Becca Cambridge  


Working the Stone by Becca Cambridge

May 2020 - Working the Stone

May 2020 - Becca Cambridge

Original 1

May 2020 - Becca Cambridge

Original 2

About the Image(s)

Basically a fast walk by during a tour of Morocco stone carvers. Auto everything. Tried to level, remove poles, water bottles and other distractions. Tried both color with exposure compensation but liked the black and white as his eyes were more expressive. "Working The Stone".
I really miss traveling so those in other locations please enjoy a new look around for me.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
10 comments posted




Jon Allanson   Jon Allanson
There was definitely far too much clutter of poles and tree etc in your original file, and they definitely needed to be removed, and or cropped out. I agree that the mono version is more expressive than the colour one. To me the increase in contrast as you converted to mono as made the stones to the left of his head appear to be the sharpest part of the image and also being being lighter than his face, therefore attract attention. I would suggest that you either go back and selectively sharpen the image, or you try reducing the contrast on the stones. I also feel that a little more drama could be introduced to the sky.   Posted: 05/08/2020 10:20:22
Becca Cambridge   Becca Cambridge
Yeah, I had trouble with this, especially the stones in the back. GRRRR, the head halo. Tried to soften, then tried to decrease contrast, got head halo...grrrr. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. What else have I got to do? And besides THAT, Southern Indiana has a POLAR VORTEX sweeping freezing temps to us in May. What else can I do but throw a log on the fire and edit? Grrr   Posted: 05/08/2020 12:41:05
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Jon Allanson   Jon Allanson
I know you use Luminar which is program I am not familiar with as I do everything in a Lightroom/ Photoshop sequence. One approach to images like this is to do two processings - one for the background and one for the man then put him on top and mask accordingly - this could allow you to mask off a halo round his head.
Halos are a problem they can start in the camera and the sharpening process makes them appear stronger. If you are working with a series of layers, you need to find which layer starts the halo and try to remove it at that level. Another technique is to combine all layers into one or flatten the image then using a small soft clone in darken mode clone the halos out.   Posted: 05/09/2020 08:12:59
Becca Cambridge   Becca Cambridge
Used Silver Effects Pro from Nik collection.   Posted: 05/13/2020 15:10:14
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Brad Ashbrook   Brad Ashbrook
One of the reasons I stopped using Silver Effects was because of the halos and the gritty appearance on some photos.   Posted: 05/15/2020 12:46:13



Jan van Leijenhorst   Jan van Leijenhorst
The converted image is, in my opinion, more attractive than the color version, especially since you lit up the carver's face. The rubble behind him is distracting: it is too light and too busy. Something needs to be done to tone that down. Maybe you could tone down all of the background and parts of the foreground so that the carver stands out more.   Posted: 05/09/2020 17:00:18



Danny Dunne   Danny Dunne
My main thought is that the sky adds nothing to this environmental portrait. I tried it cropped. It is much more powerful.   Posted: 05/11/2020 05:23:54



Renee Schaefer   Renee Schaefer
You did a nice job of bringing out the details of his face in the black and white image. I might have wanted to see a blurred background to eliminate the distractions.   Posted: 05/11/2020 12:17:39



Brad Ashbrook   Brad Ashbrook
The simplification really makes this a good PJ image. I like your last version because the back ground is a little distracting. It could just use some of the pop and texture of the original.   Posted: 05/15/2020 12:48:15



Lauren Heerschap   Lauren Heerschap
I am coming in late, so ditto to what they said! When I have a "quick shot" I stick it on Aperture Priority", auto ISO, and hope for the best.   Posted: 05/19/2020 18:02:27