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WINNER
Photographer: Thierry
Rocchia
Title: Kangaroo Island
Landscape
Camera:
Panasonic Lumix LX-3 D100
Comment: Hi Thierry, I love
the fact that you have captured a sense of movement with
this image. It's difficult to do when you're shooting
landscapes and I won't hold it against you that you've
created the effect using Photoshop's Motion Blur
filter.
One thing I think you could do to
improve this image would be to change its aspect ratio.
I think this scene works better as a horizontal or
square image. To test it for yourself grab a couple of
plain pieces of paper and place them top and bottom over
the image to create a square. You can do the same thing
in Photoshop with the Crop Tool - simply hold
the Shift key as you drag to create a square
composition.
The scene you've photographed has a
lot of lateral movement but it is rather passive in a
vertical composition. By making the image square you
give the grass more room to move. Do you notice a
difference in the feel of the image? Suddenly the
picture appears to have much more energy.
Most of
the photography I do is done with a conventional DSLR in
the 35mm format, but I actually prefer working in the
square format of my old Hasselblad 503. Perhaps someday
someone will make an affordable 6cm x 6cm digital sensor
for it - I hope so! I find it easier to compose with a
square format, and I know many other photographers who
feel the same.
Anyway, my advice for you would be
to get out there and try creating the same effect again
- this time try to do it all in camera with a slow
shutter speed. Wait for a windy day and try a range of
settings below 1/15s.
Happy shooting!
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Photographer: Alfred
Knoll
Title:Sunrise at Dry
Creek
Camera:Leica
V-Lux1
Comment:
There are many elements that go into making a good
photograph and in this column we talk a lot about
design, lighting and emotion. I like the design of this
image and the way you have used the repeating element of
the windmills to add a visual rhythm to the
scene.
In this picture you have three repeating
ideas working for you: the windmills, the grass along
the leading edge of the composition (which is repeated
again on the opposite side of the creek), and those four
birds, which add a cute touch to the horizon
line.
On the whole it works well but there is
room for improvement. The first thing I noticed is that
middle windmill, which is too close to the windmill on
the right. Using the clone tool, I'd carefully move it
left a fraction, just to provide some separation. (Don't
forget to move the reflection in the water too.) The
idea behind breaking up those two windmills is to
improve the visual rhythm.
Now, assuming that you
are working from the original file there is one more
adjustment you could make. In the middle area of the
picture there are hints of green trying to break
through. What I would do is use the Shadow/Highlight
command to bring some more green into the image. That
should help complement those warm tones in the
sky.
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Photographer: Matthew Dilosa
Title:Crocus Flowers
Comment: Hi
Matthew, I like the black background in this shot.
Because black adds absolutely no tonal or colour
information it forces you to concentrate on the design
and colour of the subject. This is the case in this
image where we can really appreciate the subtleties of
the mauve tones as they blend into the whites of the
petals.
Sadly, two things let this image down for
me. The first is the design. That middle flower is the
only one in bloom but it's partially obscured by the
flower on the left. All three flowers could do with some
more space around them.
Then there's the
lighting. If you squint at the image you will notice
that the highest petal is also the brightest. Our eyes
are always drawn to the lightest part of a picture and
in this case that petal is taking our eyes away from the
lower part of the image. You could darken the top petal
using the Burn Tool in Photoshop but I would be
inclined to reshoot. As a wild suggestion, have a go at
lighting the image using a small LED torch and paint the
flowers with light. If you put some black velvet or card
around the torch you should be able to "snoot" the light
so you can light detailed areas of the flower without
the light being noticed by the camera.
You're on
the right track but another visit to the florist is in
order! Enjoy!
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Photographer: Leighton
Sheedy
Title:Lily Stem
Camera:Nikon D80
Comment: There are some
interesting colours here, Leighton, but the image could
do with some more contrast. One very simple thing you
could do to make the image look less flat would be to
adjust the Levels
setting.
Levels is often the first thing
photographers check when they're editing an image. If
you're using Photoshop Elements go to Enhance >
Adjust Lighting > Levels . In the full version
of Photoshop go to Image > Adjustments >
Levels.
Most images look best when the two
outer sliders meet the edges of the histogram. In your
image, you can see that the histogram is touching the
left (shadow) slider, so no change is required there.
However, the right side of the histogram is well short
of the right (highlight) slider. If you drag the right
slider to the left so it meets the base of the histogram
"mountain", you'll see the contrast of the image improve
dramatically.
And if you hold the
Alt/Option key on your keyboard as you drag the
sliders, any areas of the image that are being clipped
(overexposed) will show up in the image
window.
If you are in any doubt about how much to
adjust an image, duplicate the background layer and make
your Levels adjustment to the new layer. Print
the image on photo paper using the best quality settings
and see how it looks on the page. If the effect is too
strong, simply reduce the opacity of the top layer to
suit.
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About Digital
Photography + Design
Digital Photography + Design is
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