Broken Sky

Well, we went apple picking once again this weekend. This is a shot of a window in one of the barns at the farm. I just liked the texture and the reflection. Is it interesting? Is it boring? Is it too dark. Too contrasty? Help make me a better photgrapher. I don't want to be a "creator of crap" :)

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Originally Posted by Todd Patten

Well, we went apple picking once again this weekend. This is a shot of a window in one of the barns at the farm. I just liked the texture and the reflection. Is it interesting? Is it boring? Is it too dark. Too contrasty? Help make me a better photgrapher. I don't want to be a "creator of crap" :)

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Well, let me reassure you: you are not a "creator of crap"! This is very artsy... Have you tried a tighter crop with a little bit of perspective compensation to get the window a perfect square. I really like how the contrast of the scene helps build the roughness of the wooden frame.

...maybe just a tad more DOF? and that's just a maybe!

This is definitely nice...

Steph.

"Creator of Crap"? No. Creator of Crop"? Possibly, yes.

Absolutely fantastic to have seen this. Very nice as is - the rest of this critique has to do with my suggestions as to what I would have done. Possibly slightly lighter in levels but not enough to lose the wonderful reflection in the cracked and broken window. Maybe some sharpening using a non-degenerative method, such as high-pass sharpening - or if Unsharp mask, very slight so as to show a little more of the grain. And finally, I would crop out some of the right side - just some of the darker wood area.

Again, this is very effective as is and doesn't necessarily need any corrections.

Great job!

Tuna

Good shot. Rustic image with hint of artsy feel and mystery. Also notice what seems to be some vignetting going on but does not take anything away from this nice catch. My opinion on the glass is to smooth it up and remove grain with a neatimage type program or tool in ps. . .to give the glass that smooth reflective feel that would react nicely to the textured wood frame around it. Just my take. . . As Tuna stated, it stands on it's own nicely as is. good work

I think it's a great shot. The atmosphere of the picture is wonderful. I think maybe there is a little too much space on either side, but not a whole lot. Over all great image well done.

Wow. Thank you for the positive feedback! To get thumbs up from those whose work I admire is a big deal for me. Not that I need constant reassurance :)

Steph -- I have yet to try any perspective compensation in PS. This may be a candidate. As far as the DOF goes, I completely agree. In hindsite, I should have gone with f11 or so. I think this was done around f4.5.

Tuna -- Thank you for your compliment. It means much. Thank you for taking a critical look as well. This type of feedback is important to me. I was not familiar with the high-pass sharpening method (reasonably new to PS). I have googled it and will be trying the method today. I believe that I introduced some grain on this as well. The original color image is a little dark. When I used the Channel Mixer, I added some contrast and brightness.

Gary -- Once again, your compliment mean a lot. the vignetting was introduced by me with a little burning and blurring. I wanted to darken up the edges a bit as well as draw focus on the window. I suspect that it's unneccesary as the window IS the focus. I agree about the glass. However, as mentioned above, I think that I introduced some grain. The glass was also rather dirty as well :)

tubaman -- Thank you for the look and feedback!

I was wondering about the space on each side as well. Part of me wants to keep it so as not to make a square frame around the square window. Another part wants to crop in. I think the wood offers a lot of character and texture. I intend to go back on another day when the clouds are dramatic and try to get a similar shot. This time I will go with a higher f-stop.

I agree that the wood and grain is very attractive but could use a little tighter crop to enhance the subject (window scene). It's just a compelling view and not crappy in the slightest! you've got to be kidding! I think it could do completely without the solid black on the right side. Good work.
Kit

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Originally Posted by Tuna

"Creator of Crap"? No. Creator of Crop"? Possibly, yes.

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Very well put Tuna.

I like this type of shot in general and think you have captured it excellently. The window sits a little central in the frame to me and hence the refernce to crop as most other posts have suggested. I like the distortion of the window frame as it gives it another dimension.

Well seen and exicuted.

Todd, I really like this shot as well, I have seen some of your posts and this is definitely a different subject for you to post, This one is very ARTsy. :) I am with you on the cropping thing, (unsure) but then again i KNOW things shouldn't be centered, the whole rule of thirds thing - but I usually forget and center them...But then again, we are all still learning! would like to see a version posted with the right chopped off as the others suggested... And please post when you reshoot as well! Great photo and mood!

I really like this. Took me asecond to realize it was a reflection. I would not crop it personally, I like the framed picture inside the framed picture sort of effect created here.

A little bit of sharpening would help.