Diagonals

[davidc]

Though it's in the 365-II thread as well I was looking for some feedback on this one as I think it has potential.

X100S (so 23mm but 35mm equiv.)
f8
1/30th
iso 1250

Processing wise my SEP2 trial has expired so until I decide if I'm going to purchase I tweaked the curve to a very shallow S, boosted the clarity, de-clipped the highlights/shadows and sharpened (more sharpening than I normally would, and I even tried USM ) and corrected the perspective.


12. Diagonals by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

[Paul Heester]

This is a very strong shot and you should be proud of it With all those angles and gradients a B&W conversion is a must. Id be interested to see what SEP2 could do with it but I dont feel it needs a heavily processed effect added. Compositionally its strong as well. I can hear a judge say about the lady walking out of the frame, maybe it would be interesting to see her in the clear part of the staircase? Also not sure how far back you can go to try and get a flatter perspective?

I suspect the location has the potential for a revisit and come away with something quite different.

Congrats on Explore, 13000+ views and counting!

[davidc]

This is a very strong shot and you should be proud of it With all those angles and gradients a B&W conversion is a must. Id be interested to see what SEP2 could do with it but I dont feel it needs a heavily processed effect added.

I did try it out again last night using a second trial and it either replicated my effect or, in an effort to boost mid tone contrast that wasn't really there, turned it into a horrible mush. To be honest, SEP2 is great for speed but there's nothing it does that you can't achieve yourself tweaking levels, the curve & clarity You can even download photoshop actions for free that replicate essentially all the SEP2 presets which is one reason I'm holding off buying. The other is I have my eye on a lens

Compositionally its strong as well. I can hear a judge say about the lady walking out of the frame, maybe it would be interesting to see her in the clear part of the staircase? Also not sure how far back you can go to try and get a flatter perspective?

I have a version like that but it's much more evidently blurred and didn't look as good. One thing I might try is flipping her around so she's walking the other way. As for going backwards or moving around, it wasn't possible - behind me was a massive pool of water I suppose I could just take my thongs off and start paddling though!

Congrats on Explore, 13000+ views and counting!

Cheers
It's become my third most-viewed image and, coincidentally, my third most favourited. Quite nice waking up to an email inbox full of flickr alerts. Off topic, yesterday's image has also made it into Explore too albeit a lot lower down It's very flattering.

[Mike Farley]

I have been looking at this for a couple of days and find it growing on me. You have some strong contrasting diagonals, with light and shade on either side of the stairway. Having the darker area at the bottom and the lighter area above is optimal. I am not sure the image would work so well if the positions were reversed. The woman is well positioned against a lighter area, although possibly too far to the right. That said, she is filling a space which would otherwise be relatively empty and the "correct" placement on the left hand vertical third might not work as well. It would be interesting to see the shot flipped, although this would change the main diagonal from going in a rising direction to one which is falling, based on the direction which Western eyes at least typically scan an image. That could well alter the overall balance.

The small triangle at top left is slightly distracting and due to its position, one of the first things I saw when initially viewing the image. In fact I originally dismissed the shot solely based on that one factor! I would crop or clone it out. Similarly I would remove the light under the stairway at top right to neaten things up.

Well spotted and congratulations on your flickr success.

Regarding SEP2, it does offer a lot of adjustments and although I would expect to be able to replicate most things in Lightroom and/or Photoshop, it does offer the advantages of convenience and speed. For me, it was money well spent.

[davidc]

Regarding SEP2, it does offer a lot of adjustments and although I would expect to be able to replicate most things in Lightroom and/or Photoshop, it does offer the advantages of convenience and speed. For me, it was money well spent.

I was inches away from getting it then googled SEP2 photoshop actions Now I think I will hang tight and see if a successor is due out, SEP2 is long in the tooth by photography software standards

[Mike Farley]

Regarding SEP2, it does offer a lot of adjustments and although I would expect to be able to replicate most things in Lightroom and/or Photoshop, it does offer the advantages of convenience and speed. For me, it was money well spent.

I was inches away from getting it then googled SEP2 photoshop actions Now I think I will hang tight and see if a successor is due out, SEP2 is long in the tooth by photography software standards

It might be a long wait. Google acquired Nik software a couple of years ago as it primarily wanted Snapseed, not Nik's other photo editing tools. Since then, the only updates to the suite have been tweaks to ensure Photoshop CC compatibility and a second version of the Analog Efex tool which sits alongside, rather than being integrated with, the original version. What does beg the question is what improvements are you expecting? Nik's update fron SEP to SEP2 introduced much more granular controls which seem very comprehensive to me. I would have thought that there is only so much you can do with mono conversion software and SEP2 is pretty much there. Personally,I would rather see SEP2 style controls incorporated into Color Efex, but given the length of time which has elapsed without any significant activity since Nik was acquired, I am not expecting that to happen.

[davidc]

Well I'm in no hurry to buy it as PS actions fulfill the role very well so while I don't know what could be added in SEP3, nor am I depriving myself of the functionality by holding onto my cash and seeing what happens

Having said that, if you asked someone in early versions of PS what they were expecting from later versions I doubt many people would have the imagination to predict exactly what adobe have added over the years! As a punter, I'm not paid to think up what SEP should add next

edit: sorry I think I've overgeneralized there - it's a mix of PS actions and LR presets for when I want to make edits direct to a raw file. I found that all I was doing 99% of the time in SEP2 was applying a preset and not using other tools that weren't achievable in PS and now LR. So I figured all I was paying for were a load of presets and did a search for mono presets for LR & PS which fulfill my needs. I guess that's the benefit of a trial, see what it offers vs the free competition, pays your money, makes your choice

[davidc]

It might be a long wait.

This piqued my curiosity so I did some research and indeed I can't see anything about a future SEP3, not even much in the way of speculation (which the internet is rather good at). Still this surprises me, especially considering snapseed is free, so google must be planning something surely?

[Mike Farley]

It might be a long wait.

This piqued my curiosity so I did some research and indeed I can't see anything about a future SEP3, not even much in the way of speculation (which the internet is rather good at). Still this surprises me, especially considering snapseed is free, so google must be planning something surely?

It's debatable how much Photoshop has actually moved on for photographers since version 7. The basic functionality was all there at that point and mainly it has been additional tools to make it easier to apply certain adjustments and improvements to Raw processing. We get new versions because companies need to maintain revenue streams and one way they do this is by reselling to existing customers via updates. The Nik suite is a sideline rather than a core business for Google as it bought the company to get its hands on Snapseed, so there is not the same imperative to add new features for the sake of it.

From what you have described about your processing, it sounds as though the original SEP would be more than adequate for your needs, let alone an all singing and dancing SEP3. If you are happy with your results using bits and bobs garnered from the Internet, then it hardly matters how you got there.

While you have your evaluation copy of SEP2, you might want to try the processing steps at this link as it produces reasonable results with the right images. I used it for my recent "Shadows" POTD image. I am guessing that it could also work well with "Diagonals".

http://giannigalassi.typepad.com/blog/2 ... kflow.html

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1069

[davidc]

Interesting article, I'll give it a whirl.

I do find comments like this interesting.

•Rely on jpg if you are a good photographer and are very familiar with your camera's behavior. Otherwise shoot raw.

I'm not sure we have an emoticon for *shakes head in utter belief at the drivel people come out with*. There's only one reason to shoot JPG and that's the admission you can't be bothered to process a raw file properly

It reminds me of this series of videos

http://froknowsphoto.com/raw-vs-jpeg-vs ... interview/

(start at the bottom and work up)