Happy Little Tire Swing (Warning - Orton Effect): Inspired by jackm, I'm offering up a photo that's processed in the Orton manner (the quick version) for critique, comment, discussion...

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Inspired by jackm, I'm offering up a photo that's processed in the Orton manner (the quick version) for critique, comment, discussion or outright rejection. I do have more traditional versions but I've always liked this "arty" one best. I know it isn't to everyone's taste but here goes...

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jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

minniev wrote:

Inspired by jackm, I'm offering up a photo that's processed in the Orton manner (the quick version) for critique, comment, discussion or outright rejection. I do have more traditional versions but I've always liked this "arty" one best. I know it isn't to everyone's taste but here goes...

I love it minniev, especially the way the Multiply mode saturates the colors in more of an old world way than simply using the saturation sliders while diffusing the image somehow without loosing too much detail.
JackM

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Beautiful mood minnie with great potential.
I like the treatment, it suits the image perfectly. Orton just seems to suit fall as long as its not overdone or used too often.
This is a classic "less is more" image again though. Cropping back to the strength will realy make it sing.
Cropping back so that the base of that purple shrub is in the bottom left corner places the swing on a third line, places the intersection of the shed and the grass at exactly the bottom right point, the clearest part of the shed on a third line, the main tree branches on a rough third line, and the horizontal branch on a third line - and just makes the whole image that much stronger.
I know some people like to disclaim the value of thirds, but they just damn work.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

jackm1943 wrote:

I love it minniev, especially the way the Multiply mode saturates the colors in more of an old world way than simply using the saturation sliders while diffusing the image somehow without loosing too much detail.
JackM

Thanks! Glad there's one more photographer on here who likes that effect. I enjoy trying to shape images into my vision. Anything along the way may be flawed (image, vision, pp skill ) but the journey is a pleasure.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

lighthouse wrote:

Beautiful mood minnie with great potential. br I l... (show quote)

Thanks for the kind comments and suggestions. I'll try what I'm thinking you're saying but have a question. If the bush I think you're referencing goes to the bottom left corner, wouldn't the tire be too close to the bottom? Maybe I'm just not visualizing it right.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

The colors are very nice and I like the composition and contrast but I guess I'm one who is not into the Orton effect. I have a hard time focusing on the center of the picture. My eye wants to go to the house (which seems to be in focus) but it is slanted towards the center and rear of the picture. It seems to be on the verge of toppling over.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

minniev wrote:

Thanks for the kind comments and suggestions. I'll try what I'm thinking you're saying but have a question. If the bush I think you're referencing goes to the bottom left corner, wouldn't the tire be too close to the bottom? Maybe I'm just not visualizing it right.

You may be right, but then again ... if van Gogh can put the sun right up against the edge, then maybe we can place a swing sort of close.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

SonyA580 wrote:

The colors are very nice and I like the composition and contrast but I guess I'm one who is not into the Orton effect. I have a hard time focusing on the center of the picture. My eye wants to go to the house (which seems to be in focus) but it is slanted towards the center and rear of the picture. It seems to be on the verge of toppling over.

Thanks for commenting. The slant of the house is probably due to my less than skillful perspective correction. There's always something I need to learn to do better with!

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I like the picture with the rich fall colors. I have no idea what the Orton effect is though.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

lighthouse wrote:

You may be right, but then again ... if van Gogh can put the sun right up against the edge, then maybe we can place a swing sort of close.

min and Vincent have very different skills. But min is always game to try anything once...

Nightski

Hi Minnie .. I am wondering if you worked this scene more? I like the idea .. but not the execution. I'm going to comment mostly on composition and I do hesitate, because then it is my view of it, not yours. I want the swing to take up more of the frame and I'd like to see the colored leaves have more definition. The house ruins it for me as it is just an ordinary house .. not a rustic cabin with lots of great old textures or something .... The dry grass foreground bothers me too. I just think that there had to be a better angle to shoot this from. Maybe it is not your property and that wasn't an option, and just my humble opinion anyway.

Looking once more before I shut up .. lol .. I do like that you have the branch that the swing hangs from ... that's something I do like about the angle. This probably isn't very helpful. Sorry.

Nightski

One more thought, Minnie .. :-D ... how about if you shot this through the swing with the tire and rope detail really popping out and the gorgeous colors of the fall foliage framed by it? I love tire swings and you have my wheels turning .. hope you don't mind if I turn them on your thread.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Nightski wrote:

Hi Minnie .. I am wondering if you worked this sce... (show quote)

Thanks! I always appreciate comments from anyone who offers their own precious time to respond, and I don't certainly expect everyone to like every photo (I don't even like every photo I take, so how could I expect anyone else to:)) It is always interesting to see the different opinions.

Not many more angles, I am always reluctant to romp around in strangers' yards. The house was a very plain boxy little New England affair as is common in small Vermont towns like the one where this was taken. And I do have other versions that are more "traditional" with detail in the leaves and more subdued color, but this version remains a favorite. Blur effects aren't for everyone, we all work with what we like. I am going to experiment with suggested crops and see if there's a "less that equals more" as lighthouse believes.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

lighthouse wrote:

I know some people like to disclaim the value of thirds, but they just damn work.

I am such a disclaimer. They work only if the composition is approximately that way so that a little more cropping can make it work. No matter how hard you try, some photos simply defy the thirds and are still great.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Nightski wrote:

One more thought, Minnie .. :-D ... how about if you shot this through the swing with the tire and rope detail really popping out and the gorgeous colors of the fall foliage framed by it? I love tire swings and you have my wheels turning .. hope you don't mind if I turn them on your thread.

Thinking is good for photography! I wished later that I'd got out a long lens and done more with the swing. Swings are one of those things I am always on the scout for, but I've never found another one in quite such finely colored surroundings.