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Grande Prairie Regional College

© Joan E. Hoffman

Grande Prairie Regional College

Uploaded: April 13, 2009

Description

Exif: F Number: 4, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 25/100000 seconds, Flash: did not fire., ISO: 640, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 55.00 mm, Model: NIKON D40

Comments

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

Need suggestions to improve this shot. Not really sure what it needs to improve it. #1113103

Jeanine M. Bailey April 13, 2009

AWESOME lines on that building!!!! :) I'm not sure about technical stuff for improving but I think I would tighten the crop some by taking off some of the foreground....I think this would really draw your eye into the building more. Also I'd clone out the cell phone tower on the left...minor but I did notice it and didn't like it in the shot. Like I said I'm really liking this building!!!:) #7400779

Dale Hardin April 13, 2009

Agree with Jeanine that this is a fine shot and her suggestion about the foreground and the tower are good ideas.

As far as improving the overall image here are a few things to try. You have PSE5 so these should be easily reproduced.

This is the kind of shot where a polarizer would have been a good idea and would have eliminated this further processing.

First duplicate the layer and then apply "enhancement/lighting/shadows and highlights" Set the shadows to 0 and the highlights to about 50%. Then do a multiply blend at about 25%.

Apply the high pass filter at a setting of about 1.0 and blend using the soft light blend.

Crop from the right just to edge of where the curved roof meets the straight area and from the bottom about 2/3 of the way up to the outcropping located on the left.

Even with this your sky will still be blown out some, though not as bad. You might consider changing it altogether. #7400806

Sharon Lohrmann April 13, 2009

joan, I can't possible offer better advice than what has already been given. dale, your like phello's very own wise yoda! (i'm assuming everyone knows that's a star wars reference - my friend's kid is here all the time and he is consumed by star wars - I now know more than any 40 year old woman should)


anyway - I have a question though in response to dale's cropping suggestion. when I looked at the image I was thinking crop over the center (a little off the top, bottom, and sides) any reason why that wouldn't be a good thing to do? i'm not always good at visualizing what something will look like.....
#7400971

Jodi M. Walsh April 13, 2009

lol- Dale you are our Yoda! love it, but can you do the voice? :-) sorry, hubby and I grew up on Star Wars and we're counting the days 'til we can watch it with Caleb...

anyways, what an interesting building. I really like the water leading up to the building and then the expanse of sky overhead. i'll be looking forward to seeing Dale's suggestions. it is a really bright image but i'm never good at saving those shots.

and I right away thought of a long skinny crop. might be worth a try #7401015

Jeanine M. Bailey April 13, 2009

K...just want to chime in on the Star Wars talk...too funny...Yoda Dale!!! :):) My husband is a HUGE Star Wars fan...so much so that when we got married I came in to the Love Theme from Episode 2 and we walked out to the Star Wars theme....we even had light sabers...sounds dorky but I think was all done very tastefully!!! :) #7401055

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

Okay, here is the amended version incorporating Jeanine's suggestions. This is taken from the Rotary Campground which we will be managing this year. I attended this college the year that it opened and it was one of Douglas Cardinals first major design accomplishments. It was built to follow the curve of the Bear Creek banks, and blend into the environment. Muskoseepi Park with all its walking trails and beauty complete this beautiful area of GP! Here is a link to the Architects website. He has built some amazing structures!
http://www.djcarchitect.com/portfolio/grprairie.html #7401140

Dale Hardin April 13, 2009

Sharon, in response to your question about cropping the top and the bottom, it's a compositional thing. It's usually more interesting to divide the image in thirds top to bottom. Which one? Depends on what you want to be the main subject. If it's the sky, then crop the bottom. If it's the foreground that is more interesting, then crop the sky.

About the only time to have the horizon in the middle is when it is a reflection, such as a mountain reflected in a lake etc.

