"New" Engine for Restoration

[lambroving]

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MP .58, 28/2, 125th @ f4.8, Portra 160 VC.

[pemayeux]

Another nice railroad catch. Excellent composition, I like the placement of the empty rails leading into the horizon. I can appreciate the exposure expertise it took to render the sky. I just finished traveling and while I have only digital files processed, I'm hoping the Kodachrome I sent off to Kansas today retains better highlight definition while maintaining the texture and moody feel of the sky than did the digital.

[lambroving]

Paul,

 

Seems the MP exposed mainly for the back of the loco and the rest fell into place. Storm was just about to hit and I like the way the Portra handled the light on the side of that engine too. Lots of good shadow detail on the print, but it fails somewhat to make it to the web at 250K. How would your M8 have handled that sky?

[stunsworth]

The M8 would have handles the sky excellently of course. The kind of dynamic range in the this shot is meat and drink to the M8.

 

The bottom half of the image looks at least a stop underexposed on my calibrated laptop, maybe that's a result of exposing to retain the sky detail. I'll have a look at this on my desktop tomorrow. I wouldn't have had the horizon cutting the photograph in half either. Rules are made to be broken of course, but I don't find the foreground/sky balance very interesting.

 

It looks like a location with a lot of photo opportunities.

[pemayeux]

Well - sometimes I think maybe my M8 has too much drink... I'll put a disclaimer here that I am not a pro at Photoshop - however, I have found that if I want detail in the sky, the exposure has to be held lower, but then the shadows start to plug and most of the foreground will go too dark, giving the overall print a muddy look to it. From my experience, my MP with the 35/1.4 ASPH shooting K64 has much more DR than my M8 using the same lens.

 

I think compositionally there is enough going on in the frame that the placement of the horizon is a non issue.

[stunsworth]

Hi Paul, correcting the foreground underexposure is pretty simple with a very basic mask and levels/curves adjustment. I had a play with the William's image and it only took a few seconds.

[pemayeux]

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Steve - I've not mastered the layers/mask routine. I have PSCS2 and the guide is pretty vague about the subject - or at least I have trouble wrapping my mind around it. I'll post one of my examples later to illustrate my problem. As a side note, I have noticed that the problem is not as common when I shoot my lower contrast CV 15 on the M8.

[andybarton]

Paul

 

If you do have an interest in Photoshop, (and let's face it, most of us have to have an interest in PS or an equivalent, these days), having some knowledge of layers - especially adjustment layers - is the equivalent of knowing how to dodge and burn in a darkroom. Most images, be they scans or digital originals, can be improved by the use of simple PS techniques.

 

I highly recommend the series of video podcasts available through iTunes, from the Photoshop User boys (I can find the exact reference when back home tonight)

 

The M8 would have handles the sky excellently of course. The kind of dynamic range in the this shot is meat and drink to the M8.

 

Agreed. The dynamic range of the M8 and DMR is huge. I generally use a -0.5 exposure compensation to hold back the sky and avoid burning out the highlights and the rest of it takes care of itself. However, I would say that it helps when using the DMR, at least, if one tries to set exposure as if one were using slide film. The DR of the sensor then gives lots of opportunities.

 

Here are some examples from the master of the DMR (IMHO):-

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/landscape-travel/9205-fence.html

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/landscape-travel/23677-low-tide.html

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/landscape-travel/25209-mountain.html

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/landscape-travel/22650-colour-b-w.html

[stunsworth]

Paul, the adjustment I was describing was pretty simple - I don't class myself as a Photoshop expert by any means.

 

Select the lasso tool and change the feathering to say 30-50 pixels for a full sized image, say 8 pixels for a small one like William's above. Then draw around the area you want to lighten. When you release the mouse button after drawing this you'll see the area selected. Then go to the adjustment layer button at the bottom of the layers pallet and select 'levels'. This will give you an adjustment layer that will only affect the area you selected. In an example like the above adjust the middle slider by moving it to the left. You'll see the selected area lighten. When you're happy press enter. And that's it. To darken an area move the same slider to the right.

 

You can repeat this if necessary on different areas of the image to give the equivalent of 'dodging' and 'burning' in a wet darkroom.

 

You can also use the same technique but select a curves adjustment layer rather than levels. This will give you more control, but using levels will be easier until you gain more experience.

[lambroving]

I think compositionally there is enough going on in the frame that the placement of the horizon is a non issue.

 

Paul,

 

Agreed. The shot is un-cropped and contains precisely the elements I wanted. (Not always that lucky. ) And..., as mentioned above, the shot at full res and on the print is not underexposed in the foreground. It just doesn't make it here at 250K. Still, it captures the mood I had in mind. Otherwise I'd not have posted it. Some will "get it", some won't.

[stunsworth]

William, the problem is that we don't have that print to look at. We only have the image that was posted. So if _that_ image looks underexposed then the shot _is_ underexposed from the perspective of the forum. You should try and adjust/reject any images that don't cut the mustard when they're resized as that's all we get to see.

[imported_peter_m]

Picking on the little guys again..........

 

I don't see anything wrong with the image, the highlights don't look blown out and there still is a lot of detail in the shadow. Looks like a bit of vignetting in the bottom corners. I suppose the foreground could be lightened up a bit in Photoshop but not all of us like messing around with post production on the computer.

 

Peter

[Rona!d]

I think the underexposed foreground is a style William wanted, so it´s ok like it is.

I hope i do not risk too much when i show you another possibility. More dreamlike maybe:

[wda]

I think the underexposed foreground is a style William wanted, so it´s ok like it is.

I hope i do not risk too much when i show you another possibility. More dreamlike maybe:

 

William, your simple shot has aroused some passions. I can understand all the alternatives suggested above, even Ronald's which has generated a purist's version. However, I think I understand your aim which was to capture the isolated drama of the loco in its setting and the threatening sky. Because I felt that the foreground was too barren and dark I tried to relieve it with very mild dodging which is much easier to do that apply selections. Also I felt that the shiny rails should leave not the base as glistening streaks. Here is my mild variation.