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the lines of the shadow and textures drew my eye. I have applies some tweaks in Lightroom and cropped in to fill the frame with the main interest of the shot. Still really unsure about how best to add punch to a shot by fiddling with levels. I haven't mastered curves yet, but feel there lies the answer! Critique welcome, thanks. 
| Brand: | Panasonic |
| Camera: | Panasonic Lumix G2 |
| Lens: | LUMIX G VARIO 14-42/F3.5-5.6 |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 18 Nov 2012 - 2:10 PM |
| Focal Length: | 14mm |
| Lens Max Aperture: | f/3.5 |
| Aperture: | f/11.0 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/25sec |
| Exposure Comp: | -1.0 |
| ISO: | 200 |
| Exposure Mode: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Flash: | Off, Did not fire |
| White Balance: | As Shot |
| Title: | shadow angles |
| Username: | 
Griff2012 |
| Uploaded: | 18 Nov 2012 - 2:36 PM |
| Tags: | General, Specialist / abstract |
| VS Mode Rating |
102 (55.56% won) These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode |
| Votes: | 14 |
Comments
well seen...I have a Lightroom preset that adds `punch' (can't remember where I got it from - maybe the Adobe website?) but basically it lifts the `clarity' and `vibrance'. I love playingw ith LR but it's all trial and error... my workflow is usually auto tone and then play around with the tone curve sliders...then add clarity/contrast and finally sharpen.....
think the stonework in the wall would benefit from some contrast and probably clarity...this would also make a great mono image
Try the following: in the Input Levels draw the left slider in a touch - perhaps to level 5 - to firm up the blacks, and the right slider in quite a bit, to brighten the highlights. The little triangle needs to be beneath part of the graph curve on the histogram. Finally adjust the central slider (mid tones) to taste; in this instance you will need a level of below 1, maybe 0.9. In theory adding the figures together should give 255 - if you want punch I wouldn't take too much notice of that: you want to end up with really dark shadows and fairly strong contrast I presume.
I like the subject and the angle you have chosen.
Bill
P.S.: I use Photoshop not Lightroom but the principle is the same.
This works well and it's partly down to the crop. Lines and angles sit so neatly in square.
The light looks 'right' to me. In Levels, the principle is to move the two outer sliders towards the points where the curve of the graph rises and falls from the base-line. This effectively will give you true black and true white in the image. Don't overdo it, particularly on the right - a picture like this doesn't actually need true white. Then try tweaking the middle slider, for Midtones - moving it to the right will darken them, I usually do this by a few percent.
What you can also try, after working in Levels, is to select the Burn tool (I assume that Lightroom has it!!), set to Shadows, a very low exposure level, say 3-5%, and a humungous brush size, say 750 pixels. Then sweep it over the foreground areas. It will often increase the tactile quality of textures, and bring the foreground forward. Hope that makes sense.
My processing is basic, self-taught. You'll learn most by experimenting. I'd suggest that you stick with Levels until you have become confident to move on, it's less sophisticated but more easily controlled than Curves.
Moira
Oops, I spent a long time typing, my Better Half has got here first!
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