Where's the fire?

From last Saturday's Kelby photowalk. What do you folks think?

I love this photo! Great catch - good eye. Most of us would have walked right past this without seeing the complex interplay of colors, patterns and shades. There's a lot going on in this photo and that's what makes it so good. My eye never stops exploring all the different patterns and complimentary colors. It is actually working on two levels, I think. At first it hits me as a pure abstract composition of colors and textures. And then the actual content snaps into place. I really like photos that work like that. Very, very nice job! And my pick this time around for Featured Photo! :)

The only suggestions I have are slight technical ones. It seems a bit soft to me. I think it could use a bit of contrast and unsharp mask. Did you sharpen it at all? If so, how did you do the sharpening? How you sharpen can make a bigger difference than how much.

Really glad you shared this!

Many thanks, John! Re sharpening - I sharpened in LR4 just using the slider. But I noticed that it seemed to have lost sharpness when I uploaded. I'm not sure what is going on here. On my screen the export file I uploaded here (800 pixels on the long side) doesn't look much softer than the one I submitted / posted on G+ (1000 pixels on the long side, link below). But in the forum post it looks much softer. I'm guessing something about my export settings for the smaller version created an issue when uploaded here. Any ideas?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...85230604092290

Thanks again!

No critiques on this yet? Am I the only one who appreciates it or you all just at a loss as to how to critique it? If you disagree with this photo as our current Featured Photo, let me know why by offering your own critique.

As for the sharpening - sharpening should be done at output, after resizing. I always use the Unsharp Mask filter in Photoshop because I feel like it gives me the most control and I understand it the best.

Well I like it. I do however think it could be a touch wider including all of the handle on the right and hose on the left. You might also bump the saturation and contrast just a little. I like how you framed the bottom. Congrats on the feature.

In Lightroom it makes a difference too if you work with all the sliders in the sharpening box. I don't know your method, but I definitely work with the detail and radius sliders as well as the sharpness slider. I agree that unsharp mask in PS of the freeware equivalent works better in many cases but I'm loath to fire up another editor for one step when LR does all I need it to do.

Thanks again all. If anyone has a chance to check the version at the link I posted above, I would be interested to know if sharpening / saturation look any better - same PP, just different export settings.

It does look much better at the other site. Great image by the way! I love the play of colors and textures.

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Originally Posted by srblough

Thanks again all. If anyone has a chance to check the version at the link I posted above, I would be interested to know if sharpening / saturation look any better - same PP, just different export settings.

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I did not look at the other version. But I have now. And it looks excellent. I'm not sure what you mean by, "different export settings." Did you export from the original full-size file or did you resize the smaller image you posted on G+? Since the upload here doesn't resize your images it shouldn't affect the way they look at all. I make a copy and resize specifically to post here and elsewhere on the Web, sharpening last, just before saving. And my images always look fine here. So I am pretty sure that something is different in the way you set up the image here compared to the one you posted on G+.

I've looked at this several times and haven't really been able to offer a critique. It's an excellent shot and the version of G+ is fantastic - big improvement.

Is this a crop? My first thought was that I would have backed off slightly on the left and right, but I'm not sure it matters.

Congrats on the feature!

Not a crop except for a little straightening, this is how I framed it in camera for better or worse. The G+ is 1000 pixels on the long side; file was too big for posting here so I created another. I was moving fast, obviously I did something in creating the smaller file where the sharpness was lost. I will see if I can figure out what happened and if possible will re-post a better version here.

Anyway thanks for all of the kind words! Very much appreciated.

Post-script - uploaded again directly into my member gallery, doesn't seem to have any sharpness problem.
Fire truck - detail photo from the PhotographyREVIEW.com Gallery

Congrats on the sticky, srblough. Looks like a painting to me somehow. And yes - great eye in seeing this and figuring out the composition. A little geometry never hurts our photos, and I sort of like the way it moves at the diagonal from top left to bottom right. A lot of color and tricky perspective also.

Do you mean Scott Kelby btw, or another photography event?

G

Thanks GB1 - yes, it was the Scott Kelby photowalk event that happened on 10/13. Just found out this photo won my local walk - but then there were only 3 entries :-)
Agree the strong diagonal is key, particularly with the contrast of black below the diagonal and colors above. Also I like the variety of textures. And (as someone pretty inexperienced with post-processing) I credit a significant assist to LR4 - besides saturation, sharpening and pulling highlights way down to keep the handle from being blown out, I was able to use the selection brush to bring up the shadow area left middle while darkening down the black vinyl cover. That's one awesome piece of software.

Looking again. And the more I look, the more I like - especially the G+ version. Very well done.

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Apparently, Scott Kelby like your shot:

Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider | Photoshop & Photography Techniques, News, Books, Reviews & More

Scroll down to find out.

Congrats !

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Originally Posted by AgingEyes

Apparently, Scott Kelby like your shot:

Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider | Photoshop & Photography Techniques, News, Books, Reviews & More

Scroll down to find out.

Congrats !

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Wow. Nice shots!