Marquam Bridge: Trying my hand at Silver Efex Pro. Not sure what interested me about taking this shot. The original had a very deep blue sky, and I wasn't using a polarizing filter.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Trying my hand at Silver Efex Pro. Not sure what interested me about taking this shot. The original had a very deep blue sky, and I wasn't using a polarizing filter. Made some minor exposure adjustments in ACR, then used the B&W filter. Thanks in advance for the feedback. -Mark

B&W Bridge

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

Great B&W. I think I'd try to adjust for the wide angle distortion. Easy to do.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

djtravels wrote:

Great B&W. I think I'd try to adjust for the wide angle distortion. Easy to do.

Thanks! What would you use as a reference? I used the water line as my reference, but perhaps it wasn't enough. It was taken with a FF camera at 24mm.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Have you tried to correct something in the sky under the bridge? It looks as if there is a smudge amidst an otherwise smooth sky. If possible, you should try to blend it in with the rest.

I, too, noticed some barrel distortion which doesn't surprise me shooting on the 24mm end of the 24-105 (correctible in CS6 or PSE 10/11/12). If you use Silver Efex Pro, you might want to try to some control points to lighten up the underside of the bridge so we can see more detail there.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Bob Yankle wrote:

Have you tried to correct something in the sky under the bridge? It looks as if there is a smudge amidst an otherwise smooth sky. If possible, you should try to blend it in with the rest.

I, too, noticed some barrel distortion which doesn't surprise me shooting on the 24mm end of the 24-105 (correctible in CS6 or PSE 10/11/12). If you use Silver Efex Pro, you might want to try to some control points to lighten up the underside of the bridge so we can see more detail there.

That smudge is a couple whispy clouds. Unless you are talking about a small dust spot on my sensor. Thanks for pointing my eye in the right direction. I took out both and corrected the barrel distortion a bit. I'd like to keep the low-key feel to this, so I don't want to expose more detail under the bridge, but thanks for the feedback. How does it look now?

Bridge Fix

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Bob Yankle wrote:

Have you tried to correct something in the sky under the bridge? It looks as if there is a smudge amidst an otherwise smooth sky. If possible, you should try to blend it in with the rest.
...

I love the angle, but my eye is drawn to the light under the bridge too.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

St3v3M wrote:

I love the angle, but my eye is drawn to the light under the bridge too.

Light under the bridge? You mean a lack of light under the bridge?

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

mdorn wrote:

Light under the bridge? You mean a lack of light under the bridge?

Midway across the bridge, directly above the top of the bright spot it looks as though someone has dragged their fingers in light across the image. The same is seen to the left of the left most pillar, but that I like.

It looks like you corrected the issue in your last.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

St3v3M wrote:

Midway across the bridge, directly above the top of the bright spot it looks as though someone has dragged their fingers in light across the image. The same is seen to the left of the left most pillar, but that I like.

It looks like you corrected the issue in your last.

:thumbup:

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

mdorn wrote:

That smudge is a couple whispy clouds. Unless you are talking about a small dust spot on my sensor. Thanks for pointing my eye in the right direction. I took out both and corrected the barrel distortion a bit. I'd like to keep the low-key feel to this, so I don't want to expose more detail under the bridge, but thanks for the feedback. How does it look now?

Sky smudge and barrel distortion fixed. So what you're left with is an unnaturally bright sky under the bridge and bright pylons to the left that is sucking in everyone's attention. You titled this "Marquam Bridge", so we figured it was the bridge to get the attention. I understand low key, but if you truly want to go for that feel, you need to darken the bottom left hand corner of this photo to match the bridge's tonal range.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Bob Yankle wrote:

Sky smudge and barrel distortion fixed. So what you're left with is an unnaturally bright sky under the bridge and bright pylons to the left that is sucking in everyone's attention. You titled this "Marquam Bridge", so we figured it was the bridge to get the attention. I understand low key, but if you truly want to go for that feel, you need to darken the bottom left hand corner of this photo to match the bridge's tonal range.

Got it. I'll make a few more adjustments, then repost. Thanks for taking the time.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

I think you may have gone too far with the dark sky. The bridge just disappears into it.

Unless, of course, that's what you wanted it to do, in which case I should shut up, shouldn't I?

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

This edit is offered for consideration. I used about 30 Control Points in Silver Efex to take down the hot sky and pillars, and added just a touch of selective brightening to the bridge structure. My goal was to reach an overall light balance.

Variant on Marquam Bridge

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Bob Yankle wrote:

This edit is offered for consideration. I used about 30 Control Points in Silver Efex to take down the hot sky and pillars, and added just a touch of selective brightening to the bridge structure. My goal was to reach an overall light balance.

I'm not sure he was looking for light balance, but you succeeded in bringing out the bridge structure by lightening the sky.

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

Bob Yankle wrote:

This edit is offered for consideration. I used about 30 Control Points in Silver Efex to take down the hot sky and pillars, and added just a touch of selective brightening to the bridge structure. My goal was to reach an overall light balance.

Thanks Bob. Looks great. I like your version. You beat me to it. Here are the changes so far:

From color version:
- Removed whispy cloud "smudges"
- Removed sensor dust spot
- Corrected lens distortion
- Straightened horizon

In Efex Pro:
- Used High Contrast Smooth preset
- Adjusted brightness slightly to the right
- Adjusted contrast slightly to the left
- Added control points under bridge & foreground pilar
- Adjusted brightness by 32% on all control points

Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I think I'm getting close. Originally I wanted it to be darker, but I see the value in showing more detail under the bridge. Good call.

B&W Bridge