Fall Colors...any of these work?

eoren1

First chances to shoot in a while. Got a nice little lane near the house and set up to get these. Can try again Saturday when the colors might have a bit more pop to them. Any thoughts on the composition (+/- cars) and whether these work as-is?
Thanks a lot!
E

Pat664422

#3 is my favorite and definitely works for me. I like the light and colors in it and the leaves floating in the shallow puddle. The downward curve of the road makes this one stand out to me. I'd also go with - on the cars.

leaforte

In #3, it's amusing how the yellow leaves are attracted to the yellow center line of the lane. Or so it seems.

eoren1

leaforte wrote:

In #3, it's amusing how the yellow leaves are attracted to the yellow center line of the lane. Or so it seems.

Interesting observation...I hadn't noticed that. Had the leaves stirred up a few times as cars drove by but never managed to capture that effect...

Thank you both for the thoughts.
E

richtersl

I like #3 the best out of all of them. A little curves adjustment will make those colors really pop.

If you have time for a reshoot, try a variation of #3 with a person walking or bicycling down that road and see how that compares.

eoren1

Thanks Linda,
Knew it was missing something for context. Bikes never come down this road but maybe I can find another nearby...
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peterst6906

I like the third the best, althouh instead of adding some dynamic element like a bike (which would be good), I think I'd work witht the current image and give it a very relaxing, reminiscent feel by adding a touch of soft focus.

Alternatively, if not the soft focus, then at least a copy of the background layer in soft-light blending mode to really make the colors pop and improve the depth in the image.

Regards,

Peter

Elaine

noniknam

I also like #3 the best. I agree about enhancing the colors. Don't know about the dynamic addition - I like the calm feeling of it without any cars...
The curve of the road seems to give it a sense of motion on its own - maybe that's just me.

eoren1

Peter-
Thanks for the suggestions. Wasn't sure how to do soft focus so went with the second option. Processed in LR and opened in CS3.
How's this?



Thanks!
E

peterst6906

Yep, the color pops much better and the slight haze has gone. In my opinion, this version is much better.

If you want to look at a soft focus, then use this action I made that works good for these types of images. You can just paint black in the group mask after running it if you want to bring back the sharpness, or adjust the opacity of the layer group:

soft focus action

I like the current version of your image, but you might like to just play around with the soft focus for something to do.

Regards,

Peter

eoren1

Soft Focus ROCKS!
Linda PM'ed me a mini-tutorial and I gave it a try.
Result:


What do you think? Any way to sharpen certain parts like the yellow line of leaves?
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peterst6906

If you want to do some creative sharpening to just certain areas of the image, then sharpen the image on a new layer and apply a hide-all layer mask (black filled). After that, paint with white into the mask in the areas you want the sharpening.

Regards,

Peter

eoren1

New version with a bit more tweaking and sharpening of the yellow line

Elaine

Now we're talkin'! I like the slightly sharper line in the latest version, but it may be slightly too contrasty over-all, IMO. (I think I like the treatment of the previous shot with the slightly sharper line of the last.)

indiegirl

Dontcha love learnin' somethin new?!

Nice work.

eoren1

indiegirl wrote:

Dontcha love learnin' somethin new?!

Nice work.

Thanks! Even though this photo didn't get a single vote in the final tally, it still ended up on my desktop and as one of my favorite shots. Three of my LPS entries are now in that catagory. Pretty incredible!
E