Times Square, bit different for me.**Image updated**

[Chica]

Hi everyone

Had a play in Photomatix with a 7 frame shot of Times Square. Purposely overdone and trying to convey the feel of Times Square. Interested in your thoughts as this is different for me!



Cheers

Cathy

[stubbsy]

Cathy

It's an interesting very "HDR"ish result. For me it's been pushed a bit too far - I'd like it a little less saturated and with a cooler white balance, but that's just my taste

[bigsarg7]

I dont mind it actually i think it is very different and unique, my only thoughts on improving it would be in regards to the sky.....don't like it at all, i think it lacks something, the rest of the shot is so bright and the sky just looks so dull.....i think if u were to improve the sky (not that i know how to) I think it'd be a nice modern piece of photo art. As i said i like the color treatment you've done, just not the sky!

[aim54x]

Cathy, I like this although I usually dont like over-cooked HDR. The colours a captivating and as a visual feast it fulfills my desires entirely. Definitely not your usual photo though

[Chica]

Thanks guys.... I'll see what I can do about the sky I agree with you BigSarg.....

Daniel. thanks .... and we havent forgotten about the photos for you.... just been a bit hectic here lately.

Cathy

[aim54x]

Daniel. thanks .... and we havent forgotten about the photos for you.... just been a bit hectic here lately

Daniel?? No worries Cathy, no rush

[Chica]

Sorry Cameron..... der........ must have been half asleep!!!!

[colin_12]

Well this image cetainly packs a punch. It will be interesting to see where you go with it.

[biggerry]

sweet lord - thats one explosion of colour, I am gonna have dreams/nightmares with that visual

I'd like it a little less saturated and with a cooler white balance, but that's just my taste

Peter has summed it up for me, I would stick with the loud colours but just back off maybe 10-15%

Compositionally, it feels like it lacks a bit in the foreground, maybe a single figure walkign across that zebra crossing in teh foreground might have helped?

or.. maybe a pano crop, that would work nicely to remove some foreground and also bring more attention to the centre (lower) part of teh frame. There is actually lots of interesting details in there and its not till you look closer that they are apparent, cropping would bring this out imo.

[gstark]

I like it.

Totally over the top.

Great creativity is shown in doing this, and I think it works a treat.

[Chica]

sweet lord - thats one explosion of colour, I am gonna have dreams/nightmares with that visual

.... hope I dont give you nightmares Biggerry!!!

Colin and Gary, thank you Gary, you are right... totally over the top but intended to be that way, as Times Square was totally over the top as well (in a good way!!)

I'll see what the pano crop looks like as well.... I like the zebra croaaing as in my head it leads me into the photo, but maybe a little less would work better.

Thanks for the feedback

[zafra52]

I am not sure about it. I think I have to reserve
my opinion for the moment...

[surenj]

You can really conveyed the chaos through use of color!

However I think the picture could be improved with subtle adjustments to improve the amount of detail etc..

[aim54x]

Suren, your variant is darker and moodier, making for a scene of dilapidation and decay, funny how a small change colour can cause such a change in the mood. I do however like the hallucinogenic colours of Cathy's original more

[phillipb]

Cathy, just to satisfy my own curiosity I wanted to see what it would look like with the corrected perspective, while I was at it I played around with the colours. I doubt that it's any better then the original but I thought I would post it here to show you.

[aim54x]

Philip...I like it!

[surenj]

Philip I like your version!

Cameron, I agree that the desatted version is less appealing! I didn't realise it when I edited it.

[Chica]

Hi everyone

Surenj: I like how you made the photo more moody.... what adjustments did you make?

Phillip... love it!! I now need to learn how to correct perspective in PS, Google, here I come.

I really appreciate the way people on this forum spend time and effort in trying things out on others peoples images in order to help them.... thank you

Cheers

Cathy

[Div]

What a great image!

To be honest though i quite like the adjustment that surenj did.

Gives it a somewhat sincity kind of feel to it. It's how i think of time square and American cities actually =) I also like that there is a bit more detail and contrast.

Still fantastic concept! Love it!

-Dave

[Chica]

Hi Dave
Thanks I like the Sin City version as well. It's turning into a fun photo to play with

Cathy

[surenj]

Cathy,

The only adjustments were slight reduction in saturation (global) and increase in the blacks (curves).

[Chica]

Thanks Surenj

[Chica]

Hi everyone

I've had a play with cropping and perspective and colour.... do you think this is an improvement?



Cheers

Cathy

[Mr Darcy]

I like the crop a lot more. The foreground really added nothing to the picture.
To be honest, I can't really see a difference in the colours though.

Undecided about the perspective control. On the one hand you haven't really straightened things completely. Look at the tall buildings left and right. On the other, the overhanging buildings in the original contributed a sense of menace to the picture that I, quite perversely, liked.

[Div]

I agree with Mr Darcy that I actually like the overhanging buildings. The converging parallels drew you down the street giving it a feeling of depth. I don't get the same feeling from the new version.

For my own tastes I prefer the original with the foreground as i feel without it you are in the details of the picture too fast (if that makes sense). I felt the forground had a nice lead in. A sense of looking into the chaos, not being apart of it. Where as the new crop I get neither the view from afar that I want. nor do i feel involved.

I also would like to see the colours brought back just a little. Still need to get a bit more detail into it. For me the treatment Surenj suggested is spot on.

-Dave

[Chica]

Hi Dave
After looking at the 2 versions I also prefer my original... I like the lead in the crossing gives and the overhang.... back to the drawing board for me

[Alex]

It's definitely overdone, but works really well here.
Great result

Alex