I'm Confused

[stlgevo51]

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...96&key=9235539
This shot was rejected three times for color and contrast. I took a break from it for a while and then resubmitted a version I edited just after the last rejection, and now it's getting an overprocessed rejection. I don't think this version looks great, but I don't know how to fix it. What should I do to improve?

[Mgoldman]

The image is a bit warm (auto-color will reduce the extra yellow in the image) and it is underexposed (take a look at levels and you'll see the histogram is a bit on the dark side).

It's a bit noisy as well - either you under exposed it and the noise was introduced when you processed it to bring back the brightness or you simply need to start from scratch and re-edit.

/Mitch

[JRMDC]

I think that "halos around darker objects" applies here, in spades. And the sky is well pixellated. And in general it has a "what the heck did you do to it" sort of look.

Start over.

[KevinM]

Hi Jake,

Can you show us the original image? That might give us an idea as to how much of an adjustment it took to get it to its current state and whether or not it can be brought to an acceptable state with reasonable adjustments. I am assuming that you are working from a raw file. Raw format provides a lot more latitude to correct an image that is over/under exposed.

As for the current version, I think the screener called it correctly. It definitely is possible to process a photo to the point of abuse. I should know. I've been guilty of "photo abuse" in the past. One or two of them actually got PCAs.... One of these days I'm going to fix those.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

I think that "halos around darker objects" applies here, in spades.

I see lots of halos as well. If you dim your monitor, they really stand out.