Street - Caught in the Act

[Lesley Jones]

Apologies for posting another version of this, but I would appreciate some input. Having scanned (and processed) for years without really knowing what I was doing, I'm working my way back with CS5 and the Nik filters. A couple of days ago I wasn't at all sure about Nik and film, but now I think it just needs a different approach. The brushes take a lot of getting used to with the bigger image sizes as well. I seem to have become more used to digital than I realised...

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Touch of a young Paul Newman there. Very nice capture. Not sure what you are asking us to comment on, but it looks great to me.

 

[Pete Askew]

I can't recall what the old version looked like Lesley but this is very good indeed. The tones are about right I think and there is just enough detail in the face and the tobacco pouch. Timing is spot-on and the connection just works. What specifically were you not sure about?

 

[Lesley Jones]

Oh... the other one was too light and the tones seemed flat. The image didn't work for me as I thought it should. I've started using a bit of Pro Contrast in selected areas along with a bit of Lighten/Darken and Tonal Contrast. The latter doesn't do nearly as much as it does with a true digital image and with everything you have to watch the grain where you are placing the control points. I've had a few unexpected results. I think I just need to feel my way with film again. Previously I was just using gradient map to remove the colour cast (thanks to my old Coolscan) and then a brightness/contrast layer. I did tell you I didn't know what I was doing back then!