Liddle, on Flickr

[Tigger]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

nice john, but can you lift the shadows - or maybe use a grad on the bottom to pull it up

[John Liddle]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

Thanks Ian - I had already lifted the shadows to bring the crop up, but did not want to take it too far - below I have lifted further - is this better?

Sunset over the oats (lifted shadows) by John Liddle, on Flickr

[Tigger]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

much better

[tesarver]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

Nice John, but a vote for the 1st image for me.

Tom

[John Liddle]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

Thanks Tom - I must confess to being conflicted over this one - I can see the argument for lifting the shadows to allow the green of the field to be more prominent and make it clearer what it is, but the darker first image has a better contrast between the sky and the ground and that is what caught my eye at the time. The original image has the foreground even darker and I almost went with that.

This is why I like this forum - there are always plenty of differing points of view and it can be very educational to follow them, even if you revert to your original decision at the end.

[@imagesBV]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

I agree with you John.... the last version looks a lot better to me

[ColytonJohn]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

The sky in the first image is magnificent so doesn't need changing and, in lightening for the second image, I fear the sky has suffered. Rather than lightening the entire shot, or even just the foreground, I'd be looking to reduce the foreground - perhaps mid-way between your logo and the house - to concentrate the emphasis on the sky.

Cheers,
John

[Tigger]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

I fear the sky has suffered. Rather than lightening the entire shot, or even just the foreground, I'd be looking to reduce the foreground - perhaps mid-way between your logo and the house - to concentrate the emphasis on the sky.

I had to double check the image here as I didn't see any change in the sky flipping between both on flickr - you sure about that John

[ColytonJohn]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

I had to double check the image here as I didn't see any change in the sky flipping between both on flickr - you sure about that John

Yes but the difference on Flickr is miniscule while the images on the forum show a distinct deeper blue and orange for the original. Unless it's the angle of my monitor - hang on, I'll check... now that is bizarre! I had been comparing both images on the same screen with the original at the top and the edit at the bottom and the difference I mentioned is abundantly clear. To check this I opened a new window and displayed both side-by-side and the difference is considerably less. Scrolled one image down my screen and... it got darker!

So this is either down to the viewing angle we talked about recently or my screen is duff. Either way it's hardly conducive to me making good edits myself

More tests and it is viewing angle.

Cheers,
John

[Tigger]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

good luck with finding your problem, it must be very annoying for you

[ColytonJohn]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

good luck with finding your problem, it must be very annoying for you

It hadn't been because I was unaware but now it really is. It really, really is

Cheers,
John

[John Liddle]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

The sky in the first image is magnificent so doesn't need changing and, in lightening for the second image, I fear the sky has suffered. Rather than lightening the entire shot, or even just the foreground, I'd be looking to reduce the foreground - perhaps mid-way between your logo and the house - to concentrate the emphasis on the sky.

Cheers,
John

Thank you for looking John - despite your later postings about viewing angle, I concur with your observation about the sky colour - this was why I held back on lifting the shadows too much on the first version - I shall have to look into a more targeted method of lifting the foreground without affecting the sky - any suggestions?

[Tigger]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

try a grad filter John

[ColytonJohn]

Re: Sunset over the oat field

... - I shall have to look into a more targeted method of lifting the foreground without affecting the sky - any suggestions?

If you have LR either the adjustment brush or graduated filter would do it. If no LR then something similar in DPP. But I'd keep it dark and look at the crop

Cheers,
John