Theme: The Abundance of the Harvest
This is a common scene during the fall in my neighborhood.
This was a rather flat-looking image. I used levels, selective darkening, photo filter, cloning, brightness/contrast, saturation, Viveza, CEP: Glamour Glow, Color Range, Detail Extractor, Foliage; also 3 textures.
Anita, that is certainly an abundant crop! I like all of the work that you did to it, including the textures. I'd be inclined to get rid of the darker yellow texture marks on the upper edges.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly" - The Little Prince
http://tuscawillaphotographycherylslechta.zenfolio.com/
Makes me homesick for Lancaster County (I lived 10 years in York, Pa, nearby). like the textures and the story it tells (abundant harvest). Looks a tad green to me. The white horse, for instance, seems a bit green. Welcome back home!
Thank you Hazel and Cheryl for your comments and suggestions. Good idea about top of frame, Cheryl. Thanks for saying the image looks a bit green. The color on my monitor is a bit messed up. York, PA, is a lovely area!
The woman standing, although small, really makes the image for me! That long dress...as work clothes! I have seen this in other places around the world. The women of Bhutan are encouraged to wear their traditional dress all the time. Also I have seen women in India applying tar to the roads in their colorful saris!
I like the look you've achieved. Although the green cast was immediately evident, it seems consistent with the subject. For composition and to make the harvesting activities proportionately larger, I'd crop out more sky than the amount needed to remove the texture marks Cheryl mentioned. I'm always glad to see your images of the Amish or Mennonites in your area. I like the subject matter, and you take the shots in a way that seems respectful of their beliefs.
Wow, I can't believe picking all that corn by hand. I am tired already. I love the feel, the toning, the textures. And I always love photographs from behind as if you are some kind of witness without the subject knowing. Very painterly, love it Anita!
Nicely seen and processed! To me, the slight color cast is an artistic interpretation.
I think cropping off about half the sky really makes the woman, horses and wagons stand out.
Thanks, Nancy. The Amish wear these clothes all the time. For Sundays and other special occasions, they have their good dresses, which are the same style and in solid colors, but they wear white aprons instead of the everyday black ones.
It is not visible here, but I believe the corn is actually cut by a machine that is pulled by horses. I appreciate your thoughts on images of people taken from the back.
I appreciate the suggestion of cropping some of the sky. Will try it.
I have a general questions about color management. What do folks use for color calibration?
I use the Datacolor Spyder to calibrate my monitors. It's very infrequently that I print any images, but the colors seem fine when I do. (I'm not sure I calibrate as often as I should, but it's easy enough to use and handles dual monitors with no hiccups.) The X-Rite ColorMunki seems to be highly regarded.Originally Posted by Anita Bower
Anita, congratulations. My wife's family is from the Lancaster area. This image brings up fond memories.
Dennis: Which Spyder do you use? I recently bought Spyder4Express and am having problems with the calibration it produces.
I have the Spyder4ELITE, now, but I can't guarantee I've used it, yet. Before, I used the Spyder3ELITE.
Anita, what are the issues? The Spyder4Express should do a good job. What is your monitor and computer operating system? There can be incompatibilities there, but as far as I know it's only with older calibrators which don't support newer OSs. If you just recently bough the Spyder it should be current with any new OS.
Some possible pitfalls are: What settings are you using for the type of monitor, etc., in the calibration process? Some of the pucks have a removable thing on the face to adapt to the old monitors vs. the new flatscreen ones -- are you sure it is on or off as needed?
The first time I used Spyder4Express it did a fine job. This was a couple of months ago. When I used it again, it left a bluish-green tinge to the grey areas and to my images.
What do you mean "what setting are you using for the type of monitor?' It says to set the color temperature, but I don't know how to do that. I'm running Windows 8.1. I have a Dell flatscreen monitor, which I've used for 5 years. I used to calibrate it with no trouble before upgrading to Windows 8, on which my old calibrator does not work.
No puck.
By puck I meant colorimeter -- the thing you hang on the screen. Calibrations should be quite repeatable -- that's an excellent product You want to have a dimly lighted room and let the monitor warm up about half an hour first. From the product info I can find on teh web it looks like the color temp is set at 6500K, which is what you want.
It may be a Windows issue -- a quick search found this but who knows how accurate things like this are, from the internet.
http://www.ephotozine.com/forums/top...problem-108407
I'd find the Datacolor tech support web site and check their FAQs and drop them an email. They can help -- what you are describing shouldn't be happening.
PS -- you've reminded me of one of the reasons I switched to Mac....
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