What to do? Riding down the chair lift today at Snowbird ski area, I spotted some interesting red lichen on the rocks at the cliff edge. I took a quick photo with the idea that it...

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Riding down the chair lift today at Snowbird ski area, I spotted some interesting red lichen on the rocks at the cliff edge. I took a quick photo with the idea that it could lead to an interesting study. Now that I have it, issues arise as to rotation, cropping, etc. Accordingly, I decided to go to the experts. If you have the time and inclination, I would appreciate you downloading the photo and reposting your take. Optimally you would explain not only what you did, but why you made the choices. I know this is time consuming and I will not be offended if no one participates, but I think there are possibilities here. BTW, the photo is SOOC.

(Download)

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

UTMike wrote:

Riding down the chair lift today at Snowbird ski a... (show quote)

I'd crop away the right third of the image. Personally as a Biologist I find Lichens interesting but would like to see close-ups. I've shot a few lichens on rocks myself but I get close and make images that are abstract and until you tell most people what it is they have no idea. You'd probably want some grounding in your image so they know what and where they (you) are (were).

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

With the file being less than 2 MB, it wasn't going to hold up to much cropping, so...

1. PS Elements "correct camera distortion" filter to rotate the subject a bit closer (yes, unfortunately, that cut off the top of the rocks).

2. Clone out wires.

3. Two Nik filters + selective hue/saturation to bring out the reds.

4. A bit of Topaz Detail applied from middle to left side only.

5. Manipulating the light: another Nik filter called darken/lighten center - sort of like a vignette, it darkens edges and brightens the spot you choose (does not have to be exact center). Graduated neutral density filter, rotated to darken the right side further.

6. After uploading, I noticed the photo needed more brightening on the subject rocks, so I applied a bit of selective dodging. Instead of PS Elements dodge/burn tools, I have been using a different way - suggested by a UHH member: create a blank layer, choose overlay blend mode, then at very low opacity brush the lightening or darkening (using white or black from color swatches) to areas of choice.

(Download)

Original
Original...

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

One note of clarification: it wasn't the megabytes that precluded a well edited crop; it was the megapixels. Your posted image is 1500 pixels on the wide side, which would have been fine for just demonstrating a crop, but not so good for getting carried away with edits like I did

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Before I choose the crop I need to know what your intentions were. Did you want to make it a study of the lichens specifically, or was it meant to be a shot of lichens in their natural environment? If it's a study of the lichens and nothing else, the only context you need is some rock face. If it's a study of the lichens in their environment then the whole scene is valid.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Linda From Maine wrote:

With the file being less than 2 MB, it wasn't goin... (show quote)

Very nice work. Linda. It will take me some time to absorb it, but the result is excellent.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Linda From Maine wrote:

One note of clarification: it wasn't the megabytes that precluded a well edited crop; it was the megapixels. Your posted image is 1500 pixels on the wide side, which would have been fine for just demonstrating a crop, but not so good for getting carried away with edits like I did

I have been having trouble getting images posted because the site sends a message blocking the upload. How many pixels is the limit on the wide side?

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

R.G. wrote:

Before I choose the crop I need to know what your intentions were. Did you want to make it a study of the lichens specifically, or was it meant to be a shot of lichens in their natural environment? If it's a study of the lichens and nothing else, the only context you need is some rock face. If it's a study of the lichens in their environment then the whole scene is valid.

I appreciate that you want my opinion, but I do not want to limit your vision. I liked the lichen shown in the high mountain environment.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

lamiaceae wrote:

I'd crop away the right third of the image. Personally as a Biologist I find Lichens interesting but would like to see close-ups. I've shot a few lichens on rocks myself but I get close and make images that are abstract and until you tell most people what it is they have no idea. You'd probably want some grounding in your image so they know what and where they (you) are (were).

Thanks for the insight. I will try that in my learning experimentation.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

UTMike wrote:

I have been having trouble getting images posted because the site sends a message blocking the upload. How many pixels is the limit on the wide side?

UHH has a limit on file size, measured in megabytes. Folks have mentioned issues when file size of total number of images in one upload exceeds 20 MB.

In my topic here, I posted both a 13.6 MB dng file + a 5.8 MB jpg (which was 3000 pixels wide) with no problem. I usually have excellent internet speed so nothing gets hung up. And I always use my Chromebook (Google Chrome browser).

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I seem to have ended up with something a bit documentary. And cropping in this close has left it a bit soft, but it's the crop you were asking about most, so I'll go with what I've got. Visual aesthetics didn't seem to be too important, so I went with just a glimpse of the surrounding landscape. If it'd been a landscape shot I would have cropped wider.

-

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

R.G. wrote:

I seem to have ended up with something a bit documentary. And cropping in this close has left it a bit soft, but it's the crop you were asking about most, so I'll go with what I've got. Visual aesthetics didn't seem to be too important, so I went with just a glimpse of the surrounding landscape. If it'd been a landscape shot I would have cropped wider.

-

Very nice work! Thank you

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

UTMike wrote:

Riding down the chair lift today at Snowbird ski a... (show quote)

Hi, Mike,
Assuming your primary interest was in emphasizing the likens (I lich’em) I stuck their major mass approx. on the left thirds line and the upper left thirds sweet spot, lightened the shadows, gave a touch of clarity and wee touch of sharpening (it IS, after all, a close crop...), and Bob’s y’r Uncle!

Best regards,
Dave

(Download)

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Uuglypher wrote:

Hi, Mike,
Assuming your primary interest was in emphasizing the likens (I lich’em) I stuck their major mass approx. on the left thirds line and the upper left thirds sweet spot, lightened the shadows, gave a touch of clarity and wee touch of sharpening (it IS, after all, a close crop...), and Bob’s y’r Uncle!

Best regards,
Dave

Thanks! A very good result.

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

In Develop Module:
Heavy crop
Rotate to straighten trees
Add contrast +32
Highlights -81
Shadows +89
Whites -10
Blacks -8
Clarity +28
Vibrance =17
Spot Removal Removed Wires

In Details Module:
Sharpening 44
Masking 73

That's it in less than two minutes, just a quick shot at it. It took longer to download and import it into Lightroom.

Upon looking at in on the Hog download, obviously it does not enlarge well. Pixels/image quality just not there to work with.

Or should I say, I cropped it too much.

2nd one, I changed the export parameters to 772 xx 517 to reflect cropped image. Download much better.

(Download)