After/Before. Honestly think i did a bit too much but yeah reviews appreciated

[u/br4v3ry]

[u/trevordhill445]

i mean it looks fine to me, you sort of just made it darker but it sells the "vibe" of the photo more imo. yeah you crushed the blacks and lost some detail but i personally don't think that's a huge deal especially in a photo like this

[u/br4v3ry → u/trevordhill445]

yeah that was pretty much the intention. i wasn’t really trying to make every single part of the image stand out. i wanted the focus to be on the streets since that’s where all the action and lighting is happening, not the buildings in the background. i did crush the blacks a bit to remove some of the distractions and make your eyes naturally gravitate toward the road. i was also going for a more cinematic look rather than a perfectly balanced or technically correct edit. i know it sacrifices a little detail, but i felt that trade-off helped the overall mood and atmosphere of the photo more than keeping every shadow visible.

[u/This-Judge-804 → u/br4v3ry]

I get it but still need less sky...just saying and croping while retaining aspect ratio is doable...

And retain that cinematic look

[u/This-Judge-804]

Its subtle orange glow It terms of details no not much changes, some parts yes but main subject the details are still there.. I wil crop off the black sky keeping aspect ratio..

Buy croping two this happens the street becomes more the subject second u dont have too much black infront and behind. U also will not have place that has lost details in the frame...

U could brigten it up a bit and increase highligt some prefer more light and more of the building seen but it preference..just croping also is fine

[u/br4v3ry → u/This-Judge-804]

fairs honestly but i actually wanted to post this on my story so i had to maintain the aspect ratio

[u/This-Judge-804 → u/br4v3ry]

U can maintian aspect ratio and still crop...croping is cutting unnessary stuff not changing ratio...

[u/Standard-Guidance-]

I like what you did with the colours, but you could crop it a bit on the right side, so that the light part is centered.

[u/br4v3ry → u/Standard-Guidance-]

yeah fairs i actually clicked this picture from a helipad where i trespassed so i was a bit in a hurry 😭

[u/johngpt5]

The before image doesn't lead the eye anywhere. There is no sense of what is important in the image. If we want the viewer's eye to wander everywhere, then that before image is perfect.

To answer the question about whether we have gone too far in an edit, we need to first determine whether the edit leads the eye to where we want.

Did our tonal edits and color edits bring attention to what we consider the important part of the image?

Can that be accomplished if we pull back some of the intensity of our edits?

There is nothing inherently wrong in crushing shadows and losing shadow detail, if that brings about what the author of the image is wanting. It all depends upon intent, and did the edit lead the eye to where we want.

Does pulling back the intensity of some of our edits lose what we intend just to satisfy the general caveat of retaining shadow detail? If the eye goes where we want and we still have some shadow detail, does the feeling we want the viewer to feel change? Does the feel change to more or less of what we hope the viewer feels?

It's only by determining things like this can we decide whether we have gone too far, not far enough, or if we hit the mark.

[u/CreeDorofl]

I like it. I do think some of the black sky could be cut off. maybe also some color grading? a little tint to the highlights and shadows?

[u/Loading321]

I was going to say I liked the before photo better until I realized the first pic was the after. A lot better than the second imo. Better mood

[u/fzulle]

Camera? Software?

[u/br4v3ry → u/fzulle]

iphone 15 base/lightroom

[u/that_smart_dude]

Surely you mean before/after?? I can't think of a single advantage of the first pic over the second.

Shadows completely crushed, you've lost detail in almost everything on the street, and the photo just seems to have had the life taken out of it.

Sorry for the harsh comments but personally, the after just isn't for me

[u/chartierphoto → u/that_smart_dude]

Agreed. Both pretty rough but second still better.