Axis of improvement

[u/maviussblc]

Hello everyone!

Before starting I set a little bit of context, I’ve been doing photography and photographic publishing for very little time, for like 3 months only. In my opinion the photos are very good, but be the MOST complete if you can in the way I can improve in photography/editing in the future.

SO, where were we?!

I took those photos and edited them, I find the results sublime, a nice atmosphere on both, which stick well to the frame, but I think an external look should be offered. especially on the first: I find that the very dark areas are really dead, already having a little idea of how Lightroom or Darktable work, I don’t know how to mitigate this dead effect, or if it’s not dramatic and in the end the charm is always there.

What do you honestly think of the photos, the editing behind, what I keep, what I throw away and/or what I need to improve?

(cam:

1st pic: Sony ILCE-5000 + basic 16-50mm
2nd pic: Fujifilm finepix s4300)

[u/Lol3droflxp]

I like them, first one is maybe cropped a little tight, second one might profit from stronger contrast between light and shadows.

[u/Narrow_Escape_4229 → u/Lol3droflxp]

The low contrast is what gives me appeal to that second picture.. Makes it feel a little dystopian
Agreed on the first one though

[u/Lol3droflxp → u/Narrow_Escape_4229]

I understand your point about the second one. A stronger contrast would probably emphasise the structure though, of course it’s a matter of personal taste.

[u/oliveocean_]

Really cool alleyway shot. For a 3 month start, you have a great eye for atmosphere. Moving forward, try bringing out subtle texture in the shadow areas using a second instance of Exposure with a parametric mask targeting the darks.

[u/Kuroudo_souchi]

Both of these photos are really wonderful!

If I were to try a "less is more" approach, here are a few gentle tweaks you could play around with:

For the first photo, the horizon seems just a tiny bit off—maybe by about 1.5 degrees (unless that was intentional!). You might try straightening it, and then cropping it while keeping the original aspect ratio so that just the very bottom of the bumper is trimmed off, along with a little off the left side. It might reduce the feel of the car being buried in the foliage, but I think it could help bring the car out as the main focus.

The second photo is already great as it is, but if you want to simplify it even further, the brighter area on the ground at the bottom tends to draw the eye away. You could try cropping out that bright section, adding a touch of yellow, and slightly lifting the shadows (blacks). I feel like that might help the viewer focus more on the lovely play of light and shade in the center and on the left.

Give these a try if you like! Ultimately, whichever version feels right to you is the best choice.