Is this underexposed and sloppy?

[dooda]

I found this really cool spot recently where a cannery burned down, and nature is slowly reclaiming the chunks of concrete and poles that are left over. Exposure was tricky as it was all backlit, so I had to do some postproduction. I'm wondering now if you think it's too dark, just right, too bright, and if the editing looks sloppy to you.





Thanks for your thoughts peeps!

[admajic]

Excellent shots mate. The first one looks really good to me. I love the sky and the dark rocks and wood are a great contrast. WOW!
The second one is ok, but it looks like the grass is floating in the sky? The top edge is too bright. Love to see a colour ver too, of both.

[dooda]

Thanks.

I'm not too crazy about the colour versions I'm afraid. There is a lot of yellow in the sky, lots of greys and oranges in the rocks and in the concrete, and some greens in the grassies. Nothing really exciting though.

[ABG]

Looks well exposed and PP'd to me Dave. Out of curiosity, what did you do in PP?

[dooda]

I tend to desaturate in Rawshooter, and then play with the white balance and the tint sliders, which I can usually use in conjunction with the the shadow and highlight sliders to get effects that I like. Then I dodge and burn in PS. I also do a little curves and a little USM etc.

On the one with the posts I couldn't figure out if I got them too dark, or not light enough. It's tricky when you're working with that sky, to make them jive.

[Dug]

Have you tried Photoshop HDR? It would be interesting to see the results. great location. can we see some dawn or sunset long exposure shots soon please?

[LostDingo]

Dooda, I'm not a huge fan of B&W but there are some places where it has it's place....these work very well in B&W to the point I cannot ebven say which one I like the most

Very well done...you have some great shots here

[dooda]

Sorry Dug, I really don't like the HDR aesthetic. I see it all over flickr and in some cases I think it totally ruins a perfectly good photo.

These were all taken as the sun was setting, which is how I got really good light qualities in the sky. I'll have to post a couple more from the evening.

[nito]

I like the shots and dont think they are underexposed or sloppy looking. Quite the opposite.

[Marty]

The first shot is awesome, well composed and exposed.
The sky looks great, you could tweak a little in Photoshop to get more details from the shadows.
But like stated, its a great shot as is.
Marty