Tioram Castle: This shot was taken in daylight but I liked how it looked when darkened a bit. At a normal level of brightness the sky is flat and featureless. (Looks better in...

R.G. Loc: Scotland

This shot was taken in daylight but I liked how it looked when darkened a bit. At a normal level of brightness the sky is flat and featureless.

(Looks better in download).
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(Download)

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

R.G., well your processing has certainly added a factor of mystery and foreboding.

I'm pretty sure that exposure adjustment at the time of taking the photo and adequate processing would keep nice texture in the sky and allow more of a revealing photo for the castle.
--Bob

R.G. wrote:

This shot was taken in daylight but I liked how it looked when darkened a bit. At a normal level of brightness the sky is flat and featureless.

(Looks better in download).
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JGW30033 Loc: Decatur GA

Beautiful composition! I would love to see the foreground lightened up a bit. I'm straining to see detail.

Gilbert

R.G. Loc: Scotland

rmalarz wrote:

R.G., well your processing has certainly added a factor of mystery and foreboding.

I'm pretty sure that exposure adjustment at the time of taking the photo and adequate processing would keep nice texture in the sky and allow more of a revealing photo for the castle.
--Bob

Thanks, Bob. I tried various things and the only thing that seemed to work was darkening the sky. Shooting at that level of exposure would mean having to use lots of brightening to get the rest of the shot back up to a normal brightness, which would probably mean lots of noise.

As it happens I bracketed the exposure for this shot, so I do have a darkened exposure. As you can see, the sky is fairly featureless even with the dark exposure. I haven't tried editing this single exposure, but any useful data from it should have ended up in the merge. And I don't have the problem of lifting shadows with the merge.

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EC = -1.7.
EC = -1.7....

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

JGW30033 wrote:

Beautiful composition! I would love to see the foreground lightened up a bit. I'm straining to see detail.

Gilbert

Thank you Gilbert. As I mentioned to Bob, I had to darken the sky that much to get the details to come out. With a dark sky there was a limit to how much I could brighten the foreground, so I decided to go with a twilight look. (Have you tried the download? - it's easier to see the details in the shadows).

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Quite an imposing presence the way you have processed it. Congratulations!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

artBob wrote:

Quite an imposing presence the way you have processed it. Congratulations!

Thank you Bob.

JGW30033 Loc: Decatur GA

R.G. wrote:

Thank you Gilbert. As I mentioned to Bob, I had to darken the sky that much to get the details to come out. With a dark sky there was a limit to how much I could brighten the foreground, so I decided to go with a twilight look. (Have you tried the download? - it's easier to see the details in the shadows).

Would you mind if I tried an adjustment in Photoshop? I will not touch it without permission.

Gilbert

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Have you tried burning and dodging?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

fergmark wrote:

Have you tried burning and dodging?

That was my thought, even though I know R.G. is far more accomplished in pp than I

With the original posting to this topic, I envision some subtle, selective lightening to give better form to the rocks leading up to the castle.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

R.G. wrote:

Thanks, Bob. I tried various things and the only thing that seemed to work was darkening the sky. Shooting at that level of exposure would mean having to use lots of brightening to get the rest of the shot back up to a normal brightness, which would probably mean lots of noise.

R G, I prefer your original post. It has more mystery to it. The type of building lends itself to your PP. I think without, it simply would be a photo of a building, no reason to have the viewer linger.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

fergmark wrote:

Have you tried burning and dodging?

JGW, fergmark and Linda, the fact is I'm quite pleased with the way it came out and I'm quite happy with the nearly-night look. I'll be doing another edit of it for a series and I'll go for a normal daylight edit for the whole series.

JGW, here's a link to a DNG version of the dark exposure. If you can get detail out of the sky and render it as a more normally exposed shot, I'd love to see it. I've worked on the merge but not the dark exposure on its own, so I'd like to see what the possibilities are.

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Link to DNG below.
Attached file:
(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

NJFrank wrote:

R G, I prefer your original post. It has more mystery to it. The type of building lends itself to your PP. I think without, it simply would be a photo of a building, no reason to have the viewer linger.

I think it would be awesome to be there as nighttime approached, and that's what I was hoping to convey. Castles have their own drama, and for me, that's amplified by the approaching night.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

R.G. wrote:

JGW, fergmark and Linda, the fact is I'm quite ple... (show quote)

Thanks for the DNG. Its a good challenge. I like it dark as well, and I think it looks good the way you rendered it. I was surprised that burning in the sky would affect the color as much as it did, when I did this one earlier. The sky got a little bluer, and I thought it was a good look. Then for good measure I did slight dodging in some of the stone work. I will save the DNG for another time.

JGW30033 Loc: Decatur GA

R.G. wrote:

JGW, fergmark and Linda, the fact is I'm quite ple... (show quote)

Wow! the DNG is more spectacular than I thought it would be. Here it is with the changes. What I did was: load into Photoshop, used the "Quick selection" tool to outline the sky, including the tree on the right. (I thought it better to slightly darken the tree than try to blend in sky later). Then I adjusted the "Brightness/Contrast" sliders on the sky. I touched up the background hills on the left to cut the haze a little and that's it. I did not alter the foreground or the castle at all. You have a beautiful shot there, even without the changes.

Gilbert

(Download)