Fishing Pier at Dawn
/forum/topic/1072167/0

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tom lozinski
Registered: Jul 14, 2011
Total Posts: 78
Country: United States

I'm not a fan of HDR but used it on this since the dynamic range was so high. I don't like having the horizon in the middle either but not sure if cropping would improve it. I turned the saturation up to 11 on this one but I like the look for now. This image is copyrighted by the owner Avon Fishing Pier by lozinskitom, on Flickr]Fishing Pier[/url]


AuntiPode
Registered: Aug 05, 2008
Total Posts: 5876
Country: New Zealand

I like saturation, but even for me it's a bit over the top. You could consider creating more sky at the top to change the composition. It could benefit from some clockwise rotation. too.


RustyBug
Registered: Feb 02, 2009
Total Posts: 9390
Country: United States

This one is pretty overcooked for me as well.
Looking at the numbers you've got several areas with "pure" colors as noted by the total absence of one (or more) of the rgb components ... tough to go anywhere from there. I like my crayons too, but I prefer to play with the 128 box and not just the 8 box.


If you could post up the original(s) ...


tom lozinski
Registered: Jul 14, 2011
Total Posts: 78
Country: United States

Here is the image before any processing (straight out of the camera, all raw converter settings at default)

RustyBug, wouldn't a pure color be 255? I checked my histogram and no channel is clipped on the right. The pier does clip to black in some areas.


This image is copyrighted by the owner Avon fishing pier by lozinskitom, on Flickr]As shot pier[/url]


tom lozinski
Registered: Jul 14, 2011
Total Posts: 78
Country: United States

RustyBug, after rereading what you wrote I see what you're saying about the colors, not that they are two high, just that their complements are zero. Most likely from steep curves in LAB channels.


RustyBug
Registered: Feb 02, 2009
Total Posts: 9390
Country: United States

Cool ... glad you understand what I was trying to say.

Here's an attempt to work from the first post ... looks like the original is going to be okay to work with.
LAB is kinda like working with a race car ... touchy to control sometimes ... but very powerful when you need it.


cgardner
Registered: Nov 18, 2002
Total Posts: 9302
Country: United States



This image is copyrighted by the owner




I did the edit with duplicate masked layers one with the midtone slider moved right to darken the sky and the other moved left to lighten the foreground. I then blended those layers in to the original with the masks.



This image is copyrighted by the owner




I cropped out the rocks on the right because the focal point here is the building and flag on the end of the pier and I didn't want the contrast / detail of the rocks to tempt the viewer to leave it. After cropping I noticed a minor detail I'd overlooked previously, the small solitary cloud that sticks up and mirrors the shape flag on the end of the pier.

Chuck

AuntiPode
Registered: Aug 05, 2008
Total Posts: 5876
Country: New Zealand

As an alternative to cropping, you could add more negative space. To illustrate:

RustyBug
Registered: Feb 02, 2009
Total Posts: 9390
Country: United States

Crayons ...


tom lozinski
Registered: Jul 14, 2011
Total Posts: 78
Country: United States

Thanks for all the suggestions. I didn't think adding extra space to the top worked so I went the other way and cropped the top off. I averaged the original with the HDR version and now those zero color values are gone (except for the blacks.) I straightened the horizon, cut the distracting rocks off the right side. I guess I'm a sucker for color because my version is still more saturated then all the suggestions, probably wouldn't print that well.


This image is copyrighted by the owner
pier hdr averaged by lozinskitom, on Flickr

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