Gary Jones
December 2024 - Strasbourg
About the Image(s)
This is a photo from Strasbourg on a September trip. I was trying to get photos of the river and its course through the cities. I couldn’t find a spot lower on the river, so this is shot from a higher location than I wanted. There were lots of distractions that I eliminated and needed to increase the blur on the river to get a bit more smoother effect. I tried several different crops, but settled on this one, so I would appreciate ideas on cropping and some of the post processing.
This shot was taken with a Canon R5 and a Canon RF 24-105 lens at 29mm. ISO 100, F22, 1/13th of a second. I used Lightroom for post processing and Topaz Photo AI for some sharpening.
5 comments posted
Gary - this is a nice image but it appears canted to the right so I straightened it in my VF. As far as ideas to improve the shot, I would reduce the amount of water in the foreground and increase the amount of sky above the scene - see my VF. Please note, the two main structures, i.e., the building in the center and the building on the right appear to lean into each other, that is, they do not appear parallel to each other and I have no ideas about that.
Posted: 12/10/2024 20:24:25
Posted: 12/10/2024 20:24:25
Hi Butch, I agree with your changes to the sky and water. I do see the canting in the buildings and I'll go back to my original and see what I can do to improve that. I appreciate your feedback, I did a lot of work to try to eliminate distractions but didn't do enough on the 2 buildings. Posted: 12/10/2024 21:15:27
A good image Gary and well worth taking. Were you holding your camera straight at the time of capture, or did you aim down or up a little? As you probably well know, that will affect the verticals in any image. As far as cropping is concerned, I always ask myself "Will it detract from, or weaken the image if I remove this element?" Then see how you feel about the resultant image. It's a very personal thing and you will always have some people who say "You should have" while others will say "You shouldn't have". My processing skills are not the strongest at all, but I've had a go at straightening your verticals, just a touch on the right side in PS. Posted: 12/12/2024 02:22:47
Thanks for your feedback Ian. Somehow I missed the tilt and it looks better with your change. When I crop, I do several changes to see what I like best. I also try to please myself first and then think about how the image may be judged by others. Sometimes that leads me to making those "judging" changes. Sometimes when I'm not sure of my post processing, finish and close Lightroom and then look at the image again in a week or so to try to see it differently. Posted: 12/17/2024 20:53:10
Gary, beautiful spot and lovely image you have managed to produce. I do agree with Ian, about the "level aspect", most likely because of shooting from above. I always find when shooting city scenes, getting the distortion out is one of the hardest things to do. I have yet to master it and most often just don't shoot scenes like this, because I end up frustrated. And I know I've missed many opportunities because of my worrying about distortion. I think all that being said it is really a lovely image and one that is quite good! I would be proud to say I took it....as Im sure you are! Posted: 12/17/2024 22:03:40