Post Screening - Red Tail, Grey Clouds (Plainplane)

Plainplane · Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:26 pm

I am having a bit of trouble with this picture. It was rejected for soft and dark. I think I got the softness issue fixed but I am not sure about correcting the dark, am I taking this the right way?

Rejected version:

Reworked with sharpness and increased brightness by 10%:

Thanks in advance.

[Edited 2009-09-16 15:27:49]

NZ107 · Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:36 pm

It's still rather dark under the horizontal stabiliser. Did you shoot this in RAW or JPEG? If you shot it in RAW, you'd be able to decrease the shadows much easier. It is an improved image but it still seems as though it's on the dark side to me, probably because the darkness stands out a lot.

Plainplane · Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:46 pm

Quoting NZ107 (Reply 1):
It's still rather dark under the horizontal stabiliser. Did you shoot this in RAW or JPEG? If you shot it in RAW, you'd be able to decrease the shadows much easier. It is an improved image but it still seems as though it's on the dark side to me, probably because the darkness stands out a lot.

Unfortunately I shot it in JPEG, the circumstance was a spur of the moment type of thing.

wilco737 · Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:47 pm

Quoting NZ107 (Reply 1):
it's on the dark side

May the force be with you Big grin

Quoting Plainplane (Thread starter):

It still looks dark, but I think you can still brighten it up a lot. Using the curves tool or the levels. If you want to brighten only the airplane not the background, then select the airplane and use the layers to only brighten the airplane.

wilco737

Plainplane · Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:48 pm

Do you think I should just brighten the airplane or all of it at the same time?

Also would I need noise reduction filters here?

wilco737 · Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:00 pm

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 4):
Do you think I should just brighten the airplane or all of it at the same time?

Try both and how it looks like. If the background is too bright, then just brighten the airplane.
As I am looking at it, I'd say try the airplane only at the moment. But be careful as the white fuselage is brighter then the rest.Not that you are making the fuselage too bright

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 4):
Also would I need noise reduction filters here?

The sky could use some noise reduction. But be careful again or it looks unreal.

wilco737

Astro777lover · Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:12 pm

hey plainplane

You shoot this beast at MCO? and yes its on the dark side unfortunately due to the weather Sad

I have some nice shots of virgin coming in but i never get a good edit so if anyone wants to help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Austin

Plainplane · Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:56 pm

Yes this was at MCO.

The fuse itself was actually a greyish color, the Virgin is the only pure white on this part of the aircraft. When I tried to adjust the levels automatically like I did for many pics, it actually made it darker. So I went to the brightness settings instead.

Astro777lover · Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:25 am

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 7):
The fuse itself was actually a greyish color, the Virgin is the only pure white on this part of the aircraft. When I tried to adjust the levels automatically like I did for many pics, it actually made it darker. So I went to the brightness settings instead.

Andre, I just did a little edit in photoshop and here is what i came up with:

Editing a dark photo to be light creates some grain so be careful

Austin

Plainplane · Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:37 am

It seems like the contrast of the tail from the storm cloud is lost when you brighten it that much, it loses the intensity and part of the motif. scratchchin

However that definitely would eliminate the dark problem. I really feel split over this.

45272455674 · Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:54 am

Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 3):
If you want to brighten only the airplane not the background, then select the airplane and use the layers to only brighten the airplane.

Woah! Stop right there. That should be an instant editing rejection, that strikes me as a bad manipulation of the image. If the image should be brightened, then it should be the whole image, not just selective parts.

whisperjet · Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:46 am

Quoting Cpd (Reply 10):
Woah! Stop right there. That should be an instant editing rejection, that strikes me as a bad manipulation of the image. If the image should be brightened, then it should be the whole image, not just selective parts.

Absolutely correct, we do not allow that kind of editing. Will lead to an editing-rejection instantly.

Also I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to achieve decent results with brightening up selected areas only. The whole image will look very unnatural and especially the transitions between the brightened and the 'normal' area will look very strange.

Stefan

clickhappy · Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:38 pm

A properly exposed image should need very little in the way of post processing. If you have to resort to editing in layers and things like "selective lightning" you should go take a photography class.

And yes, such editing will result in an editing rejection.

As for the Virgin shot in this thread, it is a throw away. Poor light, exposure, and a questionable motive.

Plainplane · Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:38 pm

Thanks for the imput, I gave it another go with an additional 35% brightness increase coupled with noise reduction filters and it was rejected solely for oversharpened.

Now I am worried whether if it is still too sharp of if I first made it too soft again. Here is the current version:

Plainplane · Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:59 am

Accepted this morning! Big grin

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Andre Klass

45272455674 · Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:42 am

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 12):

As for the Virgin shot in this thread, it is a throw away. Poor light, exposure, and a questionable motive.

Ouch... Sorry...

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 14):
Accepted this morning! Big grin

Good one - perhaps motive is a very subjective thing indeed. I like it - even though it breaks some obvious motive rules by the logo being obstructed.

Astro777lover · Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:49 am

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 14):
Accepted this morning!

congrats! We are both at 11 now.

-Austin

Stackhouse007 · Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:58 pm

Congrats! You guys are at 11 and im at 4! haha Awesome shot!

Plainplane · Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:03 pm

Thank you guys! I wish you could have seen me running like mad toward the aircraft with arms flailing, trying to get close enough to take the shot, it was really miraculous that I was able to do so while in a no tresspassing zone being passed by a security truck and two police cars.

Astro777lover · Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:21 pm

Quoting Plainplane (Reply 18):
Thank you guys! I wish you could have seen me running like mad toward the aircraft with arms flailing, trying to get close enough to take the shot, it was really miraculous that I was able to do so while in a no tresspassing zone being passed by a security truck and two police cars.

Next time i go down to mco im am going to say longer and get the international flights departing. I've always wanted to do that.

-Austin

dlowwa · Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:30 pm

Quoting Cpd (Reply 15):

Ouch... Sorry...

Not only that, but as of 1500 PST it's made it to the front page....

clickhappy · Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:51 pm

Yeah, I guess after 5+ years of screening I don't know what I'm talking about. Go figure.

Astro777lover · Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:39 pm

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 21):
Yeah, I guess after 5+ years of screening I don't know what I'm talking about. Go figure.

It's ok clickhappy we all make mistakes.

conoramoia · Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:42 pm

Quoting Clickhappy (Reply 21):
Yeah, I guess after 5+ years of screening I don't know what I'm talking about. Go figure.

If you feel like proving someone wrong, just accept my images lol.
No, but seriously....it's not anything to get annoyed about...we all still have that respect towards screeners(including you)..

Regards,

Conor.