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  1. #1
    Stuart stu-52's Avatar
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    Lighthouse - suggested improvements?

    I took this photo of the most-photographed lighthouse in Maine last summer. It's in Portland.

    I took several shots and this one is my favorite because of the angle and all. I wish that I had my polarizing filter at the time to darken the sky.

    In any case, I think it needs something, but I can't put my finger on it. Suggestions?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lighthouse - suggested improvements?-lighthouse.jpg  
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    stuart

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  2. #2
    Senior Member readingr's Avatar
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    Re: Lighthouse - suggested improvements?

    It needs some levels adjustment for the sky and then for the land and the lighthouse which will improve the contrast and the colour rendition. I just tried it and it makes it pop.

    Roger R.
    "I hope we will never see the day when photo shops sell little schema grills to clamp onto our viewfinders; and the Golden Rule will never be found etched on our ground glass." from The mind's eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson

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  3. #3
    PRB
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    Re: Lighthouse - suggested improvements?

    I want to see this photographed at night! Lighthouses photographed at night are my favorite.

    Having said that, the shot you have here is suffering from uninteresting light which could be greatly helped with some post processing magic as readingr suggested.

    I have a friend who shot that same lighthouse and, this was his perspective on the place.

    You did something, whether you know it or not, that most people don't and, that was to include some people in the foreground. I'm glad you did -- it gives me some perspective as to the massive size of this grand place.

    Thank you for sharing this one with us.

    My Best to You,
    Penny
    Last edited by PRB; 03-27-2009 at 01:37 PM.
    My love for others is NOT conditional on their meeting my standards.

  4. #4
    Stuart stu-52's Avatar
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    after some PP....

    PRB, the shot you linked to looks as if it is from some HDR processing. It's really nice.

    Here's what I did after some playing around in gimp...
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lighthouse - suggested improvements?-lighthouse-2.jpg  
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    stuart

    "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
    - Marcel Proust

  5. #5
    Member tayl0124's Avatar
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    Re: Lighthouse - suggested improvements?

    for some reason I wish the water was on the left. Maybe it is my slow brain at the moment. Flip the image and see how that looks.
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  6. #6
    GB1
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    Re: Lighthouse - suggested improvements?

    Stuart - This is a good shot, you did well with what was there and the lighting conditions at the time. I am not sure a polarizer would have done much, except perhaps darken the scene. I think what it needs, however, is something in the foreground to spice it up. I see the people down there but what it really needs is something in the bottom left side. Perhaps a small boat in the water ?

    Anyway - thanks for posting it. NE has a certain charm you don't see any where else.

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