Connecticut Woods

snapapple

I took this shot of my grandsons walking down a road in the woods. I cropped out a lot of distracting foreground (too bright from snow on ground) and increased the contrast. I used some dodge and burn on the tree trunks too. The picture had so little color that I changed the jacket from blue to red for a little oomph. Is this a good idea? I wanted to make the leaves more red, but not the trees(I think the grey makes it look cold). Couldn't figure out how to do it. Any ideas.


This is the shot I was taking before I turned around and spotted the boys walking down the road arm-in-arm. I like the red of the leaves here. I think I like the pic with the boys better, but then it's just different. People give more feeling to a picture, I think. Any observations?

lynnma

snapapple wrote:

I took this shot of my grandsons walking down a road in the woods. I cropped out a lot of distracting foreground (too bright from snow on ground) and increased the contrast. I used some dodge and burn on the tree trunks too. The picture had so little color that I changed the jacket from blue to red for a little oomph. Is this a good idea? I wanted to make the leaves more red, but not the trees(I think the grey makes it look cold). Couldn't figure out how to do it. Any ideas.


This is the shot I was taking before I turned around and spotted the boys walking down the road arm-in-arm. I like the red of the leaves here. I think I like the pic with the boys better, but then it's just different. People give more feeling to a picture, I think. Any observations?

Hi snapple, I didn't even see these... missed em some how.. I love the first one of the children walking down the road... great shot..

Bryan

Ok, for starters, I know nothing, and I am here to learn.
With that in mind, I like the second picture. The pic of the boys is nice, but I love the colors and the framing of the second. Good detail in the dark , not washed out in the light, and great red leaves, and the ice is great.

snapapple

Hello!! I'm so glad there is someone out there...
Thanks for looking and commenting. In the picture with the boys, I tried to add some red to the leaves. I can't seem to select just some areas on the ground without making it look patchy. Can I use a layer mask here maybe? I really think some color would help. Andy are you out there?

cmr164

snapapple wrote:

I took this shot of my grandsons walking down a road in the woods. I cropped out a lot of distracting foreground (too bright from snow on ground) and increased the contrast. I used some dodge and burn on the tree trunks too. The picture had so little color that I changed the jacket from blue to red for a little oomph. Is this a good idea? I wanted to make the leaves more red, but not the trees(I think the grey makes it look cold). Couldn't figure out how to do it. Any ideas.

I likr this but it needs something. Not more color. It needs size. If this shot of the boys was a 60" by 42" mural it would knock the viewer's socks off. JMHO

This is the shot I was taking before I turned around and spotted the boys walking down the road arm-in-arm. I like the red of the leaves here. I think I like the pic with the boys better, but then it's just different. People give more feeling to a picture, I think. Any observations?

A slight rotation CW... maybe.... This is a good shot but it doesn't grab me. Probably others will have a better insight.

digismile

I like both pictures. I've looked at both and if I were to do anything it would be mostly to the first photo.


I looked at the colour of the leaves of the secound photo and the colour in the first. The red in the first photo certainly isn't as vibrant as the second. So I boosted the red using a Selective Color Adjustment Layer and a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (also applied a layer mask so that the boys' coats wouldn't increase in saturation). I've probably exagerated the saturation, but it shows you that you can get some pop to the colours.

I also imagined this photo with a bit of depth of field that might come from a telephoto. I did a very quick representation of what a blur might look like but didn't take any great care on my selection, particularily around the boys. The blur transition needs to look gradual and continuous.



The second photo I just tried increasing the saturation slightly,as well as brightening the foreground area. It turns out there was a fair bit of detail and colour there.




I'm not sure if these photos are better or not. Simply food for thought.

Brad.

snapapple

I don't understand...
"A slight rotation CW... maybe.... This is a good shot but it doesn't grab me. Probably others will have a better insight."[/QUOTE]


I don't understand what you mean by " A slight rotation - CW?" Is it the framing?

Re size on the other shot --I can blow it up, but not on this site, he he.

cmr164

snapapple wrote:

cmr164 wrote:

"A slight rotation CW... maybe.... This is a good shot but it doesn't grab me. Probably others will have a better insight."

I don't understand what you mean by " A slight rotation - CW?" Is it the framing?

Re size on the other shot --I can blow it up, but not on this site, he he.

Your original


And with a 2 degree clockwise rotation (CW):

snapapple

digismile wrote:

I like both pictures. I've looked at both and if I were to do anything it would be mostly to the first photo.


