Valencia Results

[Rob de Jonge]

I enjoyed the trip to Valencia very much.  Maartje, Hayo, Carlo and Dieter + their spouses were very good company.  For me, the visit for nearly a whole week of a big city was an experiment, because I'm not a big city fan. But  the company of my fellow-photographers and the unique buildings did helped a lot. To all of you, may thanks!
Here are some results.


Rob

[Rob de Jonge]

Here is the next round.


Rob

[Hayo Baan]

Hello Rob, thank you for your kind words. Maartje and I really enjoyed taking you around the city and its fine architecture!

As was already apparent during the week you all took some really great shots!

Here's some feedback on your images.

Valencia-1: Nice starburst 
Overall a pleasing composition but I think I would prefer the image to be a bit lighter. Oh, and I would also retouch the two “scratches” in the bottom-right corner (and perhaps some other small specks) as they are quite distracting.

Valencia-2: Reflection.
For me this is definitely one of the best pictures of the week, very well spotted and taken!

Valencia-3: Good one of course (I think we all took something similar).
For me it would have been even better if there would have been a little more room at the bottom, now the curve touches the edge of the frame.

Valencia-7: Reflection in the water.
Nice, and with the cyclist in it you get a good feel of the enormous size of the building. Contrast is quite hard, not a problem at all, just different from your other images.

Valencia-1-2: Umbracle.
Composition is nicely symmetrical. Perhaps a bit too much of the planks in the foreground, but I'm not sure I dislike that, actually. HDR processing is a bit too strong for me though, and I also think the foreground is a bit too dark and “sad” looking.

Valencia-2-2: Science museum and Ágora.
Good composition but again too dark for me.

Valencia-2-3: Looking through the science museum.
Very good find!  Makes you wonder what you are looking at, and whether or not it is just one image or two (or more) together.

Valencia-2-4: Lights
Sure, it is a “simple” image, but I like it! Colour-wise I find it a bit on the warm side, and I would definitely retouch the cigarette stub.

[Rob de Jonge]

Thank you, Hayo for your comments.

The week in Valencia was a week full of splatter and debris in my D3x. I have cleaned many times but the trouble returned. I'mm afraid my D3x is now a D600 
I  see that  I missed some pictures to clean up.

I have heard it before that  that for you some of my photo's are too dark. For me, brightness is "seasoning to taste" (Avoiding the extremes)  For me are some of your photo's "too bright" also non of your photo's has blown highlights.

There is another small selection .

Greetings,

Rob

[Hayo Baan]

Thank you, Hayo for your comments.

You're welcome!

The week in Valencia was a week full of splatter and debris in my D3x. I have cleaned many times but the trouble returned. I'mm afraid my D3x is now a D600 
I  see that  I missed some pictures to clean up.

  That sounds quite bad. Have you already tried “wet cleaning?” You may need to use multiple swabs in this case before it is totally clean. This can be a tedious task though. You could always try to get Nikon to clean it for you (as NPS member this should be free), or wait for a shop in your area to offer the service for free (the bigger shops regularly organise such cleaning days, many times actually executed by Nikon or Canon).

I have heard it before that  that for you some of my photo's are too dark. For me, brightness is "seasoning to taste" (Avoiding the extremes)  For me are some of your photo's "too bright" also non of your photo's has blown highlights.

Brightness is definitely up to personal taste (this is true for all my comments, of course). And in your case I find one or two only a little bit on the dark side anyway (looking at your Valencia-1-2 image again, I actually don't think it is too dark at all, not sure why I thought that initially…).

But it could be that your monitor is brighter than mine too (most monitors are by default set to be way too bright). The usual recommendation is to have your display not brighter than 110cd/㎡, but I find this too bright when comparing to print and actually use the recommended setting as per my EIZO display of 80cd/㎡.

There is another small selection .

Valencia-6: La Logna de Seda
Great! Perhaps the only thing, is the fact that you are looking at the first chandelier a bit weirdly because of the extreme wide-angle used? Bit that is about it. Love the straightness of the hall and the pillars. Did you stand on something to photograph it or have you “fixed” the perspective in post processing?

Valencia-10: Oceanogràfic
We had seen this one in Valencia already and I still think it is superb! Beautiful use of reflection and the ability to see the different buildings of the Arts and Science park! Really good shot 

Valencia-11: Puente de Monteolivete
Nice! Again good use of the reflection of the bridge in the water.

Thanks for posting and keep them coming 

[Rob de Jonge]

Thank you, Hayo for your nice words.
I have some B&W pictures. Some of the pictures are nearly monochrome.


Rob

[Hayo Baan]

Nice 

Valencia-1-3: Science museum
Very nice symmetry! B&W Works well.

Valencia-2-3: Stairs of the Palau de les arts
Good catch! Love the fact you can look inside as well as outside as of there was no glass there. B&W again adds to the effect.

Valencia-3-3: B&W version of earlier Science Museum shot
B&W works too, I think I like the colour version slightly better, but I'm not sure…

Valencia-4-3: Crane
I didn't keep any of my shots here, but this one is quite nice actually. Good!
B&W is the way to go with this one, but I think making the sky brighter would improve it further.