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Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:52 pm
by flip-mode
I'm going to have one of these printed up poster size on 20x30 at Walgreens (for the next couple weeks they're having a 33%-off for posters printed from the in-store kiosk).

Here's the portrait image:
Image

Here's the landscape image:
Image

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 3:10 pm
by Captain Ned
I prefer this one: :wink:

Image

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 3:48 pm
by auxy
Trying to load this thread crashes my phone browser, and trying to open it on the work internet, the images don't load. ヽ(´ー`)ノ

I'll reply when I get home.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:15 pm
by flip-mode
Captain Ned wrote:
I prefer this one: :wink:


That's a nice picture. If I'd have taken it :wink: I love to print it, though probably not at 20x30.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:59 pm
by just brew it!
FTFY:
Image

Edit: And FWIW, I can't decide. Print them both!

Edit edit: The vine/root/trunk/whatever thing in the first one is really cool, but the "tunnel" effect (perspective) is better in the second one.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:40 pm
by Captain Ned
Agreed on the landscape, either with Stilton or without.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:28 pm
by flip-mode
just brew it! wrote:
FTFY
:lol: You're the greatest.

Edit: And FWIW, I can't decide. Print them both! Edit edit: The vine/root/trunk/whatever thing in the first one is really cool, but the "tunnel" effect (perspective) is better in the second one.


I think you're grokking my dilemma. The poll pretty overwhelmingly elects the landscape image. Speaking as an architect, there is some deeper poetry in the portrait image that speaks to the kinship of trees and columns. That tree is, I believe, a wysteria.

Both images are taken in the 2-square block garden in front of the P&G headquarters. I've heard it said that the garden is a symbol of the company's considerable wealth (especially as counted at the time of construction) - who else takes the extremely prime real estate of 2 downtown city blocks and builds a garden on them? (Rhetorical question, there could be dozens).

JBI, I think you had the best answer: print them both. I printed the portrait image first because that column-embracing tree really is a poetic thing. And it looks magnificent at 20"x30".

Ned, your cheese picture really is exceptionally well done. I love the apples in the background.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:39 pm
by Captain Ned
flip-mode wrote:
Ned, your cheese picture really is exceptionally well done. I love the apples in the background.

Wish it were mine. It was the first Google Image in a decent size. Think I stole it from a foodie magazine. My Oly 4/3 simply doesn't have the low-light performance necessary for a shot like that.

EDIT: It's from a stock house: http://pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?pg=8552

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:08 pm
by TheEmrys
I'd go #2. For the first one, the sky is so bright that it overpowers. Might be adjustable in LR or something similar, but I'd go #2. Its got a great pattern to it.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:57 pm
by FireGryphon
#2 is the better of the two, but of all the pics you've posted here, why are you choosing from these two for the print?

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 11:49 pm
by flip-mode
I have maybe a dozen favorites that I've picked for large prints. This one of the tree and column speaks to me strongly even if its not the most dramatic shot.

And yes, Emerys, the bright sky was a challenge to me. I've not got much experience with that but I learned a couple things that day.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 8:49 am
by TheEmrys
If you can re-shoot it, a polarizing filter could help out. That and stop down your aperture. I find skies to be difficult here in Colorado. Everything get's washed out so easily.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 5:37 pm
by flip-mode
TheEmrys wrote:
If you can re-shoot it, a polarizing filter could help out. That and stop down your aperture. I find skies to be difficult here in Colorado. Everything get's washed out so easily.


As you've been recommending, I need to do some reading - in this case on the proper technique for dealing with bright overcast skies. I have discovered the AEL - auto exposure lock - button on my camera and have made enthusiastic use of that. While it does great at exposing the subject it also results in a sky that is often almost totally white. The real answer is probably to do multiple exposures, but that's also not quite "the whole answer" because when one is just walking around without a tripod that can be hard to do.

I don't know if this is possible with my a57, but it would be superlative if I could save individual automatic exposure readings to the different shots taken with the automatic bracketing feature. Embarrassingly, I haven't entirely read through the manual yet.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 8:21 pm
by NovusBogus
Landscape is the better quality shot, it is framed and tells a story and the portrait shot just looks like a random picture by someone who really likes concrete pillars. If you really like the vine thing in the portrait and have the opportunity to reshoot, try standing about two feet further back and a foot or so farther to the right so the column is at a more intriguing angle and doesn't hog as much attention.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 8:26 pm
by Captain Ned
flip-mode wrote:
As you've been recommending, I need to do some reading - in this case on the proper technique for dealing with bright overcast skies.

Circular polarizer. Slowly turn it as you're composing the shot for the best attenuation. Pointing into the sky like that will easily defeat the Skylight or UV filters most of us mount on the lens as idiocy barriers.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 8:47 pm
by Dirge
Print the first one with the vine. The second one looks great but is too dark for a poster.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 9:50 pm
by PenGun
You will find 20"x30" will be a bit much for the pixels you have. It can look just fine but will not bear close inspection. About 16"x20" is all I would try for from an APS-C sensor as a print. Of course a poster is not really the same thing but it will show you what ya got.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 10:38 pm
by Airmantharp
I picked the Landscape shot like everyone else, apparently, but I do have a few suggestions:

1. Go download Lightroom 5 and play with the Highlights and Shadows sliders.
2. Read up on the Rule of Thirds for composition, to explain why people shied away from the portrait shot (it's not because it's shot in portrait).

