Still working my conversion workflow

[chrisc]

Needs a good critique. Two images.



or this?

[nickjohnson]

OK Chris I'll give it a go.
I find that my main interest with both is in the left side of the frame. I like the arcs of the bull(?) rushes and their reflections in the water. In both the upper right has a very dark area which I find distracting – especially so since it is underlined by a solid mass of light foliage / rushes.
I think there is a good case to be made for keeping the left hand 60% and discarding the right hand 40%.
Since #1 shows me more of what I want to see – I feel it's the best crop / view. It has more reflections and little background sky. The light rushes in general and especially on the right side are very light and mushy – especially in #2. That may be a by-product of the jpg conversion – which we can do nothing about.
I am worried by the apparent fuzziness that I'm seeing in both. I don't think it's camera motion or subject motion – more like slight out of focus. Hummmm.

[The Wirefox]

Heck Chris when you set yourself a learning task there are no half measures I think you may have chosen one of the most difficult scenes on which to work. It is difficult to get beyond the busyness of it all to be honest but I certainly prefer the first as there is some detail preserved in the light grasses and the water looks more plausible somehow. If you need C&C on the PP aspects I would suggest a far simpler image with a good range of tones ranging from black to white. We seem to have black, white and mid grey here.

I think the fuzziness that Nick is seeing is posterisation but in such small areas it is hard to discern. I can see it most in the reflections in the right of the image which is exactly where I would expect to see it given that there are block areas of mid tone. I think including the sky in these test images is the best bet because that is where obvious aberrations manifest themselves. All this detail is probably hiding a multitude of sins, hence the fuzziness. A trip to Monument Valley may be in order Chris..all in the excellent cause of photographic R&D you understand