Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: Oldie Worldly ..... in love with Fuji Velvia

  1. #1
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default Oldie Worldly ..... in love with Fuji Velvia

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi all ,
    after Steve K. called my elephant bulls that way , not the subjects but the image style in terms of color / contrast . I thought well go back to my so beloved film days with mimicking the Fuji Velvia film . By knowing we cannot exactly copy this i tried to do the best i can .
    It is about intense , sometimes false looking colors and strong contrast , not everybody's cuppa , but for today ....... mine .

    The image was taken on my recent SA trip during one of my mid day /early afternoon sessions in harsh light at Craig Lockhardt WH in the Auob River Bed .

    Canon EOS 1D MK IV
    EF 500 IS L
    Window bracket and Gitzo Fluid Head

    F 5,6 ; Iso 400 ; 1/1600 sec , with hindsight i should have stopped down a bit more for more DOF , enough SS was there for doing so .

    Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC ; Fuji Velvia preset and some more tonal tweaks in PS CC , slight local contrast to the mid and 3/4 tones .

    Hope you like it , thanks for watching and commenting to my previous posting

    Cheers Andreas

  2. #2
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in Africa
    Posts
    3,723
    Threads
    251
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Nice BG and pose. I feel the back horn is a little tight with the edge of the frame. There seems to be a little noisy the shadowed area of the neck, not much but a little for my taste. Also the whites seem to be lacking a little detail along the nose.
    The eye is also looking a little artificial not sure what or if you did anything there.
    Otherwise its a appealing portrait!

    Not sure where you coming up with the strange names for you images but i will stay tuned for more
    Last edited by Dumay de Boulle; 01-10-2015 at 03:41 AM.

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    14,320
    Threads
    929
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Andreas - A simple portrait but as so often happens he gave you his shaded side for the portrait rather than the lit side. Dumay has made some good points. I also thought the eye looked a little light for the shadows present. I would also reduce the yellows in the whites of the body but not the bg. I know you are going for the rich Velvia colors but I feel like the yellows are coming through a bit on the whites and it also brings out a little more detail in the whites. I'm ok with the comp.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  4. #4
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi Dumay and Rachel thanks for your comments , much appreciated .

    Dumay you are right with your pointers in parts , i disagree to the HL , for the reason that i wanted to copy the old Velvia 50 colors /contrast . With the film you had extreme contrast and intense colors , shooting under the given light conditions i would have had either plugged shadows or burned HL . I tried to compensate that in PS but it was not that good idea , i used a plugin that gave me the Velvia look and feel , but after a day seeing this here i hardly like the overall look , it is also too crunchy ........ no Velvia Style , normally very fine detail was kept with this film.
    My titles are not strange for me , i just simply try to avoid the normal ...... springbok portrait etc.

    Rachel as i tried to mimic that film i wanted to go as close to it , in the original film ( just checked some slides )you have almost always somehow a color cast in HL or shadows or both .
    But what bothers me the most was that the colors are just not right in the subject , i guess it was the wrong overall base color i produced in DPP . It became amplified by the plugin.

    So after looking at some slides just quickly , i reworked the image from scratch and gave it a more realistic ( from my POV) , must not be better from your POV . But i have deeper shadows and more finer !!! detail and not that partly crunchy look . AS always color a matter of taste , and i would normally say (if this was not the target ) reduce the red/orange !!
    Again after checking my old slides ( was fun to do) i decided go this route .

    RP was made 85 % in DPP 4 ( wanted for the fun of it 100% ) , i only had to treat the shadows and the HL in PS because the local adjustments are simply not there in DPP .

    Wonder what you say now ? I like it more !!!

    Cheers Andreas

  5. #5
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    14,320
    Threads
    929
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Andreas - I think the rp looks much better.

  6. #6
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Rachel i think you are 100 % right , thanks

  7. #7
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Hyderabad, India
    Posts
    5,088
    Threads
    1,356
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Andreas, this is a very nice portrait, I like the RP better. Very nicely composed with good play of light and shadows & contrast.

  8. #8
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in Africa
    Posts
    3,723
    Threads
    251
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Repost looks much better...and the whites look right now even if you disagree with my initial crit, it has been fixed/changed and it works now. Overall a great improvement, nicely done!

  9. #9
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,738
    Threads
    455
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Good morning Andreas,

    I love the titles you give to your images, they briefly tell the story, very original and with a certain punch. This particular one made me think of a headline for an article in a newspaper or magazine, I had to open and look what it was all about straight away.

