Lisbon Light Show
Rich McPhee, Naples, Italy
The Problem: The sweep of the shoreline and roadway…the drama of the bright lights…the strange color in the sky. The predominance of the brownish red detracts from the picture, we think, and is magnified by the inclusion of so much sky -- and there's that horizon in the middle.
What now? We used Curves in Adobe Photoshop CS2 to take out the red and brown, and lightened the picture overall for more detail and color. Our fix may not necessarily be the most accurate rendition of the scene colors, but in situations like this, with all sorts of mixed light, accuracy is a moot point. So we went with what we judged to be vibrant and pretty. We also cropped down from the top, which makes for a Rule of Thirds horizon placement (see Picture Doctor in this issue for this composition guideline). This also gives the photo more of a feel of a panoramic -- which, in essence, it is.
Next time: Watch out for color balance in night scenes. Whether shooting with automatic white balance or a preset, the variety of lighting in a cityscape can make for odd predominating tones. Try different white-balance presets to see if you get a nicer color tone, or try the white-balance shift controls if your camera has them. As always, we recommend the alternative of shooting in RAW, which will give you greater leeway in adjusting color later.
Tech info: Nikon D50, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DX Zoom-Nikkor lens, 5 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200.
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Mount Washington Mood
John Morrissey, Hingham, MA
The Problem: We're being real noodges with this one. We like the composition and mood of the photo, and think it's a good use of monochrome. But while the black-and-white conversion is good, the result is a little flat -- notice how little contrast gradient there is between the shaded and lit sides of the building.
What now? We upped the contrast in Levels, but then, with more snap in the photo, we were better able to discern the two figures standing to the left of the building. We deemed them enough of a distraction to crop in from the left to eliminate one of them -- taking out both figures would have gone too far and unbalanced the composition. Think we're being too picky?
Next time: It's always a good idea to scan all the edges of the frame when you're shooting. Sometimes just by waiting a few minutes, the scene will get uncluttered.
Tech info: Nikon D200, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX Zoom-Nikkor, 1/320 sec at f/6.3, ISO 160. File conversion in Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0.
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Colorado Foliage Fest
Mike Power, Greeley, CO
The Problem: The golden foliage of the birches looks a little blah, due to low saturation and slight overexposure.
What now? We made a duplicate layer in Photoshop CS2, then used one of our favorite tools of late, the Multiply Blend mode. This both increases highlight density (that is, darkens the highlights) and gooses up the saturation by intensifying the predominating color. We also used Levels to push up the saturation in blues and yellows. And we deepened the blue of the sky edges by vignetting, which you'll find under Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. Some think we're overdoing the color boost -- to which we say, have you ever seen shots on Fujichrome Velvia? Films like that are far less accurate!
Next time: First of all, a little underexposure (by dialing down exposure compensation) from the meter reading would've added richness to the color. It's also worth experimenting with the Landscape mode to see if it adds color saturation.
Tech info: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S40, auto setting
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