The Lightroom Playground - Week 1 Comments & Questions

[JulieM]

Please post comments and questions regarding The Lightroom Playground - Week 1 (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32437) challenge here.

[bayhli]

Good job Julie! Thanks for getting this started...

[Elemobe]

That works well Chuck, interesting effect on the gaps in the stones and has lifted those dark areas.

I am going to give that one a try on an unusual old car shot. Thanks for the link.

[JulieM]

It's fun to see what others have done with my poor straight-out-of-camera image. It was so lacklustre and sad before you guys got your hands on it!

Chuck, Matt's edgy technique is well suited to the rock sculptures. I tried that tutorial on a few photos with mixed results but this seems to be a good choice.

Linda, you did a really nice job with the contrast and the colors in your first one. The vignetting presets are so handy, aren't they? I have some edge lightening presets which can be really effective for certain shots too. You're right, I did post before about the presets from Inside Lightroom that include Deviant 2. Here (http://inside-lightroom.com/colour.php) they are. Boy, I think that particular effect is perfect for this photo.

I may not be able to try my hand at this one for a few days as I'm having problems with my LR equipped computer. I may have to take it to the doctor tomorrow...

[bayhli]

Julie, not you too with a sick computer. I've been sitting here waiting for service for more than two weeks. Finally made different arrangements and mine goes to hosptal this coming Thursday for a couple of days. In the meantime I've tried not to use it too much so its really been a confining experience.

Presets, my goodness I haven't even looked at any of those. I do like the results I'm seeing Chuck and Linda. Will have to investigate the links.

Did either of you do any work on the images prior to applying the preset?

Very nicely and quickly done, both of you.

[JulieM]

Pat, you must check out the presets. To me, they are like magic! I'll look forward to seeing what you can do to my image...

Chuck, it pops! I didn't notice how much green there was in the original until I saw your result.

A question for all - is having the RAW image for the exercise useful? And did sendspace function okay for downloading it?

[Chuck S.]

Pat, I went to the presets first, then adjusted the image afterward. Not sure it would have been any different if I had done the basic adjustments first.

The presets are a hoot; I've probably downloaded well over 100 develop presets. They're free and very easy to load, so I just keep collecting some every week from Matt's site and several others.

[bayhli]

Well, this is very interesting to me already. It's what I get for joining up with such a creative group of people. You might just move me beyond always wanting things to look as they naturally are.

I'm sitting back looking at all the variations and have changed my mind on a few things. I keep going back to your first entry Chuck, the Surreal Edgy Effect - it really appeals to me for this image. And I like the fact in this one, that it isn't cropped.

I also like your Deviant effect Linda - I do find it a little harder to distinguish between all the different "objects" in the image (sameness), altho that could be my particular eyesight.

Mine - is what they call a "snapshot". I also regret cropping it when what I liked most was all the birds and the little bridge far off in the background. The compositional thirds were very good as they were in the original photo for the statues I liked and it was much more interesting to me as it was; this especially struck me with Chuck's first image.

Of course this is all very subjective...

[Elemobe]

Pat, good crop, really makes the composition.

Chuck - that WOW preset is aptly named - it really does pop now. I think you get the 'Gold Star";)

The presets are great, if it wasn't for Julie, I wouldn't have known they existed and of course the results are different depending on which photo you use them on.

Julie, the photo was very easy to download - good site. It's good to have a large file to work on, not sure what the difference would have been if it had have been Jpg.

Right everyone, would you please stop talking today, I really have to get on and do some work and you are all distracting me:p :D

[JulieM]

Pat, I really like your interpretation. I'm glad you cropped, to me it really needed it. Your processing gives the image a very natural look very much like it appeared to my eye that morning. I better get my eyes checked, though, because I never noticed dust to be cloned out!

Here is info on the scuptures by the artist who created them, John Ceprano:

Photography generated a renewed interest in the environment and meteorology, with a focus on nature and wild life. In 1986, it inspired an additional discipline, known as "rock balance art." This discipline involves creating balanced, temporal, natural rock sculptures “in situ,” primarily at Remic Rapids Park, Ottawa. This site has an infinite variety of natural stone and a natural amphitheatre overlooking the site. The sculptures are assembled with only the material on site and are created entirely by hand. They are balanced and temporal, eventually being dismantled by nature. The installation site measures approximately 60 metres in diameter, and is recreated each year with a different presentation, theme and story. The sculpture project has become an annual event. It received funding from the Canada Council in 1989 and, since 2000, has been funded by the National Capital Commission. Since 2001, dancers and musicians have begun to perform at the site in response to the sculptures and nature itself. I refer to this work as “the pursuit of balance,” a never-ending attempt to discover and create innovative and challenging assemblages of balance, design and display. The project is a community-based art program, and includes workshops teaching youths and adults the process at the site, in the public school system and privately.What isn't obvious from the photo is that there are probably around 30 of these rock sculptures at this site.

[bayhli]

Thanks for providing the background for your image Julie, I figured there was lots more to see. Isn't it wonderful that they have incorporated it into the schools. It sure succeeds at examplifying the balance of nature.

Let me re-phrase that - I removed 3 teenie tiny specks! I have hundreds of dust spots I swear and cleaning my sensor is sitting on my to-do list.

:D:D Linda - I have to get off here myself or there will be no Xmas in my house this year! Embelllishment-style cookies just aren't going to cut it no matter how well they are done.

[JulieM]

Hi Colin,

I'm glad you had a go with my image. I like your cloning idea. It makes it look like an army of inuksuit. I really haven't explored the cloning feature in LR. I take it that PSE makes easier work of it?

Did you use presets to process each of these? The color and tone in both is very appealing.

One thing I wish LR could do is apply the vignette to the cropped image rather than the original.

[Codebreaker]

Julie....

The first image was just a result of selectively reducing the saturation of the background colours and boosting saturation on the foreground colours. This was done by draging the saturation control in the image. There's a little button to do this in the HSL panel - I don't know it's correct name.

The second image was finally made using one of the Aged Photo preset. LR actually bombed out after a few cloning applications.

I suppose it doesn't really make sense to apply the Vignetting to a crop since it's purpose is to reduce lens effects. PS is far better suited for all these things anyway.

Colin

[JulieM]

Thanks for the explanation, Colin.