Tanks in Action

[yairh20]

Wow, I haven't been active here in a long time! I haven't been taking that many pictures, or editing them because my computer has been running really slowly. But, I have now finally gotten a new computer so I have a lot of pictures to post.
These were taken at some tank show to convince us high school students not to dodge the draft...
1.


2.


3.


4.


Can't decide if I like 3 or 4 better.

Please critique and comment!

[daq7]

I really like he second and the third. Wouldn't change anything either.

[Old Timer]

These are terrific. I especially like #2.

[hminx]

What Daq said .

[PhilF]

#2 is my winner.

[armando_m]

#2 and 4 are my favs

[Jay C]

I really like the 3rd one, like the way it pops better than the 4th one.

[Dubbs5050]

2 is a great capture, and I like 4 as well. Did you do some burning and dodging on these? I wish I could get some time to shoot some tanks in action! (photographs that is)

[daq7]

Yeah the sky int he second one definitely looks blended or tone mapped. Looks good though.

[mikonyxx]

love 2, 3 & 4.
the sky in 2 :thumbsup:
the "classic-ness" of 3 :thumbsup:
the impact of 4 :thumbsup:

[n8]

as it's been said, 2 and 3 are great. I was about to nitpick #1, but they got me to not even bother. I am curious to hear what the treatment was on 2.

[BlueRob]

Nice images, I´m also curious what PP was done on them, specially no. 2 which I think is the winner from the batch.

[Canyon Hiker]

Nice, I really like #2, but they all look a little over processed to me. This coming from the over-process king..me. It looks like you used Pseudo Dynamic Photo and Halo-Matix tone mapping for these. They look really cool but almost cartoonish. Do you mind posting the originals for us to check out? i do really like the crop on them, and its great to see tanks like this. It really caught my eye when I saw these.

Thanks,
Darin

[yairh20]

Thank you all for your comments!
Thecounsel - Please do nitpic #1 - I like to know what people do and don't like about my pictures; and since I like #1 (although I'm very biased) I want to know why people aren't responding to it. It's part of the learning process of posting to a critique site.

For everyone who asked : PP:
all of them (and almost all of my pictures): duplicate the layer and change the blending mode to soft light. dodge and burn until you like the look. merge all layers, and repeat the process if needed. No filters - just a lot of leg work. I burnt (shadows + midtones) the smoke to give it more texture, the sky (midtones + shadows in the clouds), then I burnt (shadows) all the small creases and edges in the tank, and dodged (highlights) the highlights in the tank and the parts that weren't burned to give it a more three dimensional feel. I also burnt the sand at the edges.

[BlueRob]

I can tell you that the main flaw of No1 IMO is the lack of focus or softness in the subject also the proportion of the crop is kind of odd. The crop on the last two is also a bit tight on the top proportionally.

[elyswim]

3 is my favorite, the black and white add to it in my opinion!

[yairh20]

Thanks! can you please elaborate on the crop comment?

[BlueRob]

Thanks! can you please elaborate on the crop comment?

Sur no problem. What I mean is that they are very long in proportion of their height. In other words either you crop them sideways (not good idea since we like the smoke trail) or add more space to the top to achieve something close to a 4:3 proportion.

I must also say that obviously there are no rules for this but having a rectangle of adequate proportions is the most common thing.

[OldClicker]

Sur no problem. What I mean is that they are very long in proportion of their height. In other words either you crop them sideways (not good idea since we like the smoke trail) or add more space to the top to achieve something close to a 4:3 proportion.

I must also say that obviously there are no rules for this but having a rectangle of adequate proportions is the most common thing.

How about going to this cropping thread and expounding on the format thing.

Cropping question

TF

[BlueRob]

How about going to this cropping thread and expounding on the format thing.

Cropping question

TF

Thanks I haven't seen that thread before. The original question is related for printing for what I´ve understand. What I´m saying is taking that out of the equation. Personally I like to keep an "aesthetic" proportion in the image..no matter printing size. For me it does have a negative impact at first glance to see for example a nature scene with a vertical format...for me that looks unnatural, obviously as I have said before there are no rules and of course exceptions like for example when framing a tree or such.

I always try to remove the unwanted or distracting stuff from the scene as probably most of you but I always keep an eye for the proportion of the crop, call me nuts but I try to stick with the golden rule or divine proportion if you like. I obviously don´t do the math but try to keep in that range.

[yairh20]

I thought you meant the cropping of #1