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East Bay Grit
East Bay Grit
EstimatedEyes


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Your Corner of the World III (Basic Editing)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
Location: San Francisco Bay
Date: Oct 15, 2009
Galleries: Vintage, Architecture
Date Uploaded: Oct 17, 2009

 Bay Bridge, shot from the Vallejo ferry on my way home from work. Shooting it from the Bay provides a slightly different look than customarily seen from SF or Oakland approaches, and I think shows off the simplicity and grace of its form. I grew up in the East Bay and always loved this bridge ... something about it reminds of its gritty 1930s Depression-era roots. That vibe also fits Oakland, always with a chip on its shoulder in the shadow of its more famous cousin across the bay.

I tried to bring these impressions out by accentuating the image grain through various exposure, curves and white balance adjustments to the RAW image, then popping the grain even more with a slight use of the Noise filter (permitted in Basic) after resizing.

Not a very DPC friendly image. Predicting about a 5.2, with lots of "too much noise" comments.

Post Challenge
Thanks for the views and comments. I really appreciated the number of comments and the back and forth on the image. I would have loved to go for a more film grain feel for this, but since it was Basic I was limited to using the Noise filter, and that gave it more of a digital/artificial feel that some picked up on.

The 7+ score from the commenters was pretty sweet, and so was the overall vote distribution, lots of high scores for this type of image, dragged down by a lot of 1s 2s and 3s. One of the more unusual vote distrtibutions I've received around here, and clearly shows this was a love it or hate it attempt.


P1040034

Statistics
Place: 89 out of 160
Avg (all users): 5.3376
Avg (commenters): 7.3077
Avg (participants): 5.4000
Avg (non-participants): 5.3110
Views since voting: 1144
Views during voting: 345
Votes: 234
Comments: 17
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 10/29/2009 10:47:09 AM
Actually I think you added a grain effect here that works pretty powerfully - thanks for giving us details on how to achieve it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM
 10/28/2009 12:23:13 PM
I'm with SEG! I always thought the world was pretty open minded. Then I see results like this. Just frustrating! I am glad you entered it though.
Great processing and feel. Keep up the great individuality!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7100
Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D
 10/28/2009 10:14:09 AM
Very under appreciated photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra
Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS
 10/27/2009 11:40:51 PM
Gorgeous! Doomed, but gorgeous....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7100
Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D
 10/27/2009 08:08:06 PM
I think this is a unique (for DPC) and wonderful image. I love it and hope it does well!!! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 10/27/2009 07:35:07 PM
I like this !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Coolpix A
Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH
10/26/2009 05:42:13 PM
the noise looks really artificial/digital.
still a pretty cool shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D3100
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
 10/26/2009 02:10:33 PM
is it legal in basic editing
though excellent pic
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 10/25/2009 03:07:55 PM
Fantastic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 10/24/2009 08:51:23 PM
love the grain on this- works well
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 10/23/2009 02:37:29 PM
original :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D2X
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro for Nikon
 10/23/2009 10:58:51 AM
I love "grain" on BW analogue images. If well done, I like noise on digital images. This, unfortunately, I find a bit overdone.
Shame, because the compo is interesting: if you don't know the bridge, it makes you wonder what the left and right part look like.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D90
Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
 10/23/2009 04:48:42 AM
grain lover that I am I think there is a tad too much here. Love the composition though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
 10/22/2009 08:35:06 PM
The composition is great.
I really love grit in a photo, it gives it an old rich feel most of the time.
This grit seems a bit too much.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-40D
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
 10/21/2009 05:40:20 PM
The noise makes of this a very interesting image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-60D
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
 10/21/2009 01:46:45 PM
interesting use of grain
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D90
Nikon AF Nikkor 28-85mm 1:3.5-4.5
10/21/2009 09:24:29 AM
very cool, just a little too noisy. can you back off on the noise? i like the shot.
bay area guy.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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