Sleeping Beauty (handsome)

[Thos Quinn]

I've lurked and admired the images posted in this "sub"fourm. This is my first post and the first shot I took with my (then) new Nikkor 70-300 f4-5.6D ED. It had just arrived in the mail (last winter) and I didn’t have time to do much more than open the package before having to get Forest (my son in the photo) in the shower, get dinner cooking, etc. So after dinner Forest was watching some TV and I had some free time to “fondle” my new toy. It was night by then so I didn’t really plan to actually use it ‘till the next day. That’s when I looked up and saw Forest had fallen asleep on the couch and the light from the lamp where I was sitting across the room was brushing across him. I know this isn’t the best choice of lens for this type of shot but it was on the camera and I didn’t want to miss the moment so I grabbed my tripod and got this shot. Forest was dead to the world so the 4-second exposure worked (except if you look closely at his middle finger; it apparently twitched during the exposure).

A question: Why does this pbase image have severe posterization and/or JPEG artifacts when the original JPEG looks great? I have issues (kind word) with my images looking like relative crap after downloading to pbase. Anyway, comments and constructive criticism welcome.

D70; Nikkor 70-300 f4-5.6D ED; 70mm, 4 sec at f9.5

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[greyflash]

Thanks for posting your first image on the Cafe Thos. It would help if you would furnish some information so that we might figure out what is causing your problem Based on what you have said above, I would guess that you are shooting in JPEG but you haven't said anything about what color space your are using. Also, it would help if we knew what your processing steps are and what software you are using to accomplish that.

Your image is interesting but the WB seems to be off some and your EV could be moved up just a tad.

 

[Thos Quinn]

Thanks for posting your first image on the Cafe Thos. It would help if you would furnish some information so that we might figure out what is causing your problem Based on what you have said above, I would guess that you are shooting in JPEG but you haven't said anything about what color space your are using. Also, it would help if we knew what your processing steps are and what software you are using to accomplish that.

Your image is interesting but the WB seems to be off some and your EV could be moved up just a tad.

I work in PSCS. I shot this in JPEG; normally I shoot RAW but hadn't upgraded to CS with the RAW plugin at the time of this shot. And yes I have to admit the WB for this shot is ??? Anyway my normal workflow is geareed toward printing and then for the web I do the following:
1. Convert from my working Adobe RGB 1998 to sRGB.
2. Change from my working 300ppi to 72ppi.
3. Resize if necessary (e.g., to a max of 960 pixels for this forum).
4. Resharpen a little if needed (usually).
5. Save the image in JPEG format at “10” quality.

 

[greyflash]

I played around with you image a little and came up with the following. It may not be to your liking at all and if not that is OK.

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I suggest that you do not convert to SRGB until you are finished processing and just before doing a "Save As." My steps for posting on the web are as follows:
1. Resize image to 900x600
2. Do pre-sharpening
3. Crop further with marquis tool if I desire. Many times I use 800x600.
4. Adjust colors if needed
5. Adjust levels if needed
6. Do spot sharpening or final sharpening if needed
7. Convert to 8 bit SRGB color space
8. Save As a JPEG at a level that will give me near 300 dpi

 

[Thos Quinn]

Gordon;
I like the tones of your version (what did you do?).

I will try your posting steps but what I find so frustrating is that after I go through my steps and check the resluting JPEG the image looks just fine. I download to pbase and the image quality often just falls apart.

 

[greyflash]

Gordon;
I like the tones of your version (what did you do?).

I will try your posting steps but what I find so frustrating is that after I go through my steps and check the resluting JPEG the image looks just fine. I download to pbase and the image quality often just falls apart.

Following my steps I do not find that to be the case. As to what I did to your image:

1. Adjusted the Levels to bring up the EV a little
2. Used Hue/Saturation to eliminate some of the green cast you had.
3. Slight sharpening
4. Saved as a JPEG at level 12

 

[Thos Quinn]

As to what I did to your image:

1. Adjusted the Levels to bring up the EV a little
2. Used Hue/Saturation to eliminate some of the green cast you had.
3. Slight sharpening
4. Saved as a JPEG at level 12

Thank you Sir! You know, even my version is substantially "brighter" than the real life scene. One of the beautiful things about having gone digital is that you can quickly try an endless variety of "versions" of each image.

 

[Harry S.]

I like both versions. It all depends on the mood you want to convey. This is a phantastic shot generally. The original almost looks like a day-for-night rendition, while Gordon's version looks like very-early-morning sun peeping in through the window.

As for the quality loss in Pbase - make sure that Pbase displays the image as "original". Also, have you en-/dis-abled the "Fit to screen" option in windows itself?

I only experienced this problem when I overlooked that Pbase had used "large" instead of "original". I also once tested at what jpg compression the dreaded artifacts start to show up and the limit seems to be level 6 (in PS) where artifacts started to become visible only along contrasty edges (like sky/horizon), but there was still no serious posterization in smooth gradients.

Cheers