In this case, I actually liked the foreground more which would necessitate cropping the sky, but the clouds shape discourages that because of their shape and would appear clipped. If they had been wispy clouds, then I would have suggested cropping the sky instead. #7401149

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

oh.... whoops I guess I cropped wrong.... I too like the foreground (being a big fan of gold/blue lol! #7401156

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

Here is it cropped the other way instead #7401168

Anthony L. Mancuso April 13, 2009

I like the last crop Joan but I get the feel the image is leaning down left to right because of the lines with the water and land

and may the force be with you... #7401239

Michael Kelly level-classic April 13, 2009

OK late to the party again :-) . I like the fairground crop better due to the interesting cloud formations in this shot. Is it my eyes or is the building tilted slightly up to the left. I do see some artifacts in the shot which look to me to be some over sharpening. I could be wrong on the reason but they are there. Try to reduce saturation very slightly and if you sharpened go back and take it off. Try Dales high pass filter method which only sharpens edges and is not as likely to produce artifacts. Overall I like the shot, background, foreground, and DOF. #7401247

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

I had the same feeling... I have tried various ways and points to eliminate that feeling, but can't seem to get it right. When Dale didn't comment I thought perhaps it had passed muster! R

As for the Star wars thread (how the heck did that get into my picture LOL). I hate sci-fi completely, and my husband Randy is a staunch Star Trek fan (sticks finger down throat ROLF)!!

Oh right... Yoda! Yes Dale is indeed our sage and wise advisor! #7401252

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

LOL... that last answer was regarding Anthony's comments!

Michael, I did a high pass at 1 as per Dales suggestion, and I did de-saturate but it kind of looked dull! BUT... I love BRIGHT and COLOURFUL... so that is probably just me! You will see a bit more of this building over the summer.... fortunately it is west of us, and I think it will be beautiful at sunset! #7401257

Anthony L. Mancuso April 13, 2009

It does look like its leaning left to right but I checked the top of the building with my monitor screen and its level...i think its the lines of the land meeting water doing it

Come to think of it this builing looks like somethiing I saw a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, when I boldly went where no man had gone before...
#7401476

Ellen H. Robertson level-classic April 13, 2009

I like the last crop the best. I do like the colors in this. And it does feel like the building is tilting. Looking forward to the sunset shots of this. #7401848

Esther R. Tinz April 13, 2009

I think this shot really plays up what you said about the archictect - that he tried to follow the curve of the creek and to blend into the environment.

I like the last crop as well - and keep the colors as is. I bet you'll be all over this campus snapping away.

NaNu - NaNu - OOPS - wrong galaxy. That was Mork & Mindy. #7402117

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

LOL Esther... you know I never watched Mork and Mindy, although I love Robin Williams! Here is the LAST upload, hopefully straightened sufficiently! Dale?????? #7402129

Aimee C. Eisaman April 13, 2009

Wow.....I missed alot today! I think this building has alot of character. I don't like the last two crops...clouds look clipped to me. I also notice the seemingly oversharpend look to this, but couldn't tell if it was just the colors in the image.....odd. If you do decide to use the one with less foreground I suggest cloning out the stick near the bottom edge. :~) #7402177

Joan E. Hoffman April 13, 2009

Actually, truth be known, I don't like this shot at all in any version. It is a truely lovely building, and I don't think I did it justice. Will try it again and again till I get it right... this one is not going to be entered.

Funny, I am getting more and more particular... I only entered 4 last month... but it brought my average up from about 20% to 50% ROFL!!! Thank you all for your help and comments!! #7402234

Dale Hardin April 13, 2009

Joan, I noticed the apparent tilt but since the building was straight I didn't say anything. this is a case that if 'twer me, I would tilt the building to get the scene itself to look straight.

Still don't like the idea of clipping the clouds for the sake of the foreground. If you are going to do that, then change the sky. Also noticed you didn't try the crop on the right that I suggested. I think that is a key part to strengthen the composition. #7402585


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