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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> What's wrong with this?
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Showing posts 1 - 22 of 22, descending (reverse)
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02/21/2017 01:45:01 AM · #1
I love your work and I have from the beginning loved the first one you did. I think I like the vanishing point on the left the best. With or without the poles works for me.
10/18/2016 12:16:25 PM · #2
You did a great job removing the power lines. Technically excellent. But, just to be contrarian, I prefer it WITH that stuff, it feels more gritty and authentic to me. That's just a personal aesthetic opinion, though.
10/18/2016 12:15:24 PM · #3
You did a great job removing the power lines. Technically excellent. But, just to be contrarian, I prefer it WITH that stuff, it feels more gritty and authentic to me. That's just a personal aesthetic opinion, though.
10/18/2016 10:58:06 AM · #4
I think I'll bump this once more in the hope that some of you who weighed in before will have time to take a look. I do have the otherwise revised version (no poles, etc) w/o the crop as I did the crop last thing. NikonJeb weighed in on the revision so thanks for that.
10/17/2016 05:05:49 PM · #5
Thank you all for the suggestions and a fun day experimenting. Obviously I cannot make the light or the perspective something that it was not, but I did have fun playing. Here's what I came up with - whether better or worse or just the same, I don't know. But I do know I have to move on to other things, so this is it for now. I will sure keep all the comments and suggestions in mind as I edit others in the shoot and especially if I ever go back and try again.



(for ease in comparison)

Message edited by author 2016-10-17 17:06:48.
10/17/2016 01:49:41 PM · #6
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Okay.....other than the obvious, Federal Aviation Administration, what the heck is FAA???

And if it is that, what interest do they have in a car graveyard?

I think that's Fine Art America -- a source for people to buy photographic prints ...


Yep. And not many people do have an interest in a car graveyard - but some do.

And oh my goodness but there are a LOT of power lines!!
10/17/2016 01:36:48 PM · #7
Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Okay.....other than the obvious, Federal Aviation Administration, what the heck is FAA???

And if it is that, what interest do they have in a car graveyard?

I think that's Fine Art America -- a source for people to buy photographic prints ...

Message edited by author 2016-10-17 13:39:07.
10/17/2016 01:31:20 PM · #8
Originally posted by GeorgesBogaert:


I still feel the poles to be very distractive and the ruleset allowed you to remove it.
I did change the perspective a little to get the viewer more into the picture and only focus on the row of cars.
I would have entered it in b&w and flipped


Nice!!!
10/17/2016 01:29:49 PM · #9
Okay.....other than the obvious, Federal Aviation Administration, what the heck is FAA???

And if it is that, what interest do they have in a car graveyard?
10/17/2016 01:06:39 PM · #10
I guess I didn't realize the poles could be taken out - I know power lines can, now that you mention that, but that would have seemed too much to me had I thought about it. Thing is I was on vacation and on my laptop on which I not only have limited editing tools but also do not trust the monitor. So I actually put the low score down to lousy processing originally. Now that I'm back, I took a look on my home monitor and thought it actually looked pretty good LOL That's part of what prompted me to post.

I'm working on an edit. I've taken the poles and lines out and adjusted the perspective though not, I think, as you did. I'll have to do a comparison. Anyway, I'll keep working and post what I get when I get it.

Thanks, Georges. How are you doing?
10/17/2016 12:56:13 PM · #11
I gave your picture an 8. It is indeed much better to flip the picture
I still feel the poles to be very distractive and the ruleset allowed you to remove it.
I did change the perspective a little to get the viewer more into the picture and only focus on the row of cars.
I would have entered it in b&w and flipped
My 2 tries


10/17/2016 11:20:30 AM · #12
That horizontal flip really does work well in this case. Good call, Wendy!
10/17/2016 10:45:24 AM · #13
Thanks, Wendy. More great thoughts.

I thought of flipping but only fleetingly - I guess I was afraid something would be "wrong" in the mirror - you know, like text is wrong if you flip it. But probably not.

I like your idea for moving down the row and shooting from different positions. Would have had to stand practically on the highway and I was alone - but if I go back, I won't be and I'll give that a try. (It isn't a very busy highway anyway, but it was getting late and I was alone so I made sure I had permission and then stayed well off the road, on the property.)

I wonder whether I could give this a bit of a distortion tweak and decrease the extreme receding feeling . . .

Hadn't really intended to re-work this one that much and was mostly looking for direction before I go on, but I'm getting intrigued :)
10/17/2016 10:14:02 AM · #14
It's funny, because I usually do like reversing the flow. I'd rather have the eye stop at the main subject than have it start there and then go out of the frame. But I actually think swapping horizontally in this case helps the image a lot. Simply because of the technical flaws. When you start on the important part, it's not as obvious that there's a problem until you sweep through, and since you're going out of the frame, it doesn't matter as much.

