Suwannee River Scene

TonyCooper

Shot from the bridge over the Suwannee River and deliberately
over-shapened foilage for effect.

Comments and critiques appreciated.

dbd

Tony

I like the content of the image.

I think you could do more with it by adjusting the histogram first to pull the black and white levels away from the end points so that your sharpening would not produce clipping and subsequent loss of detail. You could also increase the saturation of the regions of mid-level saturation. As it is, the image has regions clipped in brightness and in saturation.

I think the image has the potential for more detail and more vivid color. On the other hand, that may not be the feeling you were after.

Dale B. Dalrymple

TonyCooper

Thanks for the comments, Dale. One thing I like about this forum
is the suggestions that people like you and KDog make about images.

Pats on the back are nice, but constructive comments are more
useful.

dls

overall a promising image. in general, a fairly contrasty image. that might not be a bad thing if that is the effect you are going for, as the right half has a somewhat surreal artsy lithographic feel. you would need to decrease the exposure or brightness in the left and upper parts of the image to continue this type of feel a little more. otherwise, dale's recs are quite on the mark esp for a more natural feel.

TonyCooper

The original Raw file was what I thought was a rather insipid image. Kinda blah.

I played around with it in CS6, and went for a soft look in the trees with a little
emphasis on the Cypress tree trunks. Even though it's over-sharpened, the effect
is soft because the detail has been lost. More "artsy" than realistic since the real
image doesn't have much going for it.

Here's the raw file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ob47dgb4225gig/2013-11-05-19.dng

If anyone wants to download it and post their treatment here in this
thread...go for it. I think different takes on the same image would be
interesting.

Earache

Thanks for sharing Tony - here's my interpretation...
I didn't crop the RAW as I liked the original, wider scene.
I made all adjustments in LR5... a little warming - adjustment brush on highlights - boost contrast and clarity - some individual color channel tweaks - etc...
Basically just tried to get to what the other posters suggested.

TonyCooper

Earache wrote: »

Thanks for sharing Tony - here's my interpretation...
I didn't crop the RAW as I liked the original, wider scene.
I made all adjustments in LR5... a little warming - adjustment brush on highlights - boost contrast and clarity - some individual color channel tweaks - etc...
Basically just tried to get to what the other posters suggested.

Thanks for the effort. It's interesting to see what other people
do with the same photograph. The only thing that I did that I
think is a problem with your image is that I tried to take that
purple cast out of the Cypress tree trunks. I don't know why
they look purple, because the trees aren't.

black mamba

I like some of the changes that Eric affected. I agree with Tony, though, in that there is now too much purple in the scene....especially in the Cypress tree trunks but also all along the waters edge, including the dock.

I wish I had constructive input about this but I'm probably the most inept person on the forum when it comes to PP work. Good luck.

Tom

Earache

Sorry guys - y'all are right - I had, for sure, mishandled the purple slider.

black mamba

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!!! Good job everyone.

Tom

kdog

Sorry, I'm late to the party (as usual). Here's my quick take on this. Kudos to Tony Cooper for making the file available. Great discussion!

TonyCooper

Nice job, Kdog.

In processing mine, I wanted a soft look without that emphasis
on color. But, I'm not a landscape photographer normally. Nature
is just a background in the type of photographs I normally go
after.

Looking at my version compared to your version, mine now looks
too washed out. Given what was there to start with, yours is a
better representation of the scene.

I'm not crazy about that bright yellow in the middle of your image,
but there's just a mass of undefined green in mine. I guess I just
don't have an eye for landscapes.

Earache

kdog wrote: »

....Great discussion!

Interesting discussion and exercise indeed... so one more go-around from me.
This time I incorporated what I liked about Joel's edit - closer crop and more sat...
It seems we all agree that the original is washed-out - but, IMHO Joel, your image is a bit over-sat with a strong yellow tone overall.
There are several distinct tones/colors in the tree foliage, so, I tried to increase "pop" while maintaining tonal separation in the foliage.

black mamba

I like Eric's latest rendition the best. To my eye, it presents the most accurate emphasis on color....less intense than Joel's version, especially in the treatment of the cypress trees and the dock. In reality, the wicked Florida sun tends to bleach out these kinds of surfaces and they take on a washed-out light grayish look.

It's good to see all the helpful input and interpretations being bantered around.

Tom

kdog

Yeah, I probably oversaturated that version to make the point. Personally, I'd put it somewhere between Eric's and my version.

Juano

black mamba wrote: »

I like Eric's latest rendition the best. To my eye, it presents the most accurate emphasis on color....less intense than Joel's version, especially in the treatment of the cypress trees and the dock. In reality, the wicked Florida sun tends to bleach out these kinds of surfaces and they take on a washed-out light grayish look.

It's good to see all the helpful input and interpretations being bantered around.

Tom

I also prefer Eric's final attempt. I'm curious about the reflection on the water. Good discussion.