this is a slightly improved version of what I posted the other day based on the majority of the statements made. I don't know if it's because my monitor is profiled properly, but I did take a similar photo and lighten the foreground more than I had previously posted, I also took the same photo that had the most sky in the frame (so it's not the exact same one I posted yesterday) let me know if it's just a tiny bit better or much better or "Holy poopin in me britches that is better" or the age old "Dude you have no clue what you are doing" thing
I really couldn't do too much with the brightness with the sky, I tried to improve it but with my knowledge of the processing process this is the best I could do
I also have this, I know the pine trees in the center are really dark, but it kinda fell where I wanted the foreground and the tops of the mountains in the way of exposure
and this one, I tried processing this when i was really drunk and it came out horrible (luckily I didn't post this) and god knows I get drunk enough times, but this is a slightly better and slightly more sober interpretation of what I saw. I still though think the highlights got washed out, wadda ya guys think
I personally like the composition, I think that works on this, but if I am wrong please tell me that I drink too much and even sober I still am drunk
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 6, 2008 at 11:35 PM
The first one looks kinda milky and excessively yellow. If you could make it look more like the second one (awesome, btw), it would be a good move.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 7, 2008 at 12:04 AM
I agree with Todd's assessment. And I think the first is definitely worth the time investment. Its a very nice shot. with the foreground.
OKAY hwere it is (I hope), I increased the contrast a little and reduced the yellow hue that I agree was a little strong, the milkiness in the mountains was as a result of rain that was falling at the time of the photo, I tired to eliminate the flatness from everything else in the scene. In otherwords I made this based on how I saw the scene initially
The aspects that you're struggling with on these images are exactly the kind of thing that Tony Kuyper's Luminosity masks (which can be found at http://goodlight.us under "Tutorials") work very well with...I'd say it's worth a donation of your choice to get those tools. Either that, or Google "photoshop contrast masks" and you should find some tutorials on them...These are very useful tools in controlling bright/dark areas in photos.
I don't know if it's the alcohol or not, but whatever you did in #2 is working well. The reworked version of #1 still suffers from the same challenges that Todd pointed out; however, compositionally, it's a strong image.
Feel free to delete, but here's what I would imagine it should/could look like. This was simply adjusting the color balance to get rid of the yellow cast, and some dodging & burning to normalize the contrast. Still would need more work, but a rough mock-up to ballpark it.
Quick question - are you applying noise reduction to these? If so, you might want to back off a little. These have the look of images that have had too strong a noise filter applied, then over-sharpened to compensate for the loss of detail. The stump in #3, and the foliage to the left of it, are good examples.
Discussion
8 repliesI really couldn't do too much with the brightness with the sky, I tried to improve it but with my knowledge of the processing process this is the best I could do
I personally like the composition, I think that works on this, but if I am wrong please tell me that I drink too much and even sober I still am drunk
The aspects that you're struggling with on these images are exactly the kind of thing that Tony Kuyper's Luminosity masks (which can be found at http://goodlight.us under "Tutorials") work very well with...I'd say it's worth a donation of your choice to get those tools. Either that, or Google "photoshop contrast masks" and you should find some tutorials on them...These are very useful tools in controlling bright/dark areas in photos.
-D
Feel free to delete, but here's what I would imagine it should/could look like. This was simply adjusting the color balance to get rid of the yellow cast, and some dodging & burning to normalize the contrast. Still would need more work, but a rough mock-up to ballpark it.
Quick question - are you applying noise reduction to these? If so, you might want to back off a little. These have the look of images that have had too strong a noise filter applied, then over-sharpened to compensate for the loss of detail. The stump in #3, and the foliage to the left of it, are good examples.
and I don't apply any filters to my photos