I'm not good at that type of editing, but lessening the shadows, evening it out more, and flipping it I think would help it.

However, I think the biggest thing is that the cars are just receding too much. If they were in a straight line, it would have worked better. I wonder if it would have been more successful if you would have moved the camera position down the line instead of just turning the camera? Doing a pano where the camera slid to the side so that there's more of the cars? I'm curious -- because I know nothing of panos. But the main problem is that the subject is the cars, and none of the lighting is really helping any of it. The sky is bright, the grass is bright, but the cars in all of their positions are either shady/muddy/or getting really small. You need to find a way to lessen the distractions and have it be more about the cars.

Very poor attempt at lighting that failed.

10/17/2016 10:06:11 AM · #15
Thanks for the serious consideration, David. Not really accessible - halfway between here (Omaha) and Denver (where I was going) and then only if you take the long, scenic route (which is what I did). But that's not to say I won't go back that way sometime.

When I read your first comment, I put it together with Mary Ann's (on image) and thought maybe I'd try a little "shift the light" magic on it - not that I could bring the ones in the deep shade into full sun and vice versa, but maybe that I could at least even it out so the eye wasn't drawn quite so strongly and immediately to the left.

Now I've read your added thoughts and I'm not so sure. I do sometimes like the tension of "reversing" the flow of an image and it does kind of suit the gritty nature of the subject here.
10/17/2016 09:58:52 AM · #16
Originally posted by smardaz:

No hurt feelings intended, I've learned the most thru blunt criticism so I try to give the same.


And there were none - just gave me a smile :) Thanks again for weighing in.
10/17/2016 09:26:38 AM · #17
Since it scored better than my average, take my comments for what they're worth...
I love old cars, so I think the subject matter is great! The stitching for the pano is perfect - I'd have to really work to figure out where it is.
I'd say the biggest thing working against this shot is the lighting. The primary point of interest (the car on the right of the picture) is at least partially in the shade, while cars further to the left are in bright (almost harsh) sunlight. So, while the visual line up of vehicles is fairly smooth and even, the lighting is choppy and uneven. It also looks like you're fighting a large tree behind you and to the right that is casting a shadow into your picture (and maybe covering up yours). I don't know how accessible this location is for you, but I'd try different times of the day and maybe different weather - perhaps an overcast or rainy day - to even out the lighting and maybe make the colors a bit more dynamic. But then, you'd have an uninteresting gray sky, so...

I can't leave this alone. At first, I thought of it as a "flaw", but the more I think about it, the more I think it is a great plus to the picture. In western cultures, we generally read left to right, and like to look at pictures the same way. But your image is strongly composed from right to left. The net effect is that the viewer is subconsciously drawn into your image by this cultural preference. By scanning the image from left to right, you start at "drawn in" and "come out" of the image as you go. In your image, this is a satisfying / fulfilling / completing experience. It also makes the lighting on the rightmost car critical, since it becomes the "resolution" of the image. Kind-of like a reverse "leading lines" effect.
10/17/2016 03:49:28 AM · #18
No hurt feelings intended, I've learned the most thru blunt criticism so I try to give the same.
10/16/2016 04:46:31 PM · #19
Thanks to both of you. Mary Ann commented on the image and was bothered by the same things as smardaz though she phrased it more diplomatically LOL

I actually went here on purpose - had never been before but my sister had stumbled on and told me about the place. As I said, I have a lot of other shots, many of which will not have the same problems because the perspective either eliminated or minimized background distractions. But yes, this was taken, of necessity, basically as Jason says. These cars are parked along the roadside. There's the cars, then a ditch and you can stand on one side or the other of it, then the highway. Behind them and also off to the right side as we view the image is a salvage yard. The people who run it were delightful and I actually found the entire place very cool :)

I'm actually encouraged that none of you three seems to have a problem with the stitching and processing :) It's not HDR, but I did try to give the vehicles that sort of look because I often like that on old rusty cars.
10/16/2016 04:20:27 PM · #20
I bet FAA will like it a lot better than DPC does, simply because it may be a scene that resonates with them. I think the processing and stitching are well done. I am not bothered by the same details as Smardaz is, they seem to me to anchor it in reality.
10/16/2016 01:06:15 PM · #21
in my opinion (not worth much) there are to many distracting elements like the power cables and buildings. It looks more like someone pulled over when they saw some old cars and less like someone thought about and set up the shot.
10/16/2016 11:45:38 AM · #22
Please do not misunderstand my motives and intentions here - I am NOT complaining about scores or where this one finished (it was my September FS entry and finished at the 25%ile point).
But I thought it looked pretty good - still do; obviously I am in the minority here LOL.

I want to put it up at FAA and may want to use it elsewhere. I also have many other images to process from the same location. So . . . in the interest of helping me present this pano and my other images as well as possible, I ask for thoughts, critiques, suggestions, reactions.

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