[miguelfenoglio]

Is the sky too distracting? Unfortunately, there is an umbrella pole covering her face... I was not able to get another angle as I was sitting across them in a different bar. The original shot is lighter, as it is was not that dark out yet. But the lights where on, so I decided to take advantage of those and make the whole thing darker than it was and make it look as if the light is coming from the light bulbs.

As always, critique away and don't hold back!

[redmenace]

I like the sky. In a way it balances the patio.

It seems a bit bottom-heavy, though... you might perhaps crop out a bunch of that darkness if you don't mind altering the proportions.

[jack002]

I like it. The sky is the picture IMHO

[Sight1]

Needs a foreground object in front, like a camp fire, or a large candle, to set the background view of sky and patio into proportion. Wide angle shots I feel require a detailed forward object to introduce the scene. Not always easy to find that combination.

[miguelfenoglio]

Hi all, thanks for the feedback! Really appreciate your thoughts.

It seems a bit bottom-heavy, though... you might perhaps crop out a bunch of that darkness if you don't mind altering the proportions.

I wasn't sure. I had reduced it, then liked the almost square proportions. I have no problem altering the proportions, so I have taken out a bit of the bottom. Might help the eye find the couple I guess

I like it. The sky is the picture IMHO

Glad you like it. I was actually hoping the couple/bar would be the picture, so I guess my fear of the sky being too distracting is maybe well founded. That said, without the sky it might just be another regular shot. And I don't want to light up the couple too much either, as it would detract from the subtle lightbulb light

Needs a foreground object in front, like a camp fire, or a large candle, to set the background view of sky and patio into proportion.

Wouldn't that steal focus from the couple/bar which is what I actually want the subject to be? I guess there's still work to be done if I have to explain what the subject should be!


I don't want it to be HDR or fake-looking, but does it look a little too dark/underexposed?

[József]

Can you cuting the dark sekcions It will better.

[dcpropilot]

Maybe pull some details out the shadows using Photoshop/Lightroom to lessen the negative space. Also bring the general dark line down to where it's one third up from the bottom.

[ashurbanipal]

The sky is wonderful, but the couple at the bar get lost in the dark foreground. I'd crop at least half of the dark area on the bottom. Hard to judge without seeing the original, but I wonder what it would look like if the buildings to the right were a little brighter; not much, just enough to reduce the silhouette effect. Depending on how distracting the colors are in the part of the image, it might need some desaturation to avoid stealing focus from the couple.

Those are just nitpicks, though, I still like the picture.

[József]

A lot of the dark part that shows nothing. The remnant are very good. Why don't you make it.

[Vad]

I'd like to crop away at least half of that black field from the bottom of picture too

[miguelfenoglio]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate the help and pointers.

Due to popular demand, here's a version with less black foreground. I've also tweaked the light in general to make it just a tiny bit brighter and adjusted the light on the couple.



Also, for those that may be curious, here is the original. As you can see, the shot above is actually a crop:

[József]

Finally, so much better.

[robgski]

A good idea, just hard to pull off. Understanding that you take the picture when the moment is there, if you'd tried to move about 10 meters to your right, you could have had the couple and the best part of the sky.
In any case, some cropping can make for a better shot.

[József]

Going the that .I give one original file in a frame

[Pelto]

Like your final Crop and light better than robgski’s, but nice ��