Processed Cows

[major_clanger]

We went for a wander around Sutton Park today; now that we have a car we're doing more exploring around the outskirts of Birmingham, and we quickly discovered this wonderful great chunk of countryside within Birmingham's suburban sprawl.

I had my DSLR with me and tried to get some interesting shots of a small herd of cows we met. I've done my best with a few minutes' work in Photoshop to bring the picture a bit more to life and I'd be interested in comments on the processed version vs the original :



Left: original, taken with Canon 400D and Canon 17-55 f/2.8, 1/200s at f/7.1, ISO 100, shot through neutral density graduated filter. Shot in RAW and small exposure tweak added.

Right: slightly realigned and cropped, layer overlays used to boost contrast and saturation.

Comments

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Would've composed slightly better - more striking, and more of the oddness of cows - if you'd moved to your left, giving clear gaps between the individuals.

A lower camera position, so that one or more of the subjects break the horizon, is always worth a try; especially when you have a 'false horizon' like the grass/trees boundary in your shot.

I'm not sure what the best colour treatment would be: UV filters are the limit of my ability here. If yoir editor package has an artificial UV sky filter, play with it a bit.

A final note: images with a natural division into three always make an interesting composition. Yours has one in a horizontal banding of grass-trees-sky, which always looks little odd and unsettling: great fun when the subject's looking straight at you, dead centre of the shot. Or vertically-centred. Or a cow.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

The composition wasn't what I really wanted, but:
- there were other cows rather thoughtlessly cluttering up the scene from other angles.
- I was trying to keep some nearby cars out of shot.
- we were meant to be having a walk and I didn't want to spend too long being Arty whilst attimes_bracing got bored.

Also, White Cow was being rather awkward; kept on hiding behind Brown's ears.

[history-monk.livejournal.com]

The contrast tweak definitely helps.

Were you standing when you took it? Getting the camera closer to the ground might have given a better composition; the cows and the sky are a little too far apart.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

I was trying for a sort of triangle of the cows in the foreground with the ones behind, although that's not quite worked. And I didn't fancy my chances trying to rearrange cows :-)

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

[EDIT TO PREVIOUS COMMENT]

These are opinions, not criticisms: I like the shot.

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Also: leave the car, and trundle out to Henley-in-Arden on a sunny day. It's a pleasant market town with a nice riverside walk, and it rewards a patient photographer.

It also rewards an afficionado of Elizabethan pubs.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

The cows and foreground are definitely better in the right hand picture. The main problem with boosting the contrast is that the black cloud in the top right becomes intrusive. I'd try limiting the contrast boost to the cows, and keeping the line of trees and sky lighter.

Lovely composition.

[kake]

I agree with this — I like the increased contrast (and sharpness) but it's only the cows that really want it.

Did you try adjusting the white balance? If not, that might be worth a go.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

I've probably fallen foul of the MAKE THE SKY LOOK ALL DRAMATIC style that tends to permeate a lot of photography these days. I've wound it back a bit and also shifted the colour balance to be a little cooler; is this better?

[kake]

Ooh, yes, that looks a lot better.

(I forgot to say this before, but I love how the foremost cow is looking grumpily at the camera. The clouds in the sky seem to go with the mood there.)