I guess this is more of a “What would you do” then a critique. I really like this image I just feel it doesn’t have that wow factor that it could. I don’t think it has that pop to it that it should. I really struggle with PP . I mainly use LR4 and I do have PS5. I would like to have a 20x30 canvas print of this shot done. Right now Bayphoto has 30% off their gallery wraps so I was thinking of ordering one. I think the colors need more pop to them. I also don’t like the overcast sky but it is what it is. So what would you do different?
I am not sure the image is strong enough to blow up to 20x30. The trees near the water look soft to me. However, in LR I would boost the clarity and vibrance sliders to the 60-80 range and see how you like it.
Do you have NIK Viveza? There are some spot corrections that need to be made. You can either do them with masks in Photoshop or use Viveza and Color Efex Pro from NIK software. I'll leave it to others to argue which is better, but I have found using control points in NIK software gives my a lot of flexibility.
For this image, I'd use control points and the structure slider to enhance the sky, giving it more variation. I'd also tone down or eliminate the blue haze. I'm torn about the snow. This is under lovely waining light that should have a warm glow, but I might try to keep the warmth but tone down the red. I'd consider cloning out the isolated scraggly bush just to the right of center. I don't see anyway to crop to strengthen the image without messing things up.
Doug hit on most things pretty good. I see the "raking light" as being something more dramatic than the beauty of the overall scene (which is of course very nice in its own right), so I tried to play to that. Mixed lighting extreme exists of course as part of your scene is lit by the warm raking light, while other areas only receive the cool overhead giant softbox lighting. Probably needs additional refinement and might be a bit rich for a given taste ... but for illustration purposes, you get the gist.
Method 2 (similar to ACR clarity, but in PS)
Layer> Duplicate Layer...
Filter> Other> High Pass... [Radius = .6]
Set layer blend mode to overlay or linear light and adjust layer opacity.
Set blend if sliders in layer style panel.
Tough place, so many of these that you always have some memory of one with more drama.
When I am there, I like to get further back and include a bit more of Signal Mountain and the brush along the lower right. This is a 50mm FF shot from that location. I am usually there the last week of Sept or first week of Oct when the foliage is in color, including the foreground brush.
But Moran is usually light on snow at that time, one advantage you have is the snow. The sky you have is probably better than a clear blue or worse yet, smoke as I had last time.
Overall, the main reason for you to print this is because you took it.
I would clone out the twigs sticking into the water at the bottom. Jazz up the saturation a bit, and work on clarity.
Method 1
Layer> Duplicate Layer...
Filter> Gaussian Blur... [Radius = 10]
Set layer blend mode to soft light.
Create stamp of bottom two layers using this short cut: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-e
Turn the blurred layer off.
Change the stamp layer to color blend mode.
Mask out areas that don't need color boost.
Gaussian Blur Radius above is for small images.
Method 2 (channel Mixer adjustment layer)
Image> Adjustments> Channel Mixer...
red channel = [red = + 130, green = -15, blue = -15]
green channel = [red = -15, green = +130, blue = -15]
blue channel = [red = -15, green = -15, blue = +130]
Noticing that the overlay blend and gamma bump give the effect of increased saturation, also consider using the mountain selection and adding a vibrance/saturation layer to knock back the vibrance/saturation to taste. And, as an afterthought, you might darken the foreground a little and perhaps bourn the top and corners for a very slight vignette.
I like Karen's last rework the best. Most realistic with excellent depth.
I keep feeling like something is off in the color of the sky; seems a bit too purple/magenta but of course, I wasnt there (ever), so I dont know. Strange.
Well-composed, nicely balanced image.
Scott
I think the biggest problem with this, is that the water doesn't have the same gradient as the sky. I think you should add a gradient to the water to make it more realistic.
brockwhittaker wrote:
I think the biggest problem with this, is that the water doesn't have the same gradient as the sky. I think you should add a gradient to the water to make it more realistic.
And here's a version with an absurd amount of re-tweaking, invoking the law of diminishing returns. It's easy to spend 90% of your time doing the last 10% of the polishing.
I was there just last week, on a long trip to yellowstone from canada... Wish I could have taken a shot like that, but the haze from the forest fires made the mountains just a blurry blue fainted image...
BTW, I like AuntiPode's rework the best... gives a lot of punch but maintains a lot of realism and clarity.
