Dudley Farm #4

[Cheryl Slechta]

Last weekend at Dudley they had a "Civil War enactment" of sorts. Part of a Florida company was based there during the War. The photo ops weren't great because the company leader was unfortunately in a Park Service uniform so I had to work around where he happened to be (unfortunately it was where the action was). I used several Nik Silver Efex filters and a slight Color Efex Polaroid transfer, a couple of textures from Shadowhouse and then a slight blur (Motion blur I think). I'm not sure what to think of it.
Thanks for looking. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Has anyone else noticed that the last couple of weeks there have been multiple times when about twice as many people were on the OOTB forum compared to Avian

[Hazel Grant]

At first I thought this was a Christopher old photo. Nice work. I like the texture's additions of some age defects as in the LR corner. Makes it look authentic. Re the birds....Could be the weather? But then OOTB is a fun forum to work.

[Christopher Miller]

Nice aging, Cheryl! Very authentic looking. I like the pensive look of the soldier. The fact that he's cut off at the knees bothers me a bit; I think I would prefer a full length portrait. I also might add a little more room on the right for him to look into.

OOTB rocks!!!

[John Storjohann]

Cheryl, I almost wish you had taken the aging process a bit further...you've taken a great approach to the image, although I echo Christopher's comment about more room on the RHS...I might also crop just a bit from the top. I look forward to seeing more in this vein from you.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks, Hazel, Christopher and John. Unfortunately, there was a group sitting with their backs to me in front of him and something going on to the right so I was stuck with that shot. I can take some off the top

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the aging effects, but I'm not sure about the color. It looks like it might be from the Polaroid Transfer, which can add a yellow cast. I'd be inclined to go browner. I share John's thought about cropping some from the top. I'm not sure what I think about more canvas on the right, however. In terms of composition, I like where his head and right arm fall within the frame.

[Judy Howle]

I like the comp Cheryl, and I think he has adequate room on the right. I'm not crazy about the yellow color and think it might benefit from desaturating or converting to black and white with more of a sepia tone using the black and white function or a photo filter. I had to do that once when one of mine came out too orange-y brown and it worked well.

I wish they would remove some of the yellow from the Polaroid filter. It rarely works for me because of that.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis and Judy, thanks for your comments. I'm off to St. Augustine for a Birding and Photography Festival so I'll rework it when I get home on Sunday

[denise ippolito]

Has anyone else noticed that the last couple of weeks there have been multiple times when about twice as many people were on the OOTB forum compared to Avian

I have noticed!
I really like the soft look to this and the aging is lovely. Nice texture work Chreyl! I think Christopher makes a good suggestion regarding the RHS.

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Cheryl.

Wanted to go there for the encampment, but life got in the way. Next time.

I might have added more aging, especially in the tree canopy area, and cropped a little from the left, to leave in the fence post, and a little from the top to give more area in front of the soldier. But Y.I.Y.V.

[Anita Bower]

I like the treatment you gave this. For me, the aging effect is just right. The pensive pose of the soldier if great. I would crop from the left and top. I know that removes most of the tent, but it puts the soldier more to the left and gives enough room on the right. Nice work in a challenging situation.