|
|
|
ayman zakaria
{K:1889} 3/25/2006
|
very beautiful shot, well done
ayman zakaria
|
|
|
|
|
The Pilgrim
{K:32139} 3/26/2006
|
She's a beauty.....Great detail and texture from the side lighting. Very lovey B&W image my friend!
Paul
|
|
|
|
Ray Vann
{K:3090} 3/26/2006
|
Very nice and good choice of black and white. The only suggestion I have is for a smaller aperature for a little more DOF as the bottom of the leaf is not quite as sharp as the top. Or was it handheld. Either way, very nice photo.
God bless,
Ray
|
|
|
|
|
Kathy Hillard
{K:25721} 3/26/2006
|
I like this Andre, especially the tones. I don't think it is quite as striking as the last post, mostly because of the crop. Also, personally, I would add a thin white canvas between the image and the black frame. It seems to me that a few dark areas are lost in the frame. Of course, all this is just being picky because it is in critiquer's corner :) It's a nice shot!
Kathy
|
|
|
|
|
Susie OConnor
{K:34798} 3/26/2006
|
Nice one Andre. I really like this "series" of plant pics. The lighting is very nice...I agree with Kathy on the white border, not much but just a tad. I can't find much to critique here, I like it!
Susie
|
|
|
|
|
Alicia Popp
{K:82561} 3/26/2006
|
Estupendo B&N... las texturas, las luces , las fortmas excelentes!!!. Felicitaciones!
|
|
|
|
|
stingRay .
{K:136763} 3/26/2006
|
I love the details in your composition Andre and the shot is composed well in what appear to be wonderful mono tones. I have to confess that I cannot follow your postwork technique....you started with a colour image, converted to mono and then back to colour......why? Whatever you have done in PS looks good but I cannot see the re-emergence of any colour in the shot. Very best wishes to you as always.....Ray
|
|
|
|
|
Dave Stacey
{K:115782} 3/26/2006
|
Great textures and a nice crop, Andre! Tones are excellent, too!
Dave.
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/26/2006
|
Thank you for the comment Ayman,
And thanks for taking the time to visit my portfolio.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/26/2006
|
Thanks Paul,
And thanks for visiting!
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/26/2006
|
Hi Ray,
Thanks for visiting and for the comment.
I believe it was due to the DOF that the front of the leaf was a little on the fuzzy side. I did use a tripod because I knew the shutter speed would be low. I took a few shot with the macro setting and some (like this one) with the telephoto from about 8 feet back.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Inji Amer
{K:22997} 3/27/2006
|
This is so beautiful dear Andre !!
looks natural that I believe I could
touch & feel the leaf as if in reality !!
Great lighting , nice tones , amazing
satin texture .
Really an elegant work my dear !
Best Regards.
Inji Amer
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Hi Kathy, Thanks for the critique.
I agree with you on both counts on this critique. I think you explained yourself well when you said that this one is not as striking as the first because of the crop. I feel the same way. It isn't so much that this is image is any worse than the other, it just doesn't have that mystery about it that the close cropped version sucks you in with. As far as the thin white line in the border goes, I also agree and I usually do this now about 80% of the time. It figures that I would leave that white stripe out on the one of my images that could benifit the most from it. :) I've attached the "white stripe" version. It really does make a huge difference to the presentation. The bright stripe forms a great balance with the highlights in the leaf and works very well.
You weren't being picky at all. Those were both valid comments.
Thanks again.
Andre
|
with white stripe |
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Hi Susie,
I really like the lighting on these plant shots too. The slow shutter speed helped me get good exposere on the main part of the leaf and at the same time, because the light wasn't too bright coming from outside, I ended up with some nice background and side lighting. I also agree with you and Kathy on the addition of a small white stripe to the border. I did that in an attachment to Kathy's comment reply. It makes a nice difference.
ps
If you try hard enough you should be able to find something negative to say. Even a comment on the border is fine.
Of course we all prefer the positive ones but we learn from the negative reviews :)
In one of the Photo Arts courses that I took many years ago, once a week the instructor would get the class together for a critique session. There were about 12 of us. We all got to show one image. Usually what we thought was our best of the week. Everyone in the class had to write down one positive thing and one negative thing about every print shown. This was written on a sticky paper and attached underneath the image it belonged to. Then the discussion started. That was usually good for about two hours. :) It's amazing how different people see the same image :)
It was always a lot of fun and eye opening to see the comments on the board.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Thanks Alicia, I appreciate your comments.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Hi Ray,
I probably shouldn't have even bothered with the confusing explanation in the about :)
The difference between the slight colour in this and a straight B&W shot is almost imperceptible. If this one was right beside a straight B&W version you would see a very subtle difference, but not much.
I'll try to expain a little better how I do my toning.
First, I take the colour image and convert it to greyscale in Photoshop.
Next, I will do some levelling or any other adjustments to try and bring out what I see as the best possible B&W image.
