M9 shot - critique me

[kshapero]

Leica M9, Zeiss C Biogon 35/2.8 lens, Shot at 800 ISO, 2.8, 1/30, Standard color, AWB, No PP at all.

 

[kshapero]

Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. Most concerned on the color rendition that the M9 gave me on this.

 

[Richard G]

I see no problem witht the colour. Mixed evening and incandescent on the M9 gives a blue cast which might be unwelcome. Some indoor shoots seem better to me when in Lighteoom I switch WB from 'As shot' (which was AWB) to 'Auto'. I might locally raise the shadow on the man's face just slightly.

 

[hepcat]

Mixed-mode lighting at dusk is about the most challenging thing you ask ask a camera to figure out the white balance on. I dont think you could have asked for much better. Are the colors fairly close to the actual colors?

 

[sepiareverb]

RAW? Even if not, open the file in Adobe Camera Raw and do a white balance setting off the shirt? I'd also do a bit of opening up on the vignette, and some brightening. I find M9 files a bit over-saturated often.

If you don't mind another take:

Could still take some backing off on the saturation on the skin-tone, and maybe a little dodging here and there.

 

[Keith]

I think this would make a great black and white photo .. so no comment about the colour sorry.

I really like the composition and the way the light is emphasising the door. Also the sharpness of the door compared to the slight blur of the subject really appeals to me and if anything I would accentuate the vignette slightly, putting the human element even further into shadow.

 

[Classique]

I think in this image, color does not really add much. I think BW version may fit the image more.

 

[peterm1]

I cant comment all that much on the technical aspects of how well the M9 worked if that is what you are after - its a bit hard to do on a small web image. But I would say that this image has a vignette. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I often put one in in Post if there is not already one from the ambient lighting. It concentrates the eye.

Slight problem here is the eye is concentrated in the wrong spot (well based on what I would think of as the main subject). So I would use post processing to change that - remove the existing vignette and place a new one with the brighter area on the chap walking into frame - which is where I think it should be as it draws the eye to that spot. At the moment it draws the eye to a blank wall, which is not what you want I imagine.

I cant really comment on color rending which you have asked about. The lighting for this image is from mixed sources so its hard to assess (more yellow where there is artificial light under the eaves and bluish/cool elsewhere) If you wanted to improve it though you might again use Post to make it more neutral then perhaps, apply a global warming filter. I often find a slight warming filter is useful in people shots. But it depends on what you want.

 

[Vince Lupo]

I don't think the colour adds anything. As far as a black and white version goes, I'd go even a little more extreme...

 

[jaapv]

I find it impossible to critique the colour technically, as it is determined by the photographer, not by the camera. You say "standard colour". Does that mean this is an out-of-camera JPG? In that case anything better than a Wallmart print can be hailed as excellent... If you want good results you should shoot raw and make your own choices.

 

[Keith]

I find it impossible to critique the colour technically, as it is determined by the photographer, not by the camera.

In this case not so because the poster made it clear that the WB was auto and there has been no PP.

I'm a little mystified by this because it does actually mean we are critiquing the performance of the M9 rather than the image itself.

Confusing?

 

[Ranchu]

Color looks fine to me, I might like it more blue, less green, but I wouldn't expect that of the camera. I think it's a little underexposed, not a lot.

 

[Richard G]

I think Keith is right and like his black and white conversion: that is the logic of the shot. Sepiaverb's 'sepia' looks good too.

 

[Pioneer]

I think the image may work in color or in black and white. IMO the potential improvement is not the color, or the lack of color.

One, I believe there is a confusion on the subject of the photo. Is it the door on the building or is it the man walking into the image, or is it the patterns to be seen with the lights, the building, the door and the wet sidewalk. Once you have made that decision then you can make adjustments that emphasize one over the other.

Second, the flare or light showing above the building is distracting and should be toned down or cloned out altogether.

 

[jaapv]

In this case not so because the poster made it clear that the WB was auto and there has been no PP.

I'm a little mystified by this because it does actually mean we are critiquing the performance of the M9 rather than the image itself.

Confusing?

It is the point where I lose interest; colour is the photographer's choice, camera output can only be a starting point. Out-of-camera jpegs are a boon for war correspondents and soccer mums, but for the rest they are pretty useless.

 

[Monochrom]

Hi, colour is in deed author´s choice but the photgrapher must think about if it´s worth keeping colour or discarding it.

As keith stated, B/W version can be better in terms of emphasizing what´s going on with the elements in the frame....

 

[icebear]

Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. Most concerned on the color rendition that the M9 gave me on this.

Akiva,
since I have the MM, the M9 gets rarely out of the bag but when I used it, I alway do manual white balance.
There are several options like WiBal cards or profile charts, I use an Expodisc.

Honestly, it baffels me how many people just use AWB which will not get the most accurate results possible.
They shell out a fat wad of cash and don't put a little effort in to max. out the potential of the camera.

If you are fine with AWB and tweak around in post processing with the color, there are multiple options to get what you like.
If color accuracy is what you would like to achieve, then do manual WB. Just my 0.02$.

 

[sepiareverb]

WB is something I rarely bother with in the camera. My M9 is set to Daylight, I always tweak WB as part of my opening a RAW file - I don't shoot jpg.

Only if the color is going to be way off of Daylight will I switch to Auto and let the camera get close. Then I tweak in Camera Raw.

 

[kshapero]

Awesome stuff, yes I agree this is a B/W shot. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Fraser]

I like it but as others have said why not shoot in raw I'm sure you could get a bit more out of the sky. Even if you are shooting jpegs you should still use photoshop to finish the image.
I reckon 'I don't use photoshop goes in the same category as, I dont crop and I don't use the LCD screen.