Removed elements from a busy background.

[Clovishound]

This is one of the pictures I took at the boneyard beach last week. I like the image, but found the background a bit busy. I thought it would be near impossible to remove some of the clutter and have a natural looking replacement. Thought about the generative fill in PS and thought I'd give it a try. Here is the before and after. Would like inputs on which you like the best, and any suggestions for possible further editing, or changes in a reshoot. Sorry, no chainsawing allowed on the beach.

Before:

After editing:

I did try and remove some of the clutter in the middle of the image background. Everything looked weird.

 

[Needa]

Such an interesting place. The back ground in the first looks fine to me, like the image and composition. The large trunk going out of frame to the left make it look heavy to that side, maybe? As you can't use a chainsaw just jump up and down on it until it leans over like the ones behind it. Could try to edit so it doesn't go out of frame. Think straightening horizon would also help and maybe a little more space at the top for the branch going up. Just some thoughts and worth every bit of what you payed for them.

 

[Clovishound]

Thought I had straightened it. It wasn't off by much, but here it is. I just noticed after previewing the post that the straightening removed what little space there was at the top, so I took a digital chain saw to it. I tried to do the same to the log on the left hand side, but that didn't work out too well.

 

[Dawg Pics]

I like the before. Probably just a personal preference, but I think the stuff in the background balances out the large limb that extends to the left edge of the image. It also breaks horizontal line where the vertical limb in the foreground sticks up into the surf. My eye loses a tad bit of depth right there without the background trees, but that could just be some loss of edge sharpness or contrast because of the edit behind that bit. That is the best I can describe that, and certainly the limb's edge is really a minor thing that I just happened to notice only because there is a comparison. I also think all of the limbs look kinda cool.
It is a nice image either way.
I love black and white photography.

 

[blackstar]

I think your second chainsaw didn't do a good job (it cut off the cool limb top)...

 

[Needa]

Clovis Thanks for posting these images and creating the conversation around them it is fun and thought provoking.

I assume you sharpened the image, is there a way to concentrate the sharpening on the main group of trees and less or none on the background ones? This might create more separation and subject isolation. Also have you thought about an 8X10 crop and removing more of the open space on the right. Couple Of things I think might be interesting to try F4 (if the same lens) and a long exposure shot.

 

[Clovishound]

Clovis Thanks for posting these images and creating the conversation around them it is fun and thought provoking.

I assume you sharpened the image, is there a way to concentrate the sharpening on the main group of trees and less or none on the background ones? This might create more separation and subject isolation. Also have you thought about an 8X10 crop and removing more of the open space on the right. Couple Of things I think might be interesting to try F4 (if the same lens) and a long exposure shot.

Well, I think it is sometimes valuable for everyone to see different ideas on how to process, or even shoot a subject. I know I learn a lot from feedback on my images.

The image is not sharpened. I shot this with the new Z7ii, and between the high res sensor and the nice sharp 24-70 lens stopped down to F8, not to mention it was shot at ISO64, it really didn't need any sharpening. Out of curiosity, I ran it through Topaz Photo AI. It did not choose to run Sharpen, although it did choose Denoise (which was not necessary, but likely default for the program), which applies a small amount of sharpening. The difference in the preview was noticeable at extreme magnification, but was minimal, and I don't think would be noticeable even with a fairly large enlargement.

I tried the new LR "Blur" feature. If I'm serious about this track, I might try selectively sharpening the surf in the right hand side. The sky would also need to be sharpened. Anyway here is the quick and dirty result to give an idea.

 

[Clovishound]

And here it is with a different aspect ratio.

 

[Needa]

I tried the new LR "Blur" feature. If I'm serious about this track, I might try selectively sharpening the surf in the right hand side. The sky would also need to be sharpened. Anyway here is the quick and dirty result to give an idea.

I tried a different tactic. Selected the background to be masked and then eliminated the highlights with in those masks and the pushed up the mask contrast, so pretty much only the branches were selected. Not sure I was overly impressed with the results. Of course was working with you jpg so that doesn't help. Not sure what options you have for masking.

The image is not sharpened. I shot this with the new Z7ii, and between the high res sensor and the nice sharp 24-70 lens stopped down to F8, not to mention it was shot at ISO64, it really didn't need any sharpening. Out of curiosity, I ran it through Topaz Photo AI. It did not choose to run Sharpen, although it did choose Denoise (which was not necessary, but likely default for the program), which applies a small amount of sharpening. The difference in the preview was noticeable at extreme magnification, but was minimal, and I don't think would be noticeable even with a fairly large enlargement.

When you import are any defaults added to the image. Does the Z7II us an AA filter?

Of the ones with the background removed might choose the last as a favorite. Still like the complexity of the first.

 

[Clovishound]

Not sure about the AA filter. I have picture control set to Auto. Since I shoot in RAW, and edit everything, I don't think it makes much difference in the final product.

The Pup and I may go back next weekend, weather permitting. If so, I will try and reshoot this image paying special attention to the background. Of course, I'll have a different sky, light, which will also affect things. Perhaps a lower angle will hide the busy tangle of trees in the background.

 

[blackstar]

I like the one (background blurred) before the last.

 

[Needa]

Not sure about the AA filter. I have picture control set to Auto. Since I shoot in RAW, and edit everything, I don't think it makes much difference in the final product.

The Pup and I may go back next weekend, weather permitting. If so, I will try and reshoot this image paying special attention to the background. Of course, I'll have a different sky, light, which will also affect things. Perhaps a lower angle will hide the busy tangle of trees in the background.