Critique #17

[Andy]

Here is another image:

[Andy]

Interesting thought. You have my permission. Lets see your image.

Of course, you know this will be manipulation

[Andy]

I don't think this one necessarily breaks a rule. The cattle aren't "looking" out of the frame or even necessecarily moving out of the frame. I think they proved balance, in this case. But am still intrigued by the idea of reversing the image

[deaner1971]

You should have picked up and placed the cows like you did that leaf...

[Andy]

LOL, Dean. Actually, I hadn't thought about it, but CS6 has a new feature called "Content-aware" Move. I probably Could move them around in the photo. Maybe its a good one to try to play around with.

[autzig]

Except for being a bit over saturated, I like this image. The balance is perfect with the heavy barn on the right balanced with the cows on the left. I personally don't think the flipped image works any better than the original. If you are going to take Dean's suggestion and move the cows, you should move them so they are facing into the scene instead of out of it. I think they have enough room but if they were facing into the scene it would be better as they would be pointing to your subject barn.

If you are going to face the cows toward the barn, you may as well put a few clouds in the sky too.

Actually, I would be inclined to crop a little of the sky and a little of the pastureland in front of the cows. This kind of sky doesn't add any interest so I'd crop it just above the tallest tree.

Al

[Utah Baker]

I'm certainly no expert, but I do prefer the flipped image, somehow more pleasing to the eye. As for cropping I would leave the sky and crop the bottom just above the cows, removing them completely, if you don't like the way the are facing.

[deaner1971]

OK, I was kidding about moving the cows but I should have guessed that any weird idea I can come up with, a talented PS user can probably achieve...

Why do I like the flipped image better (and I do)? Can someone break that down for me as it seems to be a common response to the change. And this is a change that seems easy to do so I'd love to know if my not being the new Ansel Adams is just because I haven't been flipping things !

[autzig]

I think those who like the flipped image better are being affected by the fact that we read from left to right. The flipped image takes our eyes from the barn on the left to the cows on the right. It is as simple as that.

Al

[Andy]

Exactly right, Al. I recently posted an image on Greg Lessard's Facebook Critique page that I took in SF last October. It was fishing boats and they were all lined up on a dock on my right with the sun lighting them nicely. One of the critiquers immediately noted that although he really liked the image, he thought it was pretty brave of me to post a "right to left facing image like that." I don't often think about it when I am composing. I look first for light, then balance and then more geometric things. And, you have to take your subjects as they present. Although flipping an image is certainly not something new to digital.

I want to play with these a bit and also put them side by side. I'll do that, and maybe even play around with the content-aware move (though I don't think it is capable of turning the cows to look into the photograph).

Ironically, as I first arrived on the scene, they WERE facing the barn. By the time I got set up, they had moved.

[Andy]

Having looked at both images, I'll stick with it the way I found it .

However, I did desaturate the foreground in the image about 30%, and made Al's suggested crop. Here is the result:



I like the saturation, but I think It needed some more subtle adjustments in Viveza. The foreground did seem oversaturated to me, but I liked the color in the background.

[Andy]

Thats because you can't see the guy outside the frame yelling "come bye, come bye" (and if you aren't a Vermonter you totally won't get this).