My place for critiques

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Hy everybody,as title says,i made this thread to post my retouch pics and see if they are good or bad,cause in my eyes they look superb,but that isnt necessary the truth.So here is a first picture....

http://i.imgur.com/cikPQku.jpg
after
http://i.imgur.com/XifLMww.jpg

[Tulack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tulack]

Re: My place for critiques

I don't see any retouch. Just tone mapping plugin

[klev Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close klev]

Re: My place for critiques

Tulack is right that it just appears to be a tonemapping plugin, but aside from that, I think the after looks worse than the before. It's quite random, and I believe you should rethink your approach.

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

It's not a plugin,i use gradient map,curves,levels,masking,etc.But in what way i should rethink it??

[klev Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close klev]

Re: My place for critiques

But in what way i should rethink it??

The shot is about the bike right? I think the shot could be better composed with respect to the bike, but I'll concentrate on the post work.

The background is now more distracting and closer in color to the bike. You made the bike blend in rather than stand out. You didn't accomplish much else. You added way too much contrast to that background.

See you overdid a few aspects and then you didn't really do anything else. This is completely different from the reference you showed me before. There like I told you they limited the range a bit and tinted the background toward green. They did not add that kind of contrast. If you compared to your reference while you worked on this, you would be able to see that it's obviously wrong. On the bike itself there's a lot you can do to improve the way some of these parts read to the viewer. I can't get a lot from looking at the seat or the painted portions here.

I'm concerned by your response that this may have taken quite a bit of time. I think you should break the task into much smaller pieces and ask for help on individual parts as you get stuck. You will learn more that way.

Consider a couple things. Can you achieve the right balance between the background and the bike? Can you get the right look in terms of color and highlights to the tires or brake system? What about the painted parts? Being able to succeed at any of those will be much more valuable than asking for a critique on this. You're likely to learn a lot faster if you take that kind of approach.

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

Tnks klev very much for your response.I understand what you say (i think) but like i said pics "look good" i my eyes,so its pretty hard to know whats good or bad.If i post a pics on facebook i get likes just cause they are friends,but i need someone from "outside" to really show me what i do wrong.

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

So here is another picture

The first its made in Lightroom,second one in Photoshop and Lightroom

http://imgur.com/wuf8WMd,0418cCG

http://imgur.com/wuf8WMd,0418cCG#1

[0lBaldy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 0lBaldy]

Re: My place for critiques

andy_wpo, If you use Photoshop you can post fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the 'save for web' function in Photoshop as described here:
Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)

How to attach Files/Images to your Posts or Threads:
(Click here)

Always attach an under 100K version of your photos please (so the threads remain useful in the future, regardless of external links). If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread; As you have done.

I had a play with your motorcycle and background just for fun...

[klev Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close klev]

Re: My place for critiques

So here is another picture

The first its made in Lightroom,second one in Photoshop and Lightroom

http://imgur.com/wuf8WMd,0418cCG

http://imgur.com/wuf8WMd,0418cCG#1

I don't mind this one, although I might have darkened the road just a bit to keep emphasis on the cars.

Tnks klev very much for your response.I understand what you say (i think) but like i said pics "look good" i my eyes,so its pretty hard to know whats good or bad.If i post a pics on facebook i get likes just cause they are friends,but i need someone from "outside" to really show me what i do wrong.

I've encountered the same thing, and it's part of the reason I suggest small changes as well as previewing the sum of those changes on and off. I find that helps maintain perspective.

I don't think it's just an outside perspective. You need people who can actually offer some kind of analysis. I responded when you initially posted about the look of another bike shot, which you seemingly used to model the work in the first part of this thread. Would it help if I marked up some of the obvious details that went into creating that reference shot?

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

Yes will help a lot.I like the style,looks like its got a matte effect and a blue/gray color overall.

[saby Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close saby]

Re: My place for critiques

Hi there,

cool picture, the bike body lost cotrast, gotmore details but lost space

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

opinion pls...

[flowbox Member Find all posts View Profile Close flowbox]

Re: My place for critiques

First of all... I'm sorry to say that and I don't know the purpose of your photo but the last one look like a normal picture, nothing special.

Are you also the photographer or only the retoucher?

[Shoku Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Shoku]

Re: My place for critiques

Yes will help a lot.I like the style,looks like its got a matte effect and a blue/gray color overall.

I viewed this on two monitors - my uncalibrated Dell (which I use to view this thread), and my calibrated NEC. On the NEC it's too dark and flat, even for a matte image.

I adjusted to my taste (minor change).

Getting feedback on style is extremely subjective.

[andy_wpo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andy_wpo]

Re: My place for critiques

First of all... I'm sorry to say that and I don't know the purpose of your photo but the last one look like a normal picture, nothing special.

Are you also the photographer or only the retoucher?

Im the photographer,the picture actually look like this

http://i.imgur.com/gUUkyzO.jpg