Next, I convert the image back to the RGB colour mode. This allows me to tone the B&W image. Using the colour adjustment bars.
I try not to over do it with this step, so this is probably why you don't see a lot of difference in this image. It is very close to B&W.
I did desaturate this one after adding some red to the mid range and shadows and there is only the slightest bit of red left.
You might ask, why bother if I only go almost right back to B&W anyway. :) I think the different slight colour adjustments can help to bring out or accentuate the image detail....sometimes.
Hope this all makes some sense Ray.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Thanks Dave,
I just finished writing a detailed explanation in a comment to Ray on how I came about the tones on this one. I'm not sure how other people do it, because there is always more than one way to skin a cat with Photoshop.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Thank You Inji,
I'm glad you like this one. There are a few other floral images that I have posted recently that you might like. Some you might like, some maybe not?
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Francesco Francesco
{K:8101} 3/27/2006
|
High quality image and very well presented...very pleasant! Ciao
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/27/2006
|
Thank you for your comment Francesco.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Kathy Hillard
{K:25721} 3/27/2006
|
MUCH better with the white stripe Andre! Before my first comment I took this to PS and cropped it tighter, but didn't upload it in the comment. I'm doing that now, just to see what you think of this.
Kathy
|
A different crop |
|
|
|
|
Susie OConnor
{K:34798} 3/27/2006
|
I really like the idea behind the photo art classes. I think you could learn so much from that...especially knowing that everyone is going to be looking for a positive and negative point to the shot. That would be so fun and such a learning experience. If only we had the time.... )
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/28/2006
|
Hi Kathy, A little like the Rolling Stones Logo :)
I had thought of doing a closer crop of this one in a landscape format like you did. Rotated about 20 degrees cw. Then I thought it might look too close to the first shot. (still my fave) I like them all. The leaves have such great texture. I think I'll upload one in colour today and that will be it for these Peace Lilys.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/28/2006
|
Hi Susie,
It's one of the most interesting, fun classes I've ever taken. I always looked forward to it. This type of class teaches people to accept criticizm with out anyone having their feelings hurt. The rule being one positive comment and one negative comment per person, per image. It was great! We posted one image to the display board and had 12 negative and 12 positive comments to think about. Some of which would naturally be repeated by different people. Think about that. If 9 out of 12 people tell you your image shouldn't be so dark, as their only negative comment, there is a pretty good chance your image is too dark :)
If 9 out of 12 people tell you that your image tells a great story, It probably tells a pretty good story. :)
Like you said, It's a great way to learn how effective your images are.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Kes
{K:18269} 3/29/2006
|
Hi Andre - real nice photos
This is very strong. Good stuff!
oh oh, "Critiquer's Corner" ...
I would like a deeper depth of field, or the right half of the leaf to be as sharp as the left.
The bright areas in the top left are somewhat distracting. Perhaps a bit of a tone-down there?
Best Regards,
Kes
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 3/29/2006
|
Thanks for the constructive criticizm Kes.
I agree the upper left bright areas could be toned down, where the window light is, but I wouldn't want to change the light on the leaf.
I was also concerned about the softness to the right half of the leaf. I'm not sure it is the DOF though as much as the way the light is hitting that area. Regardless, the left side and the top are much more exciting.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Kes
{K:18269} 3/31/2006
|
> - "I was also concerned about the softness to the right half of the leaf. I'm not sure it is the DOF though as much as the way the light is hitting that area. Regardless, the left side and the top are much more exciting."
You know, I thought about that after I posted. I think you're right, what we see is probably more of a light/contrast difference in the two sides of the leaf. My eye compares both sides, back and forth. If they were similar, the shot probably wouldn't hold my attention as long.
Best regards,
Kes
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 4/1/2006
|
Thanks for the second look at this one Kes. It's funny how something originally thought to be a fault can turn around on you and become a saving grace. I think this kind of thing happens quite often in photography. Sometimes if a shot is too perfect, it becomes so sterile that it won't hold our interest.
On this one, my wife was just worried I wouldn't show up the dust on the plant :)
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Rashed Abdulla
{K:153650} 4/3/2006
|
very powerful capture, the b/w is a great choise here, very sharp and with very great contrast and tone , all of the best my friend
|
|
|
|
|
Richard Dakin
{K:12852} 4/4/2006
|
A lovely exercise in line, texture and tone. Congrats my friend.
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 4/4/2006
|
Hi Richard, Thanks for the comment on this one!
Haven't seen you around for a while. Go Leafs! No pun intended :)
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 4/4/2006
|
Thanks Rashed,
I thought you would like this one. I notice we have similar tastes in our B&W toning.
Andre
|
|
|
|
|
Leo Régnier Я£
{K:62884} 4/22/2006
|
GREAT!!!! Congrats!!!
Leo
|
|
|
|
|
Andre Denis
{K:55922} 4/22/2006
|
Thanks Leo,
Thanks for the comments and for visiting my portfolio!
Andre
|
|
