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Thread: Sunrise On The Licking River

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    Default Sunrise On The Licking River

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    This was taken early morning on Thanksgiving near Falmouth, KY. Canon T2i, Gitzo tripod, Giotto ball head, 17-40mm f/4 lens.
    ISO 200
    @26mm
    f/18
    .4 sec
    Processed in Lightroom: full frame, highlights -100, shadows +31, whites -14, blacks -10, clarity +30, vibrance +30, sauturation +15.
    Tone curve adjustments: highlights -61, lights +3, darks +44, shadows +9
    NR luminance 65

    A friend of mine owns a canoe rental business and asked me to come up with a few pics for his tourism booth. This is one that I picked and I just wanted to hear what other people thought of it before I have it printed so I would appreciated some CC. Thanks.

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    What I really love about this is the reflection in the water in the bottom 1/3. If it were mine, I'd trim from the top about halfway to the horizon, to minimize competition from the branches there, whose lines pull the eye out the top of the image. That will also make the lovely evening sky color more prominent.

    I understand the desire to protect images with a copyright mark, but anyone who wants to steal an image can remove it easily. I would at least make it much smaller and put it someplace where it is less distracting.

    Looks like a lovely place to canoe!

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    Thanks Diane. I will try that and see what it looks like. As far as the copyright thing, I have just been playing around with stuff. If I use it any more I will make it a lot smaller though. Once again, thank you for your advice.

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    HI Jack, colors and scene are great, but I wouldn't open up the shadows as much as you did. I'd like to see a bit more contrast. Where I expect dark shadows I now see a muddy gray. I think the image will improve from a little more 'pop'.

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    It's funny you mention that Jerry. I was 50/50 on this. I ended up with this because I liked being able to see the bank on the other side. After a closer examination I believe you are right though.

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    Hello Jack

    An appealing scene that will do the job for the friend. I think I would crop just above your name...Although for the purpose you took this image, that space might be needed for words etc and thats the best place for them IMHO.. I do agree With Diane that a little of the top would help as well, but I guess it depends what aspect ratio you wanted to end up with.. For me however the main improvement would be if the lower branch on the tree was not there. Not sure if you can or want to reshoot, but that branch is a block to my eye moving off into the distance along the river. (just like you want the canoe customers to do..), so I would have prefered a slightly different POV so the branch does not mask the distant river. This may not have been possible however. Compare the "Ironbridge" image David Cowling took to see what I mean here. I also think its possibly 1/2 stop underexposed..

    DON

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Dean III View Post
    It's funny you mention that Jerry. I was 50/50 on this. I ended up with this because I liked being able to see the bank on the other side. After a closer examination I believe you are right though.
    I think the challenge here is to find the middle ground. Not sure if it's there in Lightroom but the Shadows/Highlights tool in CS gives you very good control of the tonal range that is affected. This means you can bring up only the darkest shadows, without affecting the slightly lighter dark areas. I often think that the shadows slider (fill light in my old CS5) affects too broad a tonal range in the image.

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    OK. This is what I came up with last night. I don't normally crop my landscapes this much but it was the best way I could show what I have chosen without posting a new image or starting a new thread. I originally posted a vertical image because he was wanting one vertical and two horizontal. I take a lot more horizontal pics than I do vertical, I guess because that is my personal preference. Since I am not charging my friend for this I am sure I can talk him into using three horizontals. The lesson I learned here is to take more vertical pics. Just because it's not my personal preference doesn't mean that is what another person may be looking for. And Don I agree about the lower branch. I tried finding a spot closer to the river to shoot from it just wasn't there so I decided to set up on the bridge. Also I would love to shoot this again but he has a deadline and between work and balancing my weekends between family, friends, and personal time I normally get two maybe four days a month I can take my camera out. Unless I am on vacation and then it's mostly camera time. :)

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    I like the RP. The lower branch doesn't bother me so much, maybe partly because it is somewhat disguised by the soft reflection of the more distant tree.

    I think this will work very well for your friend, as would the vertical if he decides to go with that layout.

    The Recovery and Fill slider in PS CS 5 was replaced by Highlights and Shadows in CS 6 (in the version of ACR that came with it) and are much more powerful in rendering tonal detail in both shadows and highlights. The Blacks and Whites sliders give the extra punch needed by moving the ends of the histogram, and the Clarity slider allows an increase in mid-tone contrast without slamming the ends of the histogram. These sliders (called Process 2012, vs, the old 2010) are in Lightoom versions from 4 on and are well worth the upgrade.

    The Shadows/Highlights adjustment is similar but its always better to do as much as you can in the raw stage. It used to me something I used a lot but with the software improvements in CS 6 and LR 4, I no longer feel the need to use it.

    Some of the Nik and Topaz software also gives a variety of tonal control. And there is always the control of luminosity masking. The best result is usually a little of each, used to its maximum effect before adding on another technique.

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    I much prefer the first post to the RP, mainly because I feel that you lost the lovely pastels that you captured in the first. Keep in mind, we're making suggestions and if we were making the changes ourselves, we'd play with the changes and perhaps go back to where we were before we started. Sometimes I think that our suggestions don't work. Maybe, in this case, it was a case of too many cooks. I'm tempted to guarantee that your friend will prefer the first interpretation. Show him both.

    BTW, great shot and interpretation.

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    Jack, This is indeed a lovely image. Both the original and the RP. But I think the original for me as well. The muted colours are lovely. There's a couple of green bushes on the RHS that draw my eye, especially in the re-post.

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    i prefer the Landscape comp for just personal taste. I would get lower if you can to get under the branch.
    Dan Kearl

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    Thanks everyone for your input. We ended up deciding on the second version and I also ended up cloning out the two green bushes on the far side of the bank.

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    Hey Jack. Sorry for being late to this, I was on safari.
    I like the portrait comp best, and it has some nice colours and mood.
    I would just look at the muddy midtones your processing has left you with? Add back some punch with tonal contrast...
    Morkel Erasmus

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