# Greyscale Bridge and Lake



## DGMPhotography (Aug 16, 2012)

Hi guys! I really appreciate all the continued support! I've been posting a lot in the HDR forums, and for some reason, most of my threads seem to get the most views of any! Ha, maybe that's a good sign  Anyways, I took this here in Michigan at a park in Cheboygan. I really like how I composed this - I am trying to follow the rules listed at 10 Top Photography Composition Rules | Photography Mad. Anyways, here it is. Feel free to leave C&C.


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## JoshuaSimPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

Yes, well composed, there seems to be a bit of a glow on the horizon, was this caused in post?


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

JoshuaSimPhotography said:


> Yes, well composed, there seems to be a bit of a glow on the horizon, was this caused in post?



Yes, I treated it with a cheap HDR program, but very little strength. I have Photomatix now, where it would probably look better. I'm gonna see if I can find the original image and reprocess!


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## timor (Aug 17, 2012)

Composition is nice, classic, ruly. I have a question; did you study the subject ? I am not saying, that it is a good practice to shoot 500 pictures of a subject to choose later the good ones. I am saying that to make a few approaches from different angles, consciously, to find the angle with the most impact. Your pic is nice and polite, but the impact is small. I would "extend" the left frame until the left railing of the molo meets the bottom frame and then it will be like invitation to have a stroll over the water. What do you think ?


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

timor said:


> Composition is nice, classic, ruly. I have a question; did you study the subject ? I am not saying, that it is a good practice to shoot 500 pictures of a subject to choose later the good ones. I am saying that to make a few approaches from different angles, consciously, to find the angle with the most impact. Your pic is nice and polite, but the impact is small. I would "extend" the left frame until the left railing of the molo meets the bottom frame and then it will be like invitation to have a stroll over the water. What do you think ?


 
Interesting idea. I did take about 50 photos of the area, and this was indeed one of the better ones. I did not really experiment with the angles though. To better show what you are talking about, is there any you you can pp this, even just cutting and rotating if necessary, just so I get the idea? I like what you said about an invitation to the water though, that's a neat thought.


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

Okay, here is the revised image I came up with. Not so much haloing this time. I also realize my lame watermark shouldn't be so big, in the way, and obvious, so I shrunk it and added some transparency.


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## timor (Aug 17, 2012)

DGMPhotography said:


> Interesting idea. I did take about 50 photos of the area, and this was indeed one of the better ones. I did not really experiment with the angles though. To better show what you are talking about, is there any you you can pp this, even just cutting and rotating if necessary, just so I get the idea? I like what you said about an invitation to the water though, that's a neat thought.


I am sorry, but I can not pp your image. I don't even have a tools for that, I am only film. What I do in field is study the subject before I trigger the camera. Just by looking through the viewfinder. Very often just one step to the side, lowering or rising the camera makes a difference. This exercise over the time builds ability to see, or visualise what you can get or, more important, what you can make from given situation. Simply don't document (you might off course, it is good to), make impact, think like a painter.


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

timor said:


> DGMPhotography said:
> 
> 
> > Interesting idea. I did take about 50 photos of the area, and this was indeed one of the better ones. I did not really experiment with the angles though. To better show what you are talking about, is there any you you can pp this, even just cutting and rotating if necessary, just so I get the idea? I like what you said about an invitation to the water though, that's a neat thought.
> ...



Oh okay, I gotcha. Thanks!


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## zombiemann (Aug 17, 2012)

Just a bit of advice, and this is going to come out sounding snarky and I do NOT mean it that way... tone mapping isn't cruise control for a good shot.  Unless you're shooting HDR, a lot of times tone mapping does more harm than good.  I'd love to see the color version of this (if it exists).


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

zombiemann said:


> Just a bit of advice, and this is going to come out sounding snarky and I do NOT mean it that way... tone mapping isn't cruise control for a good shot.  Unless you're shooting HDR, a lot of times tone mapping does more harm than good.  I'd love to see the color version of this (if it exists).



Yeah, did you see the newest version, I really toned it down, and as a matter of fact, I do have the color image! And as a special treat, I am posting it without absolutely any pp, including watermark. What do you think?


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## zombiemann (Aug 17, 2012)

Mind if I play with it a bit?


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

zombiemann said:


> Mind if I play with it a bit?



Go ahead!


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## zombiemann (Aug 17, 2012)

I don't know that I "improved" anything.  I changed the crop, cleaned up the sidewalk and water.  I also adjusted some color levels before I made it black and white.


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 17, 2012)

zombiemann said:


> I don't know that I "improved" anything.  I changed the crop, cleaned up the sidewalk and water.  I also adjusted some color levels before I made it black and white.
> 
> View attachment 17373



Ha, yeah, the only thing I can tell is much different is the cropping and the color a little bit. I added a little sepia-ness to mine. Originally I had not cropped it at all but then thought about the rule that the horizon should be at about the halfway point so I tried to do that, more or less.


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## MTVision (Aug 17, 2012)

DGMPhotography said:
			
		

> Ha, yeah, the only thing I can tell is much different is the cropping and the color a little bit. I added a little sepia-ness to mine. Originally I had not cropped it at all but then thought about the rule that the horizon should be at about the halfway point so I tried to do that, more or less.



I've honestly never heard of a rule that the horizon should be at the halfway point. From
What I've seen/read you'd want to follow the rule of thirds (basically). So the horizon should be placed 1/3 from the top or 1/3 from the bottom. As with all rules in photography - they can be broken.....with a purpose. 

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/horizon-position.shtml


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## timor (Aug 18, 2012)

DGMPhotography said:


> I do have the color image! And as a special treat, I am posting it without absolutely any pp, including watermark. What do you think?
> 
> View attachment 17352


I think I like it better, then any of those b&w versions, it is really refreshing and works for me. Looks like the conversion does not separate the tones of grayscale to well. The foliage and water came out in the same values, railing and the bridge surface have similar values and actually blue on film would be darker, but I don't know if that would make the image better. I just have a feeling, that this landscape maybe not the best material for conversion.


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 18, 2012)

timor said:


> DGMPhotography said:
> 
> 
> > I do have the color image! And as a special treat, I am posting it without absolutely any pp, including watermark. What do you think?
> ...



Gotcha, thanks!


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## Eveamlizya (Aug 22, 2012)

I actually prefer the more sepia one myself...I also like the cropping you did at first too.  I think I like seeing the equal amount of water and sky and the horizon takes the eye across the photo rather than with more or less sky, I don't get that...but maybe that's just me...


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 25, 2012)

Eveamlizya said:


> I actually prefer the more sepia one myself...I also like the cropping you did at first too.  I think I like seeing the equal amount of water and sky and the horizon takes the eye across the photo rather than with more or less sky, I don't get that...but maybe that's just me...



Ha, I think I feel the same way xD


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## gsgary (Aug 25, 2012)

Biggest problem with the shot is the walk way leads me nowhere only to a horizon, for me there is nothing interesting in the shot


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## DGMPhotography (Aug 26, 2012)

gsgary said:


> Biggest problem with the shot is the walk way leads me nowhere only to a horizon, for me there is nothing interesting in the shot



Thanks for your input.


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