This is my first attempt at selective desaturation. We saw this officer at the FIBARK celebration in Salida, Colorado. It was beginning to rain and people were running for cover. I saw him walk behind some other people and come out to check the crowd. He hitched his belt, and I grabbed a quick shot just as the sky opened up and rain started in earnest. I covered my camera and ran for cover as well. Of all the pictures I took to practice this technique, this is my favorite. It may not do well in the challenge, but it will always remind of the officer who "stood out in the crowd". Will post my flower picks in a forum. For this multi-colored photo, I used Glacierwolf's tutorial, and first de-saturated the blue channel, followed by the green and yellow and cyan channels. Red was more difficult as that was what I wanted to keep. I kept lassoing the parts to de-saturate until I got them all out except the officer in front. It was fun.
Statistics
Place: 166 out of 227 Avg (all users): 4.8794 Avg (commenters): 5.3750 Avg (participants): 4.8537 Avg (non-participants): 4.9211 Views since voting: 1000 Votes: 199 Comments: 12 Favorites: 0
Composition:
Your subject is great! Unfortunately your framing and cropping etc don't leave much room around him. It makes the viewer wish for more room around him.
Lighting:
Your lighting is okay in this photo. There isn't much control over lighting in a spot like this, and you captured it just fine. Exposure is correct so no worries there.
Technical:
Your depth of field is a little deep. It would be nice to have gotten the background softer. Right now it's distracting, as too much is in focus.
Post-processing:
This is where your photo needs the most work. First of all you removed colors from his face and other areas of the skin. I assume this was from the process you used to desaturate. It makes him look sunburn. The policeman isn't what makes this photo. What makes the photo is the kilt. The fact that it is a policeman wearing the kilt isn't shown by the fact that only the policeman is in color. However, leaving ONLY the kilt would bring the attention to the kilt first and foremost. Also leaving only the kilt in color would've helped deter some of the background clutter going on. Your background would become the policeman himself, and would've been very effective.
Overall:
This is a great capture. You were limited in what you could do to compose the shot, but you worked with what was given you effectively. Your photo was hurt by your editing. I think your score would've been quite a bit higher had you left only the kilt in color. Try it for yourself, desaturate the rest of him and leave just the kilt. It's much more compelling.
Very nice attempt with a unique shot. A little fine-tuning of your editing skills and you'll see your scores move up.
The picture has great focus, a really good subject and good dof. Problem is the crop is so tight it automatically makes this person the main subject. Desaturating the backgound doesn't enhance his main role in the picture. in a wider angle shot the effect would have been spectacular.
I had no idea that police officers could dress ths way for active duty. Too bad this shot is so busy since the subject matter is definitely interesting. Did you consider asking him if you could take his picture in a better setting?
I find the elements in the foreground (bars and fence) to be distracting. Selective desat did help to single this officer out, but it still is a rather uninteresting photo.
I think too much is saturated. Defeats the point of desaturating the background if too much is the main subject. Like the arms and skin usually may not be of great importance, while the kilt is very interesting.
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