City Patio

[Jay Sheinfield]

Another image from the dog walk in Lafayette Square. I cropped to vertical pan to eliminate the building on the left, mostly. I used Low key for night feel to the image and some heavy tonal contrast for gritty sidewalks. Some light work to simulate a lamp light just out of frame emanating from the ULC. Touch of Glow for mood and a bit Darken/lighten Center..........Is the left build corner a distraction, is there enough of it? How about the white column on the right? So basically, does this work for you. I would like to know............Thanks for the look. Oh, this is a 3 frame HDR, using HDR Express.

[Brendan Dozier]

Jay, like the subdued light, color tones, architecture & texture to building and real nice tree reflection in large window. Maybe just a tad more light in the LRC. Nice processing for scene and mood, but it does feel a bit to tight for me. Wanting more room on both sides, but you obviously had distractions to deal with. I think that reflection in the window could be the focus of a whole other image perhaps.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Jay, like the subdued light, color tones, architecture & texture to building and real nice tree reflection in large window. Maybe just a tad more light in the LRC. Nice processing for scene and mood, but it does feel a bit to tight for me. Wanting more room on both sides, but you obviously had distractions to deal with. I think that reflection in the window could be the focus of a whole other image perhaps.

I have plenty of room on the left, but a couple of life-size nutcrackers to deal with..........the right will have to built, whew! I'll wait just a bit before giving it a try........I'll guess others will agree. Maybe a bigger crop for just the window.......... Thanks, good feedback.

[Brendan Dozier]

I think the light on the building and window reflection make this really appealing. To me it feels more like natural winter dusk light, than lamp light.

[Jay Sheinfield]

I think the light on the building and window reflection make this really appealing. To me it feels more like natural winter dusk light, than lamp light.

Yes, good point, needs to be a bit warmer, or I change my description. I added a diagonal gradient of light from the ULC to the chairs group, very sublte, and some light to the face of building as if there was a lamp, but clearly I need some practice at it................Thanks

[Christopher Miller]

Nice moody image, Jay. The lighting gives it a rather mysterious, almost spooky feel. I like the textures and composition. It doesn't feel too tight to me on the sides, but I think I'd prefer a little more room on top. I agree with Brendan that the window reflection could be a whole image by itself. Nice work.

[Brendan Dozier]

I missed this earlier, and it is pretty obvious, the relationship of the verticle window and the narrow vertical crop, which works well compositionally.

[Maureen Allen]

This is such a cool, spooky image. Who knows what goes on there?? Great job on this one, Jay.

[Dennis Bishop]

I think the column on the left and the bit of window trim on the right are adequate. I certainly wouldn't want to do away with either -- they're too important to the look of the image. Brendan makes a good point about more light in the lower right corner. Nice job with the composition.

[denise ippolito]

Jay, It does feel a bit tight to me. I like the seating group and the window. Agree on lightening the corner. The tones and mood are very pleasing to me.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jay,
I like the dark mood and even a bit tight for me! I do think tweaking the benches a bit for a touch more seperation will give the image even a bit more depth....or perhaps even spotlighting/highloghting one to draw us in.....make sense? Nicely done overall!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Thanks everyone. That was great feedback.

Brendan, Denise and Roman, looks like too tight, so I went back to the original and redid everything. I had to build the right hand side from scratch so don't look too close. Removal of two life size nutckrackers on the left. Some separation lighting of the patio furniture and hopefully more inviting lighting overall.

I went to more of a night scene..........Let me know if this works better. Thanks

[denise ippolito]

Jay, I like it much better. To me it feels more natural with the breathing room. Nice work w/ the evictions.

[Dennis Bishop]

Nice job adding the real estate on the right and making the nutcrackers disappear. I prefer this version for sure. Even though more of the building on the left is now showing, it doesn't diminish the importance of the one on the right, at all. The relative positions and difference in tones probably take care of that.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Denise and Dennis, thanks. I like it better, The only problem remaining is the distortion correction I did leaves a problem. Foreground building slanted up and left building slanted down...........I'll have to fool with it or get me a view camera.

[Brendan Dozier]

Repost looks great, Jay, nice work!

[Dennis Bishop]

. . The only problem remaining is the distortion correction I did leaves a problem. Foreground building slanted up and left building slanted down...........I'll have to fool with it or get me a view camera.

My name is Dennis, and I'm a perfectionist.

I am. Sometimes, it's a good thing; sometimes, not. I noticed what I think you're referring to, but I didn't think it detracted from the image, at all. If I were judging critically in a contest, I'd deduct a tenth of a point. If I were in a gallery looking for something to hang on the wall, it wouldn't bother me a bit.

A tilt-shift lens -- or two, or three -- has been on my wish list for a long time. (sigh)

[Jay Sheinfield]

My name is Dennis, and I'm a perfectionist.

I am. Sometimes, it's a good thing; sometimes, not. I noticed what I think you're referring to, but I didn't think it detracted from the image, at all. If I were judging critically in a contest, I'd deduct a tenth of a point. If I were in a gallery looking for something to hang on the wall, it wouldn't bother me a bit.

A tilt-shift lens -- or two, or three -- has been on my wish list for a long time. (sigh)

I fixed it a bit better...............tried using the Vanishing point feature in photoshop but I don't quite get it yet. I have pretty good luck with transform, only a few images leave me stumped, and that's generally around 24mm and an off center shot like this one. Besides, Max the dog is only patient to a point, not including tripods (tilt/shift lens), on dog walks

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Jay, the repost works for me. I like the dark mood too!