Reprocessing Old Photos - Photo 1 of 5
As many of you know, I am currently in a photography mentoring program called "The Arcanum" and one of the level requirements that I have is that I have to reprocess a photo that I took during my foundation levels and apply everything I learned up to this point either by using new post processing techniques or taking a new photo of the same subject.
20 Mile House (version 1) * 5-Bracket HDR * f/22 * ISO 400 * 24mm 5/25/14
The photo you see here was in my first photographic critique and my mentor at the time had indicated to me that although the processing was nice, he had suggested that I re-shoot this as he felt that there was another shot to be had. Looking at this now, with a much improved eye, I can see that there are a few distracting elements in the photo such as the trashcan in the background as well as some minor bits and pieces on the pathway that could use some "tidying up". The tree branches on the left of the frame are also a bit distracting but the major thing that I noticed was that the greens in the bush almost look a bit "toxic"
I agreed with my previous mentor that compositionally, there was another shot to be had and after looking through all the photos I had during this shoot, I found something that worked for me that I think is better compositionally with less distracting bits:
20 Mile House (version 2) * 5-Bracket HDR * f/9 * ISO 100 * 24mm 5/25/14
I decided that I wanted to go with a square crop on this improved version since I felt that the portions outside the photo didn't really add anything to the subject and the added benefit was that I was able to remove distracting elements. I also toned down the greens just a bit so that they looked more realistic and less toxic. Contrast was also added to the house to give it a little more "pop". Going through this exercise, I have realized that my eye now vs a year ago, has really improved a lot and now, I tend to be more critical of my work. I still have (4) more of these left to do so stay tuned for the remainders.