Urban Zebra
Lighted
With Contrast Masking
This one has been post-processed using the Contrast Masking technique I just learned at Luminous Landscape to increase the sky’s luminosity a bit. The image might have been better if the building’s bottom had been included, and perhaps with a bit less distortion. What do you think? Any advice on how to shoot buildings?
Update (2005-04-26): As suggested by Turfdigger, here’s the same shot without Contrast Masking:
Without Contrast Masking
Publiée le 26 avril 2005.
Tags : Architecture, Canon EF-S 18-55, Canon EOS 350D.
Commentaires
photographer52 le 26 avril 2005 #1
The sky looks amazing. I will have to try out this technique.
Turfdigger le 26 avril 2005 #2
It might be interesting to see the ‘before’ version of this shot to better appreciate the impact that the processing method has on this particular image - thanks for the tutorial link, as workflow questions often arise. Buildings are usually tough to portray due to lens parallax and such - I’d imagine that a large format field or view camera would be a good choice due to the tilt/shift capabilities inherent in such a rig.
Steve le 27 avril 2005 #3
Very well done. I always like the ‘looking up’ perspective on buildings. The clouds add a nice touch as well as does the contrast enhancement. I think croping out the street-level clutter, as you did, improves the picture!
Massimo le 27 avril 2005 #4
I am usually not very good on shooting buildings, so I cannot comment much on that. But for what concerns the contrast masking technique, I didn’t know it and is quite effective. It really improved the sky in your photo. Thanks for the link.
ChrisK le 27 avril 2005 #5
Find your own style - if thats cutting the bottoms off - so be it 
Sorry to correct you Turfdigger, parallax is a difference between view-finder and lens, which I’m sure SLRs dont suffer from. I tend to stick to 50mm and above for buildings - but you dont always have the luxury of shooting from a distance.
I like the saturation in the sky, will have to give this ago at some point - thanks for the link, Andréas.
Marc le 27 avril 2005 #6
I think it looks awkward because there aren’t any straight horizontal or vertical lines. That’s one of the problems with the lens you’re using, the converging verticals get really apparent at the edges. I don’t see a significant difference in the sky between the two shots to be honest, just a slightly bluer tint.
sAm le 27 avril 2005 #7
Love this image, the contrast masking image certainly brings this shot out, well done…
Diego le 29 avril 2005 #8
Sorry, but I don’t like this one very much. I like the composition, but the colors looks artificial, like a 3D model render. Sorry again 
Simon le 3 mai 2005 #9
Funnily enough I like both even though they seem quite a bit similar other than the sky. I will definitely have to try out contrast masking now. Thanks for mentioning it.