Lightroom will let you balance the light and color of any shot (better if shot in RAW, but still extremely useful with JPEGs) as well as cropping and straightening, and a whole host of other things.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 10:52 pm
by flip-mode
Airmantharp wrote:
I picked the Landscape shot like everyone else, apparently, but I do have a few suggestions:

1. Go download [urlhttps://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs_lightroom5]Lightroom 5[/url] and play with the Highlights and Shadows sliders.
2. Read up on the Rule of Thirds for composition, to explain why people shied away from the portrait shot (it's not because it's shot in portrait).

Lightroom will let you balance the light and color of any shot (better if shot in RAW, but still extremely useful with JPEGs) as well as cropping and straightening, and a whole host of other things.


Helpful; thanks.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 11:12 pm
by PenGun
flip-mode wrote:
Airmantharp wrote:
I picked the Landscape shot like everyone else, apparently, but I do have a few suggestions:

1. Go download [urlhttps://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs_lightroom5]Lightroom 5[/url] and play with the Highlights and Shadows sliders.
2. Read up on the Rule of Thirds for composition, to explain why people shied away from the portrait shot (it's not because it's shot in portrait).

Lightroom will let you balance the light and color of any shot (better if shot in RAW, but still extremely useful with JPEGs) as well as cropping and straightening, and a whole host of other things.


Helpful; thanks.


You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free. It's old but runs my luminosity masks so almost any useful image adjustment is possible.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/3689- ... p-cs2.html

This from Adobe directly although it's a bit confusing:

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/

Their free DNG converter can be useful too depending on your workflow:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/ ... ftpID=5569

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 7:50 am
by flip-mode
PenGun wrote:
You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free.
What? :o

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:10 am
by Captain Ned
flip-mode wrote:
PenGun wrote:
You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free.
What? :o

That Adobe link doesn't say, at least to me, free for all. It says that if you are so far out of the mainstream that you still need to run CS2, we'll give you a little help. After all, the phrase "The serial numbers below should only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products" does not in any way imply that CS2 has been released to the masses.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:38 am
by flip-mode
Captain Ned wrote:
flip-mode wrote:
PenGun wrote:
You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free.
What? :o

That Adobe link doesn't say, at least to me, free for all. It says that if you are so far out of the mainstream that you still need to run CS2, we'll give you a little help. After all, the phrase "The serial numbers below should only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products" does not in any way imply that CS2 has been released to the masses.

Yep, that's the way I read it, too.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:48 am
by rado992
Captain Ned wrote:
flip-mode wrote:
PenGun wrote:
You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free.
What? :o

That Adobe link doesn't say, at least to me, free for all. It says that if you are so far out of the mainstream that you still need to run CS2, we'll give you a little help. After all, the phrase "The serial numbers below should only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products" does not in any way imply that CS2 has been released to the masses.


You are right, but practically speaking, if you only need CS2 for whaterver reason, you can effectivly run it for free now. Since they don't run their activation servers anymore, they can't tell if you've actually bought it 7 or so years ago. Of course they won't say outright that they're now giving it away, but from a user's perspective, that's what this is. I think it's a nice gesture, since it's too old for any serious work now and probably has compatibility issues with new OSes, to release it for any casual or specific enough users who want or need to run it. Had they not released the keys, these users would have to rely on shady and potentially risky workarounds to keep running it. Also, any pirate probably already has a newer version installed, so that issue is also small enough to not care about. :)

EDIT: Forgot to say, voted for the landscape, not because of any specific photographic rule, but because I find it to be more pleasing to look at, the sky looks a bit harsh and overexposed in the portrait.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 9:16 am
by Techgoudy
I voted for the 2nd one. The landscape view really looks nice. I like the tunnel effect that has been created in the photo.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 9:29 am
by flip-mode
NovusBogus wrote:
If you really like the vine thing in the portrait and have the opportunity to reshoot, try standing about two feet further back and a foot or so farther to the right so the column is at a more intriguing angle and doesn't hog as much attention.
This is a good suggestion.

Re: Poll: which image to print poster of?

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 1:18 pm
by PenGun
Captain Ned wrote:
flip-mode wrote:
PenGun wrote:
You know, I hope, Adobe has released Photoshop CS2 for free.
What? :o

That Adobe link doesn't say, at least to me, free for all. It says that if you are so far out of the mainstream that you still need to run CS2, we'll give you a little help. After all, the phrase "The serial numbers below should only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products" does not in any way imply that CS2 has been released to the masses.

I know I am a "Stainless Steel Rat" and have the morals of Slippery Jim DiGriz but perhaps you are taking it too far in the other direction.

They would take it down if it were not a give away, it's been there for a almost month now with everyone and his dog linking the Photoshop install exe directly.