[TOUGEFC]

Nice shot Dr Orlof! I would have said yes too, it much better than most of the birds in the PEG

[Dr Orloff]

Thanks all for the comments. Just to reiterate where I'm coming from, I don't make any comment on it's merits compared to previous acceptances or any complaint about it being rejected. It just would be valuable I believe for all concerned if judges left comments explaining briefly their judgement. Any opinion is better than no opinion.

[baro-nite]

My first and thus far only submission to the PEG:


Blacksmith

Odd choice for my first submission given that I do very little portraiture. Though that's why I picked this one -- I was pleased to get a portrait I liked and wanted to see if it was "good enough". Also to get some critique from those who understand the conventions of portraiture better than I do. Just to show how little I know about it, I hadn't even noticed the cropped elbow until it was pointed out in the comments I received. Unfortunately I can't fix that.

Got comments from two judges and just assumed that those were the only two judges who looked at it. I'm disappointed to read here that some images are rejected with no comments at all. Other flaws pointed out were too little contrast, uninteresting framing, and that I should get rid of the top left highlights. (There were positive comments from both judges also.) Obviously these are legitimate points although subjective, and I realize that most people like higher contrast than I do for a lot of subjects. Looks like Dr Orloff got that one both ways -- one comment on his beautiful image says wonderful tonality, another says he needs to boost contrast/texture.

For me it was important here to convey the sense of dim natural lighting in a very dark smithy. Probably won't be till next year that I can see this guy in action again, but I'll think about different ways to get that across. Or possibly I can find another from the set that does this better; this was by far my favorite but I'll take another look.

I found the comments instructive (whether or not I agree with all of them) will try again in one of my more usual genres.

[thoughton]

It's a good photo, although I also agree with the minor niggles the judges picked up on. However somewhat unfortunately for you there is another blacksmith in the PEG, and he's pretty damn impressive! If you sort the gallery by 'highest ratings' he should be at number 1. I pretty much gave up submitting my feeble portraits after seeing that shot

[baro-nite]

It's a good photo, although I also agree with the minor niggles the judges picked up on. However somewhat unfortunately for you there is another blacksmith in the PEG, and he's pretty damn impressive! If you sort the gallery by 'highest ratings' he should be at number 1. I pretty much gave up submitting my feeble portraits after seeing that shot

Yeah, Rense's image is brilliant and the high rating is well deserved. I don't think he's locked out the "blacksmith" category, though. There's always something new to find in any subject.

[thoughton]

Oh absolutely, revisit your blacksmith next year and try again! If you get get him to grow a massive beard that would help too

[atupdate]

I found the comments instructive (whether or not I agree with all of them) will try again in one of my more usual genres.

When you put them all together, the comments really provide some good suggestions for re-processing this image. Here I added a black border on the left side to help "frame" the picture better, cloned out the bright sections at the top left, bumped the contrast with a slight Curve adjustment layer and cropped to an 8x10 ratio. Afterwards, I sharpened the image with USM at radius = 0.75 and strength = 70.



I think this image is worth re-submitting.

Tim

[baro-nite]

Tim, thanks for the time and effort in thinking about and working on this, and for providing the technical details of what you did. My concern is that even though the frame helps hide it, the elbow is still cropped just a tiny bit. I could always fake in the missing bit and might even be able to do so convincingly but for me that would cross the line -- I'm happy enough to clone things out but adding them in is something else. But your version gives me the idea to give the entire image a "fade to black" surround. And for contrast I can easily tweak the skin tones in the B&W channel mix and possibly some selective dodge and burn, which I think is really the area of contrast that is a concern. Although the overall contrast boost you did does look good for fore- and background elements. Thanks again and I will give it more thought.

[Dr Orloff]

Those little things really add up. I think you've ended up with a much improved picture triggered by those comments. Personally I'd try a little more still on the left hand side, maybe even cloning out mid-right to give it even more of a black surround. PEG material or not, it's a shot to be very pleased with.

[atupdate]

My concern is that even though the frame helps hide it, the elbow is still cropped just a tiny bit.

I didn't even see that. I would think it would be an easy clone to finish the elbow. I wouldn't be afraid to do that and re-submit. It is such a minor point compared to the overall focal point of the image. The other option is to crop it tighter and make the elbow crop look intentional.



Tim

[atupdate]

Personally I'd try a little more still on the left hand side, maybe even cloning out mid-right to give it even more of a black surround.

I missed the bright white area on the right hand as well as the elbow. I definitely would clone that as well (like my post above).

Tim

[baro-nite]

Thanks very much to all. It is so hard for me to get past my initial way of looking at an image, but thanks to your suggestions (and those of the PEG judges) I really am happier with where this is going. Here's where I am with it now. Lots of selective contrast adjustments along with the cloning and fading out. In the original version you can barely make it out, but there's a pattern stenciled above the fire and in this version I've brightened it up a bit. It is a little odd just floating there but I like it as a sort of signature for the blacksmith.

[Dice]

Thought I would add my first and probably long line of rejections. I was hoping for some feedback/constructive criticism but received none. Would be open to any comments on how I could have improved or added more emotion/tone to this image.

[baro-nite]

Not so helpful to get a rejection without comments. Without trying to guess what it is that PEG judges like, for myself I'd like to see this with more emphasis on the foreground and less on the sky. To me the subject here is very much the receding rails and also the reflected light and suggestion of falling into ruin. The sky overwhelms this. Here's my take, perhaps extreme both as contrast adjustment and crop (and the masking of the skyline is not perfect), but a different look:

[Dice]

Thanks Baro-nite. The PP certainly adds punch to image and as you state emphasizes the foreground. Thank you for your comments.