    But I did not reply straight away, for I did not know what to make of it...In your OP the subject appeared highly saturated to me and the whites slightly blown (was not sure whether this was what you had in mind) the BG was too pale and the neck of the subject a bit crunchy. The RP I do like a lot, the horns have this natural colour and shine and there's good detail everywhere. I had to have a look at my images of springbok taken during our trip in midday heat, I now have a good idea what was your starting point - that includes the deep shadows...The RP is lovely and I like the rich Velvia colours, stunning work!

    Have a wonderful creative day, kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  10. #10
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Sanjeev, Dumay and Gabriela for your feedback and comments , as always much appreciated .

    Gabriela as i stated in my reply i was also not happy with the result , like you, sometimes it has to go online to see stuff and become pushed by others to the point .
    Dumay i am fine with your initial crit if looked at it as "normal and straight forward image" , but i wanted to achieve a certain look . With that look comes a very high contrasty and colorful image , with the risk of blown HL and /or plugged shadows. That was my reason for saying this .
    Actually for a "true Velvia " the contrast is a bit low in the RP , but i like it and stick with it .

    Cheers Andreas
    Last edited by Andreas Liedmann; 01-11-2015 at 03:23 PM.

  11. #11
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,738
    Threads
    455
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Some of us have not truly experienced the Velvia touch, therefore the hesitation to critique this image - at least on my part. Back to your titles, I think this is where I can see the Andreas I got to know...some emotion creeping in there...ever so slightly...and I like it:)

    Good night my friend...Bro...
    Gabriela Plesea

  12. #12
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,551
    Threads
    1,285
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Andreas, I think I know why you did, what you did, but the OP I think doesn't quite work in the same way as your elephant image IMHO, but it's good to explore and challenge both yourself and the views, in some part it helps to expand our own thinking and what can be achieved.

    For me I would have either preferred more of a head turn to the right to see more of the left eye & ear, or a more side on profile, avoiding the hint of eye/ear. Much prefer the RP.

    TFS
    Steve

  13. #13
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Steve i am with you regarding your view re the OP , i also understand your point regarding the head position , accept this with pleasure .As i said already above i also do not like the OP , and i feel kind of bad that i posted this .
    It is always difficult to copy old stuff , so i was kind of lazy and used the plugin , but the fault besides the colors was i treated the image more within PS , that gave the crunchy look and i had to open shadows again which made it worse , now you come into play with your view of keeping stuff simple ....... well i have the tendency to make stuff complicated , good or bad . Well it depends , the end game counts and the end game of OP was OFF .
    So restarted and kept it simple ..... et voila it works better. But as i said it is not enough contrast in both shadows and HL for a "TRUE VELVIA", but i will play again .just now maybe

    I will look for a more decent head position .

    Thanks again Andreas

  14. #14
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,551
    Threads
    1,285
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Andreas, I think it's hard to replicate certain ways in which we used capture images in the past. Velvia was/is such a unique transparency film in the way it pushed colours and just saturated the whole image with a great intensity and richness. Software can, to some degree get close, but I think also the camera also had some role to play, we never had the capability current cameras have and the way they capture the slightest tonal value, and so perhaps the combination of the old camera capabilities & the films available just dovetailed so well to create this unique look?

    now you come into play with your view of keeping stuff simple ....... well i have the tendency to make stuff complicated
    That's just my take, my fear I guess is that you go too far away from the original capture, perhaps we should should be given an 'independent' image, not one we took and process it? Now we are going off topic, but if your Workflow works for you then who is to say it's wrong, you just go 'deeper' into the image compared to others.

  15. #15
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    10,906
    Threads
    1,196
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Steve i am 100 % with you with all what you said regarding the technical stuff , and i know that you can be sure . But still try to play and get close to that what i want , it is the big boy in me that is playing the game .
    And if i do this kind of stuff , i do not have the target to stay as close as possible to the original capture , like in the past i would have used Sensia (low contrast , subtle colors) or Provia ( medium contrast ,a bit saturated ) if i wanted to achieve a certain look &feel . i.e. photographers would normally not have the Velvia for wedding !

    I think nobody said it is wrong , maybe one do not like it and say i would process it different i.e. lower contrast/color , that is very much fine with me .

    Cheers Andreas

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics