Waitin' For a Ride

I finally took a photo of a complete stranger. :msred: Of course his back was too me so he couldn't come after me. Plus..he was in the water so I coulda run faster than him to get away had he seen me...hehehe. I took this with my Nikkor 70-300mm zoom. Settings were F16 @ 1/250. Please give your suggestions and feedback.

I like the color one better...nice colors composition!

I also prefer the color. Nice level horizon as well.

Color for me too. I like the variation of the blues to the greens to the white.

I also like the color one cos the bw lacks some contrast, and it makes the cresting wave blown out. Have you tried converting to bw using the channel mixer? Id also run a border round the bw one you have so you can see where the shot ends in the bottom of the frame.

Nice capture!

Have you tried converting to bw using the channel mixer?

I don't know how to do this but if you have time, could you tell me how to do it? If it will help the front wave stand out a little better, then I would love to learn how to do it. I like the black and white because the surfer stands out better but I am in agreement about the wave in front being lost from lack of contrast. I love the color one though!!!

Id also run a border round the bw one you have so you can see where the shot ends in the bottom of the frame.

I thought about the same thing. I think I will mess with it again if I can figure out how to use the channel mixer. Maybe a drop shadow on the picture on a white background with the bottom border being thicker so I can put the title in it.

Thank you for your thoughts and comments. Anymore ideas?

I like the colour one best too. Congrats on your first stranger pic!






:) :)

The color one is the way to go, B&W is hard to bring out with water...

Taking pictures of strange men. :shock: Does your husband know what you're up to?!?! :LOL: Just buggin' ya...
I would choose the colour one as well b/c water shots in my opinion almost always look better that way.

I have to second everyones opinion about the water. The color is too pretty. like the composition as well

It's the color one for me too. Water looks great.

Does your husband know what you're up to?!?!

HA-ELLLLL no! :? LMAO! Just kidding. At least the guy was fully clothed. I could have shot a picture of the old man with a hairy back wearing a bright red thonged speedo for you guys...:msred:

Does your husband know what you're up to?!?!

HA-ELLLLL no! :? LMAO! Just kidding. At least the guy was fully clothed. I could have shot a picture of the old man with a hairy back wearing a bright red thonged speedo for you guys...:msred:
:? No that will be quite alright. hehe

Channel mixer is easy, basically all you do is make a channel mixer adjustment layer, click monochrome and make sure all the values (R, G and B) total 100%. So you could do 50% R, 25%G and 25% B or whatever, you just have to play around with it and see which tonal values best suit your shot.

On the border idea you could just move the whole shot to a new canvas and add drop shadow to the pictures layer ;)

Good luck playin round :)

Thank you so much Kara. I think I will try that when I get home from work tonight. I am thinking maybe I should get a photoshop book because I understand the basics and a few of the intermediate type features but I would love to learn the channel mixer and masking features. ;)

Mmmm. Photoshop books can be fan-freakin-tastic! I have to remember the name of my favourite book, and I'll let you know!

Ah-ha. Found it. Scott Kelby's The Adobe Photoshop CS Book For Digital Photographers

This book at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/sim-explorer/explore-items/-/0735714118/0/101/1/none/purchase/ref%3Dpd%5Fsxp%5Fr0/002-9066407-6719237)

Will this book work with Photoshop 7?

Yup. Cuz I have 7! There are some things you can't do with 7, but not a lot! I took a lot of books out at the library when I first started playing with photoshop, and this was the only book that really got me started. He explains things really well. I have had it for a year, and I still find it useful.

Great thanks!

. I could have shot a picture of the old man with a hairy back wearing a bright red thonged speedo for you guys...

nice use of emoticons. and btw, thanks for the mental picture :shock:

i also like the color pic. i really like your composition, well done kris10.

Scott Kelby's The Adobe Photoshop CS Book For Digital Photographers

Do libraries carry this book? I think I might just run up and get it if so to check it out and then if I like it, I can go to Barnes and Noble or somewhere to get it. Thanks for the suggestion. Books are great!!! :msred:

thanks for the mental picture

You are soooooooooooo welcome Allie. :LOL:. I offered that mental image just for you...:mrgreen:.

OK, I'll go out on this limb ALL ALONE! I really like the black and white. When Heather e-mailed these two pics to me Sunday, the B&W was my immediate favorite, and still is at second look. I have no problem with the color one, but I like the detail you get from B&W. Correct me if I'm wrong, Heather, but I assume the surfer was your focal point, and not necessarily the water. I guess that's why the black and white works for me -- I noticed the surfer first.

I think the comments are mainly because the front wave in the B&W becomes lost and the color one where you can see the wave lends more depth to the picture. I dunno...that's just my thoughts though. I like the B&W on too but I think it might work better to be cropped closer around the surfer and just get rid of the wave since you can't really "sea" it. :LOL:

I borrowed a book that my mom had at home called Photoshop 7, Fun and Easy. I love this picture and wanted to do something to it. I have learned a few more things from reading that book and just wanted to post this here at the same place the originals were and see if I could get some feedback on the modifications.

Does the border and title improve or hinder the image? How could I make it look better if it doesn't look right and what would you have done with this shot if you were doing something like this with it? I like the idea of titling images in a creative way and have seen a lot of GREAT examples at this site. I am attempting to "mimic" some of the things I have seen that have been nice to look at. Please give your ideas! Thanks! ;)