Originally posted by dms BTW why is the original so low in contrast? No hood, and/or a filter, and/or an older single coated lens?
I took the photo with the F 70-210. Its contrast isn't the best, but even this is a pretty exceptional case of poor performance. I did use a hood, but I was standing in a shaded area (inside the monument), so stray ambient light wasn't a huge concern anyway.
Originally posted by Digitalis Knock back the saturation and clarity, tweak the sharpening - try to keep the radius to 0.9 and below and leave the contrast where it is.
I would also suggest using adjustment brushes for local level adjustments on areas that need additional contrast (like the apex of the dome) - people too frequently adjust the entire image and often that is detrimental to its content.
Thank you for the tips. I'll play with this thing tonight and see what comes out of it.
Quote: Take a look at his lens line up, no exotic un-coated optics there. The original photo was taken at great distance from a high elevation.
This is exactly the shooting situation. I was 500 feet above the ground at the top of the monument. It was a warm and sunny day. I suspect most of the haze is pollution.
Originally posted by clicksworth Taken from the Washington monument? That's a long way. The sun is high. I think it's ultraviolet that you have too much of.
Ironic is that I always use a UV filter.
Originally posted by r0ckstarr Did you shoot it through a glass window?
Yes. That didn't help anything. You can see it in the tree on the left side of the monument. It's very slight, but there's a reflection from the glass. Actually...I think they were plastic. I got as close as I could, but the windows are recessed pretty deeply and covered by bars, so I had to stuff my camera through the bar and get as close as I could. But I couldn't get right up to the window.