I looked at the colour of the leaves of the secound photo and the colour in the first. The red in the first photo certainly isn't as vibrant as the second. So I boosted the red using a Selective Color Adjustment Layer and a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (also applied a layer mask so that the boys' coats wouldn't increase in saturation). I've probably exagerated the saturation, but it shows you that you can get some pop to the colours.

I also imagined this photo with a bit of depth of field that might come from a telephoto. I did a very quick representation of what a blur might look like but didn't take any great care on my selection, particularily around the boys. The blur transition needs to look gradual and continuous.



The second photo I just tried increasing the saturation slightly,as well as brightening the foreground area. It turns out there was a fair bit of detail and colour there.




I'm not sure if these photos are better or not. Simply food for thought.

Brad.

Oooh, I like the depth of field idea. I also like the color added to the first pic. I'm going to have to try doing that. I'm not very good at that. I'll give it a try and get backk to you.
I like the slight brightening of the foreground in pic #2.
Thanks a bunch.
Snappy

snapapple

And with a 2 degree clockwise rotation (CW):[/QUOTE]


2 degree rotation??? Sorry I don't see it.

Andy

snapapple wrote:

And with a 2 degree clockwise rotation (CW):

2 degree rotation??? Sorry I don't see it. [/QUOTE]


pick one of the trees center rear of the scene. use that as as you perpendicular reference. now, in photoshop, put gridlines on, select all, and edit>free transform, rotating the pic a bit to the right... you'll see

snapapple

andy wrote:

2 degree rotation??? Sorry I don't see it.

pick one of the trees center rear of the scene. use that as as you perpendicular reference. now, in photoshop, put gridlines on, select all, and edit>free transform, rotating the pic a bit to the right... you'll see [/QUOTE]


Ahh! I see. The far shore of the lake is not LEVEL. The trees are not perpendicular. Yes, it needs straightening, absolutely. Thanks.
Snappy

cmr164

Thanks Andy

moonjuice

snapapple wrote:

Oooh, I like the depth of field idea. I also like the color added to the first pic. I'm going to have to try doing that. I'm not very good at that. I'll give it a try and get backk to you.
I like the slight brightening of the foreground in pic #2.
Thanks a bunch.
Snappy

I like the original picture of the boys that you posted (without the depth of field - no offense to the person who tried adding it . It's my favorite of the two. But then again I have a tendency to like things slightly unorthodox where photography is concerned.

snapapple

Thanks Moonjuice

moonjuice wrote:

I like the original picture of the boys that you posted (without the depth of field - no offense to the person who tried adding it . It's my favorite of the two. But then again I have a tendency to like things slightly unorthodox where photography is concerned.

I appreciate the feedback. I liked the 1st picture the best too. The subject seemed more interesting. People walking on a road seem to draw you into the picture. Then you look longer and you see two brothers with their arms around each other. They seem so close, maybe protective of each other in a cold dark woods. It's just a picture I could look at for a long time. I am going to try the perspective and the addition of color. I always thought it needed more color. I just have not had time to work with it yet.

cmr164

snapapple wrote:

I appreciate the feedback. I liked the 1st picture the best too. The subject seemed more interesting. People walking on a road seem to draw you into the picture. Then you look longer and you see two brothers with their arms around each other. They seem so close, maybe protective of each other in a cold dark woods. It's just a picture I could look at for a long time. I am going to try the perspective and the addition of color. I always thought it needed more color. I just have not had time to work with it yet.

Please stick to normal font colors. Some of us have old eyes

snapapple

cmr164 wrote:

Please stick to normal font colors. Some of us have old eyes

I'm sorry, I just wanted to make the reply stand out from the original comment. I thought I was making it EASIER, not harder.

cmr164

snapapple wrote:

I'm sorry, I just wanted to make the reply stand out from the original comment. I thought I was making it EASIER, not harder.

like I said, Old eyes

wxwax

Hi snaps, I really like the two kids. Very nice scene, nice story. For some reason the shots in your original post don't show up for me. That's why it looks like I edited your post - I didn't, but I was trying to figure out why I couldn't see the images.

snapapple

Oops!
Sorry Wxwax, I moved some pics around on my Smugmug site after fixing these and spoiled the link. I fixed it now.
Snappy

snapapple

My fixes...
I decided to selectively increase reds on the leaves and I blurred out the farthest section of the trees just a tiny bit. I darkened that area a bit too. I like this version better.



I rotated this shot 1.5 degrees and adjusted the colors and saturation a little.

wxwax

Cool, thanks! I really do like that kid shot, it's very sweet. And cmr's adjustments bring a lovely color to the ice.