JohnJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, RR: 3 Posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1211 times:
I've found that when I try to push the "Mother Nature" conditions things usually don't stack up well for me. I really wanted to get a shot of the new Airborne Express/DHL 767 flight into Hartford/Bradley Field last week and got up quite early to do so - FBOWeb called for its arrival at around 7:30 a.m., which would have been perfect light. It was a crystal-clear morning, couldn't ask for better photography weather. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, but was shocked to hear the ABX flight being cleared to land at about 6:50 a.m. Ordinarily it would have been no big deal since I was prepared, but the sun had other ideas - it was barely above the horizon at that hour.
The resulting set of images of the 767 were, not surprisingly, quite dark and I had to raise the brightness/contrast significantly in Photoshop to get a result that looked about right to me. I have no idea what other bad results doing that can do to an image, though. Long story short, my submitted image was rejected for "NOA_Quality", the proverbial kiss of death. Is there any hope for this one? The color is very reddish due to the sunrise, but I kind of like that effect. The image seems sharp enough to my eye, and I don't think I'd want it any brighter. There is a rather nasty shadow on the forward part of the fuselage that may be the culprit - if so, this image is toast for this site, I guess, as every one of the 8 or so shots I took in the sequence has the same shadow. What do you think?
Eadster From Australia, joined Jan 2005, 2214 posts, RR: 16 Reply 1, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 1187 times:
JohnJ,
Have you selected the aircraft and just sharpened that?? I can see some weird lines around it thats all. That could be the problem. I personally think that there is some hope for it.
JeffM From United States of America, joined May 2005, 3266 posts, RR: 53 Reply 2, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 1168 times:
Quoting JohnJ (Thread starter): The resulting set of images of the 767 were, not surprisingly, quite dark and I had to raise the brightness/contrast significantly in Photoshop to get a result that looked about right to me.
John, that doesn't even look close to natural. Sometimes 'ya just gotta let go....this looks like one of 'em.
Kukkudrill From Malta, joined Dec 2004, 1122 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 1140 times:
I'm no screener but to me this photo:
- lacks contrast (areas of shadow too light)
- suffers from jaggies in the tail area
- is not centred (tail right at the edge of the frame).
I'm not sure what the overall effect of increasing the contrast would be, but otherwise the problems are fixable. I don't think the shadow on the forward fuselage is an issue.
Charles
Make the most of the available light ... a lesson of photography that applies to life
JohnJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, RR: 3 Reply 5, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1087 times:
Thanks for the feedback. At DLKAPA's request I've made the original available at the link below. It is very dark, hence the liberal use of bright and contrast in my modified photo. The only other processing I did was to sharpen it and touch up a dust spot along the bottom. Ordinarily I'd have dumped this one in the hopper a lot sooner, but I was surprised at the sharpness and detail of the image in the low light conditions and thought it might be salvageable.
Propellix From Austria, joined May 2005, 8 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1080 times:
Nice shot actually, BUT ...
I found a few flaws that perhaps irritated the screeners as well:
Rotate the image, so the line of trees in the background are level. In your picture the approach attitude looks very unnatural for a 767. (Perhaps not for a CRJ). Apply less brightness than in your submitted photo, and definitevly select dawn/sunset shot. That will put it in a different category and help with the low light. Do not overbrighten (that happened in your submission)!
Crop the picture tightly! Screeners love that! Be very careful on that!
Just my ideas.
Any typing errors found, can be kept!
SA006 From South Africa, joined Sep 2003, 1883 posts, RR: 56 Reply 7, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1064 times:
Ok , multiple problems here:
The pictures gives me the impression you have brightened her up quite a bit giving it that bland white look to it. This results in a lack of contrast.
The photo is also not centered. Quite a bit of dead space on the left.
Quoting Propellix (Reply 6): Rotate the image, so the line of trees in the background are level. In your picture the approach attitude looks very unnatural for a 767.
I disagree here. You can't tell for sure if the photo isn't level. I don't feel the approach looks very unnatural.
I'd like to see the original here , would be interesting.
JohnJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, RR: 3 Reply 8, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1056 times:
"I'd like to see the original here , would be interesting"
Mikephotos From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 2923 posts, RR: 56 Reply 9, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 1007 times:
John,
It's not a bad shot considering the light. Certainly not a lost cause. Just note that you should not use Brightness to make the photo brighter. You should first adjust the levels and then make it brighter with curves instead of brightness/contrast. Then apply some Unsharp Mask. I'm no expert (far from it) but doing the above and nothing else produced much better results that should be acceptable or at least working towards acceptance.
before and after: (links to full size/larger photos belows):
JohnJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, RR: 3 Reply 11, posted (7 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 958 times:
The wonders of Photoshop! I agree both JeffM and Mikephotos versions look far better than mine. I'd like to try tinkering with the shot to see if I can get it to look as good as these using levels/curves vs. brightness/contrast. Thanks a lot for the help with this one!
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From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, 
From Australia, joined Jan 2005, 2214 posts, 
From Malta, joined Dec 2004, 1122 posts, 
From Austria, joined May 2005, 8 posts, 
Nice shot actually, BUT ...
From South Africa, joined Sep 2003, 1883 posts, 
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