# Patriot Park



## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

We have our share of problems here, but honoring our Vets, is not one of them. Having Medal Of Honor recipient  Col. Ola  Mize, as a hometown man doesn't hurt. Throughout the city are numerous, remembrances of those that served. Missed getting this one posted yesterday, the last of the 4th series.




Ola Mize Vetran 07042017_612-Edit-Edit.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr


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## crimbfighter (Jul 5, 2017)

I like the tones and the composition here. It does appear to have a bit of a left lean, still. The flag poles give it away.


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

crimbfighter said:


> I like the tones and the composition here. It does appear to have a bit of a left lean, still. The flag poles give it away.



Nope I leveled with the top of the wall and the bottom of the roof line. The poles must be leaning  but I'll check it again, to make sure the eyes weren't "leaning" when I did it.


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## qmr55 (Jul 5, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> crimbfighter said:
> 
> 
> > I like the tones and the composition here. It does appear to have a bit of a left lean, still. The flag poles give it away.
> ...



I pulled it in photoshop and put a guide across it, was definitely a tad off level....




 

On a side note, flagpoles (which is one word btw) always make images look a little off.


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## Peeb (Jul 5, 2017)

In photoshop, I opened in the crop/rotate tool and used the flags as guides.  
This is the image 1.3 degrees rotated right.  Helps my eyes anyhow.  Strong image either way!


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## Peeb (Jul 5, 2017)

Ha ha- great minds think alike


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## qmr55 (Jul 5, 2017)

Peeb said:


> Ha ha- great minds think alike



 that they do!

Great image, nevertheless.


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

Peeb said:


> In photoshop, I opened in the crop/rotate tool and used the flags as guides.
> This is the image 1.3 degrees rotated right. Helps my eyes anyhow. Strong image either way!



Apparently when I processed this into a JPEG I didn't lock the image to the frame. Appears the slope of the terrain caused everything to slip downhill just a little bit.


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

crimbfighter said:


> t does appear to have a bit of a left lean, still. The flag poles give it away.



Combination of slight level issue, corrected, and a slight negative correction to perspective distortion. Can't slip anything past you guys!!!!!!!!!!


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## crimbfighter (Jul 5, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> crimbfighter said:
> 
> 
> > t does appear to have a bit of a left lean, still. The flag poles give it away.
> ...


Much better! I no longer feel like I'm leaning..


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

Footnote on the image: This was shot using my $19 Cokin (Ebay knockoff) graduated ND filter set. I was actually quite pleasantly pleased with the quality and performance of the set. Having the ability to stack and adjust independently up to three at a time, makes it a lot easier to balance the exposure.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 5, 2017)

*All that follows is obviously my opinion so feel free to close your eyes now.*







The details of this picture that bother me are:

That little sliver at the lower left
That one flagpole is distinctly off vertical
That the middle tones that contribute to the richness of the photo seem to be missing; to me the entire picture looks flat and without much tonal interest.




What does confuse me is that people see this as a good image when it is, to me, just a vanilla documentation of what the architect designed with no obvious creative input from the photographer.
Additionally, usually the conversion to BW is done to keep colors from attracting the eye and alone the tones and textures to triumph.
This doesn't seem to be happening here.
There are flags against the dark green trees and it seems to me that, without seeing the original, that the image has lost a lot of impact with teh color without getting in back in the BW.

Sorry,

Lew


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## Dean_Gretsch (Jul 5, 2017)

Congrats on living where vets are honored and rightfully so! We have had thieves steal the older bronze and brass flag holders from graves in areas close to me here and it makes my blood boil. If I caught someone doing this, I am sure I would spend some time in prison. It seems the concensus is that you have a nice image here, no matter what The_Traveler thinks


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## The_Traveler (Jul 5, 2017)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> you have a nice image here, no matter what The_Traveler thinks



There is no need to try and rundown my opinion to make yours seem better.
We have different tastes and telling what I see as the truth is respectful to the OP.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Jul 5, 2017)

The_Traveler said:


> Dean_Gretsch said:
> 
> 
> > you have a nice image here, no matter what The_Traveler thinks
> ...



You did not understand my post. I was not " running down " your opinion. I was simply stating the majority of the posts were not in agreement with you. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. Not my intention to do so.


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> Congrats on living where vets are honored and rightfully so! We have had thieves steal the older bronze and brass flag holders from graves in areas close to me here and it makes my blood boil. If I caught someone doing this, I am sure I would spend some time in prison. It seems the concensus is that you have a nice image here, no matter what The_Traveler thinks



Thanks Dean. Many, many moons ago, we had a local photographer, that documented just about everything in the area. All in black and white, some good, some "vanilla documentation, lacking any creative input on the part of the photographer"  When he passed away a few years ago, his collection of thousands of photos was donated to the local library. Whenever I get by there I always make time to view a few of them, to compare then and now. Looking at his collection, you quickly realize that not every image you take has to be an outstanding work of art. Sometimes you just want a memory of what was, and hope that someday, someone will look at it and say, "I remember that".


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## Dean_Gretsch (Jul 5, 2017)

Sometimes the subject of a photo can outweigh the technical aspects of a photo. Being a vet myself, I understand what you intended with the pic.


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

The_Traveler said:


> The details of this picture that bother me are:
> 
> That little sliver at the lower left



You're right, missed it when I straightened the shot the last time. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, the crop has since been corrected.



The_Traveler said:


> That one flagpole is distinctly off vertical



Considering the fact that I was shooting this in between showers (and that rain had just started again), I should have picked a better angle on the structure, but I chose to take the shot instead of miss it. The perspective distortion caused problems with both flag poles. Short of taking the image into PS and correcting them individually I chose to pick the one closest to the edge as being the most obvious and corrected in LR. Leaving the one slightly off to bug the &^% out of OCD people.



The_Traveler said:


> middle tones that contribute to the richness of the photo seem to be missing



Much the same comment as above. Flat light, devoid of much color. The color version had slightly better middle tones, prior to post processing, but it is what it is.

As to the rest of the opinions, (and they are just that),  I take to heart most criticism, and suggestions, but I find denigrating comments such as "_with no obvious creative input from the photographer" _to be lacking value, and merely an attempt to be ugly on the part of the poster.  So with that in mind I will take your advice from your first line and "close my eyes".


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## smoke665 (Jul 5, 2017)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> Sometimes the subject of a photo can outweigh the technical aspects of a photo. Being a vet myself, I understand what you intended with the pic.



Thanks again Dean. The color version just didn't seem to fit the solemnity of the monument.


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