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ALEX

© Michelle Alton

ALEX

Uploaded: April 19, 2010

Description


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Alexander Hall, on the Princeton University Main Quad, is my favorite of the PU buildings to photograph.
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On April 1, the lens I had on my camera was not wide enough to capture the entire facade from where I stood, and the top of its main turret was chopped off. But I liked the shot enough to work on it. I'll show the original in the discussion and describe the improvements there.
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Congratulations to the March finalists and all the participants. Have not had an opportunity to view them yet, but best of luck in the next round!
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<<-- Digital Darkroom -->>
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Exif: F Number: 4.5, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 1/1000 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 100, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 24.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS 7D

Comments

Michelle Alton April 19, 2010

The changes: (1) Added an inch of canvas to the top of the frame and cloned the tree top and sky into the new piece. (2) Copied and pasted (onto a separate layer) the turret top from a different shot, and resized, blended, and cloned its features. (3) Swapped the sky. (4) Added some saturation to the building. (5) Changed perspective somewhat and straightened lines using the WARP transform. #1260221

Michelle Alton April 19, 2010

Avril Young
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member since: 4/25/2007 stunning, lovely texture and lighting...and wow that sky is awesome...love your new camera!!!
4/19/2010 1:37:37 AM
#8546986

Sandra Anderson April 19, 2010

What an inspiring piece of architecture Michelle. I can see why it is a favourite. #8546998

Paul E. Earl April 19, 2010

You have done a fabulous rework on this! Terrific image!! #8547029

William C. Raco level-classic April 19, 2010

Terrific editing, Michelle
Beautiful photo of this magnificent building #8547089

Douglas Pignet April 19, 2010

Beautifully done with wonderful colors and comp #8547158

Kathy Reeves April 19, 2010

Beautiful colors and contrast---lovely work as always. #8547195

Jeff Robinson level-deluxe April 19, 2010

Great job Michelle! Jeff #8547372

Ujjwal Mukherjee April 19, 2010

Beautifully done,Michelle!! #8547579

Barbara Waldoch April 19, 2010

This looks great, Michelle! #8547604

David Phalen April 19, 2010

Awesome DD work to create a fantastic capture of a beautiful building!! #8547951

Monnie Ryan April 19, 2010

I can see why this is a favorite photo subject, Michelle! Quite a magnificent building! #8548043

Ron McEwan April 19, 2010

Terrific work Michelle, I would have just waited until I got a wider lens. Your talent is amazing, well done in every way. #8548100

Jack Ryan April 19, 2010

Beautiful image of this beautiful building. I see why it is a favorite. Nicely done. #8548379

Sheila D. Robertson April 19, 2010

Wow! Nice work here.....well worth all the excellent effort. #8548597

Amalia Sylvia Arriaga Salinas level-classic April 19, 2010

A beautiful building very well captured Michelle!,
Amalia #8548986

John Connolly April 19, 2010

What an amazing transformation Michelle! The sky emphasises the wonderful building and it surrounds! Great DD work, give yourself a pat on the back! #8550884

Tammy Espino April 19, 2010

Amazing work & capture :) #8551443

Laura E. Swan level-classic April 19, 2010

What a great job! Fantastic DDR Michelle!

-Laura :) #8552201

Kitty R. Rodehorst-Hanna April 19, 2010

WOW! Incredible DDR work, Michelle! This is GORGEOUS! :-) k #8552247

Renee Doyle April 19, 2010

Definitely worth working on!!! Spectacular work Michelle! #8552460

Dick W. Wyatt April 20, 2010

I can tell you worked hard on this one.
Another beautiful old building. #8552907

Brett Dolsen April 20, 2010

Well worth all the fantastic darkroom work Michelle!Love the POV and detail! #8552931

Renata Gusciora April 20, 2010

Beautiful image,wonderfully capture with great composition,Michelle! #8553877

Randy D. Dinkins level-classic April 20, 2010

Great shot and wonderful pp work. You certainly have the patience to make the photo work, and it shows here! #8555698

David Van Camp April 20, 2010

What a lovely building and shot, Michelle! Suggestion: take 2 shots, one up a bit, the other down. Then use the create pano option in PS to merge them.. it's quite easy!!

Even better, turn the camera to a portait (vertical) image, and take 3 or 4 shots (overlapping by at least 1/4 to 1/3) .. it doesn't have to be too precise .. then merge them with PS pano. You get an awesome WIDE angle result (often) ... look at some of my shots, such as my "Artist's Y Falls" (attached) where I took 3 shots, each in a landscape mode, then merged them together with PS's Pano feature to create a single portrait format pic. I did this hand-held, not all that precisely. #8556571

David Van Camp April 20, 2010

Oh! one additional thing I should note: I metered the shot for the average of the shots (e.g. the middle shot exposure), noted the f/stop & speed settings, then put the camera into manual mode with those settings so that each shot would have exactly the same exposure. #8556586

Karen Celella April 21, 2010

Your DD work is extraordinary Michelle! #8557853

Dianna Murphy April 21, 2010

REALLY awesome work! #8558023

Tommy E. Burgess April 21, 2010

Very beautiful work my friend!! Outstanding job with your seamless composite work! #8560345

Laura L. Gonzales level-classic April 21, 2010

I really love what you did here Michelle!!! I wish I knew how to do all that! LOL! Still learning! Excellent color, sky, detail, pov, clarity and presentation!!! AWESOME! Laura:) #8560356

Carolyn J. Connolly April 23, 2010

Michelle, you achieved a most stunning result here - a truly wonderful capture to start with...and just exceptional post-processing work, too, my friend!! :o) #8564394

Afrodita Ellerman April 23, 2010

Wonderful work-excelent result! The easy way-not always the best way :).The joy or high that you get when you create something not worth the shortcuts! #8564653

Steve M. Harrington April 24, 2010

Wonderful architecture and a fine image, Michelle. Perhaps you should consider a career in construction. :)
Steve #8566782

Mary Alston April 25, 2010

Fantastic shot of this beautiful building - well worth the effort you put in. #8567995

Bill Houghton April 28, 2010

Michelle, this is beautiful work. Great job. Have a great week, Bill #8576827

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