Just an over processed image

I normally handle criticism well, but after reading some comments on Facebook Nikonites | Facebook I decided to redo my Not a Pink Cadillac.


So I give you, Not a Pink Cadillac Lite.

Rick, I would not worry about the criticism too much. You had a lot of positive feed back from here as well. If it was up to me, I would love to see it somewhere between this and the HDR you posted, but that's only because I like natural looking scenes.

I think some of them missed the point. It's not overprocessed if that was the intention. I wouldn't worry about it either.

That being said, I like the above image too!

Well I do have to agree, looking at it again, it's a little over processed. But this one is still HDR, and more natural looking. LOL

The intention was to shoot it normally and set it up for HDR trial. Looked at the first HDR rendering and liked it, played around with it, and that was that.

I don't know, maybe it's the mood I'm in, but felt like I had to redo it

eh I say go with what you feel is right and what your intention was.

It ain't worth 4.3 million but it ain't bad either...and that looks like boobs in the backseat to me...bring that grill a bit more into the foreground and make it pop...everyone is a frigging critic nowadays...it's better than any car pic I have made...

AxeMan said:

I normally handle criticism well, but after reading some comments on Facebook Nikonites | Facebook I decided to redo my Not a Pink Cadillac.


So I give you, Not a Pink Cadillac Lite.

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Just one question.

Do you shoot for THEM or YOURSELF?

YOU decide what you like, not a bunch of "artists" that think 4.3 million is a good price!

JMTCW.

What Pete said. Also would like to point out that "artist" often look for what they deem a mistake technically and not entirely on the beauty of the shot itself. Chase Jarvis once did a survey on 5 photos he was planning to use for a commercial account. The least liked image based largely on what other photographers liked was the one that the client ended up wanting to use for a big campaign. That client was Rebok (sp?).
That said I can seriously see car junkies going nuts for the original. Did you ever have that printed? Be neat to see what a light over the top did to the image, the "halo" might make that car pop big time

Rick, critics will always be critic and it's so much easier to say after the fact what you should or shouldn't have done and a little more darker or lighter… well you can get my drift.
There will never be a perfect picture, painting, sculpture, man, woman. And what you choose to do with your camera is just show a little bit of your point of view. Even if we all sit at the same table, we don't all see the same things from the same angle.

Personally, I prefer the first original version. I don't know why, but I like the fact that the car "Pops" more and it looks surreal. And it adds to the mystery of what is that car doing there. In the less processed version, it's just an old rusty car on the lawn. But it's my personal taste and that's it. I like the HDR look even when it's overdone sometimes. It's an artistic view or an ordinary object or landscape that catches the eyes and keep them on the image.

Personally, I really like your photo! I consider photography to have two main branches, 1) Photorealism and 2) Art. The two mix with many degrees of success. Photojournalism seeks to portray life as it actually is, Art photography interprets a scene to suit the photographer's visualization. There should really be no conflict between the two, since each photographer may select his or her own desired effect. There is a vast audience for both, but I want to do my photography to suit my own vision. I want to create beauty. That is my goal. If a scene is not as beautiful as I think it should be, I will augment it with my creative ability.

I think your photo is a work of art, and I would hang it on my wall. Others might want a more realistic rendition and accept less saturation, latitude, and "wow" factor in their own version of it.

Please keep up the great work! Satisfy yourself and you will undoubtedly satisfy many others as well!

Thom Tapp
(NikonThom)

no there is nothing wrong with your pictures. its what you like. i do my HDR many ways. depends on what i like. some are just clear natural looking and some i have over processed like your car. even that, look at my monotone challenge picture. i changed it so much that people thought i took a picture of a post card and that it wasnt my work. but, its selling like crazy. when i really change a picture to a more art form, i just tell everyone thats its my Digital Picture Manipulation Art and leave it at that.

Look at some of Ansel Adams work. Do you seriously like all of it? No, not likely. Take criticism with a grain of salt. Learn from some of it and discard the rest. Criticism is what others want to see........not what you see. I personally like the Cadillac shot......even though I'm not a fan of HDR.

AxeMan said:

...but after reading some comments...I decided to redo...

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Take any "normal" photo, and a lot of people won't even offer up an opinion on it. Do the same photo in HDR, and the critics come crawling out from beneath their rocks to tell you how over-processed it is. Let them eat cake. I'm reminded of reports of a recent execution here in the state of Ohio:

Brooks declined to make a final statement. Witnesses, which included his former wife and her sisters, had a view of his left hand, its middle finger raised. Prison officials said he was making the same gesture with his right hand.

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Point being, how do you want to be remembered? Do you want to go out with a bang, or a whimper?

HDR can often turn the mundane into something fantastic and surreal. The naysayers of this photo are obviously shutterbugs on some level themselves, or else they wouldn't be playing the HDR card in the first place. Had any of them seen this Caddy, I doubt any one of them would've thought it was worthy of photographing in the first place. Why? Because they have no vision. You saw something more. You saw what this scene could be, not just what it was.

Nothing is art unless someone hates it. Atta-boys and "that's cool" can only stroke your ego to a certain point, because it's a lot easier to fake being nice than it is to be mean. So when someone comes along and offers a strong negative response, you know you're on the right path.

Keep up the good work, sir.

I have been following this thread since yesterday and have refrained from commenting as being a very inexperienced don't-really-know-much photographer, I felt I could offer anything worthwhile with my opinion. But I decided to speak up because I think some of the others on here have identified what I have always believed about photography: it is art. Yes, it is a science as well but to me, whether taking photos or looking at those captured (processed or not) by others, it is art. I love this picture. I can't tell you how many times I have gone back to it and just stared at it. I still can't put my finger on one singular reason why, but the point is, I have been drawn to it. All I can think to reason this out is that it's the "something in there that I can't pinpoint" that keeps pulling me back that tips it from being a good photo to a great piece of art. So for what it's worth from a know-nothing, I love it. I like mood, I love different, I like that it means something to the artist and may convey something totally different to the viewer. That to me is art!

Anthony Hereld said:

You saw something more. You saw what this scene could be, not just what it was.

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This pretty much puts it in a nutshell ^^^

I hope one day that I get crit like you have for pictures like this. That to me would be the most amazing achievement. Being criticized usually means you have done something out of the box. Great masterpieces never fit in a box.

Ramble ramble .... in 3 words: I love it!!