Streets A Late Night on Campus

Zephos · 02-11-2015, 11:24 PM

I got the WB on this wrong, but managed to save it by making it black and white. Any tips on how I could make this better? Not too sure about the bokeh and overall contrast. I did darken it up a bit with the balck and white tool in Raw Therapy. Still learning how to edit RAW files.

bdery · 02-12-2015, 06:56 AM

It's a nice concept.

The feeling I get when looking at it is that even though out of focus, your subject is the person. In that case, the position of the front lamp does not help. I'd move that to the side, keeping the person mostly at the same place. Maybe more contrast would also help but I'd start with the framing.

**tlong423** · 02-12-2015, 07:26 AM

Originally posted by Zephos

I got the WB on this wrong, but managed to save it by making it black and white. Any tips on how I could make this better? Not too sure about the bokeh and overall contrast. I did darken it up a bit with the balck and white tool in Raw Therapy. Still learning how to edit RAW files.

I could easily imagine this image illustrating a newspaper story on something like "campus safety" at a college. I actually think the composition is pretty good, though I think I might have lifted up a bit when shooting it so as to allow the lit areas of the background building to give a bit more definition to both the person walking and the top "dome" cap of the lamp. And assuming this is a digital image, I would definitely play with the levels to correct for contrast. My rule of thumb is that *most* black-and-white images should have at least some definite black and some definite white.

**zamke14** · 02-14-2015, 02:51 AM

Hi Zephos, just played with your pic on LR.
But as tlong423 already suggested, play with your digital images, there is always way for improvement

Attached Images

Last edited by zamke14; 02-14-2015 at 02:57 AM.

phoenixvision · 02-15-2015, 02:35 AM

It's a compelling shot.....the clarity feels a little soft especially for BW which...normally wants moreclarity to work the contrast......by the way, you can adjust the white balance on raw photos in post...so dont give up on the shot quite yet in color....

02-11-2015, 11:24 PM	#1
Zephos Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Photos: Albums Posts: 341	A Late Night on Campus Lens: smc PENTAX DA 50mm f/1.8 Camera: K-50 Photo Location: College Campus ISO: 1250 Shutter Speed: 1/30s Aperture: F1.8 I got the WB on this wrong, but managed to save it by making it black and white. Any tips on how I could make this better? Not too sure about the bokeh and overall contrast. I did darken it up a bit with the balck and white tool in Raw Therapy. Still learning how to edit RAW files.

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02-12-2015, 06:56 AM	#2
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	It's a nice concept. The feeling I get when looking at it is that even though out of focus, your subject is the person. In that case, the position of the front lamp does not help. I'd move that to the side, keeping the person mostly at the same place. Maybe more contrast would also help but I'd start with the framing.

02-12-2015, 07:26 AM	#3
tlong423 Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Kansas City Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 194	Originally posted by Zephos I got the WB on this wrong, but managed to save it by making it black and white. Any tips on how I could make this better? Not too sure about the bokeh and overall contrast. I did darken it up a bit with the balck and white tool in Raw Therapy. Still learning how to edit RAW files. I could easily imagine this image illustrating a newspaper story on something like "campus safety" at a college. I actually think the composition is pretty good, though I think I might have lifted up a bit when shooting it so as to allow the lit areas of the background building to give a bit more definition to both the person walking and the top "dome" cap of the lamp. And assuming this is a digital image, I would definitely play with the levels to correct for contrast. My rule of thumb is that most black-and-white images should have at least some definite black and some definite white.

02-14-2015, 02:51 AM	#4
zamke14 Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 74	Hi Zephos, just played with your pic on LR. But as tlong423 already suggested, play with your digital images, there is always way for improvement Attached Images Last edited by zamke14; 02-14-2015 at 02:57 AM.

02-15-2015, 02:35 AM	#5
phoenixvision Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,458	It's a compelling shot.....the clarity feels a little soft especially for BW which...normally wants moreclarity to work the contrast......by the way, you can adjust the white balance on raw photos in post...so dont give up on the shot quite yet in color....