How to improve this picture??

H

Humpty

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68
Edit My Images
Yes
Saw an opportunity for a good shot so snapped it off but was wondering how to improve it. Only post processing is resize & change to B&W

Sunset.jpg


Be gentle. It's my first time ;-)
 
Damn! That's a fine image to be starting with!

My initial thoughts are that there is a fair bit of expanse between the sunset and the high clouds which makes it feel a bit lost.

Maybe a landscape crop rather than portrait?
 
Thanks for the responses Sammy.

I know what you mean with the crop, but one of the things that I like about this image is the scale of it all (insignificant child in a big world).

I was wondering if I could fiddle with the levels or something to sharpen the clouds and loose some of the detail in the immediate foreground. Not sure how to do it though :confused- .
 
Ok, cool ,no problem.

To boost the clouds you need to play with the curves, boosting high values and reducing low values. Bascially makeing an S shaped curve.

But this will also affect the bottom part of the image so you may want to do this as an adjustment layer with a graduated mask.

Ask, if I seem to be talking Spanish here. ;)
 
Yes. That's more the kind of thing I was heading for. Little too 'blue' but I could fix that.
 
Here's a different version for ya:-

Sunset.jpg


If you still have original colour shot, try duplicating layer & converting one with 100% red in Channel mixer, for sky & the other 100% Green for foreground. Use layer mask to combine the 2.
 
SammyC said:
Ok, cool ,no problem.


But this will also affect the bottom part of the image so you may want to do this as an adjustment layer with a graduated mask.

Ask, if I seem to be talking Spanish here. ;)
Click to expand...


yeah could please translate to english


Cheers
Pete
 
Hey Pete, no problem.

Basically in some, but not all, photochop applications (I have only knowledge of Photoshop CS2) you can add adjustments to your image (such as saturation and levels) as a separate layer. It allows you to chop and change them without affecting your original picture.

Now, each of these layers can have a mask associated with it which affects how much they apply to the resultant image. So, by default the levels adjustment applies equally to the whole image. If you modify the mask so that it applies fully at the top and gradually fades to the bottom you will have a graduated mask.

HTH :)
 
Thanks for all the responses guys (been out of the country so have not seen them until now).

Like what you've done there DJW. I'll try your what you suggest.
 
SammyC said:
Like this:

Sunset.jpg
Click to expand...


That kills it in my opinion. It was fine as it originally was. That gap MAKES it! You've just cropped all the excitement out of it IMO. I loved the first one. DJW's levels and curves adjustment adds drama... the original was a little flat, but as for the image itself... it was a great shot.
 
Pook said:
That kills it in my opinion. It was fine as it originally was. That gap MAKES it! You've just cropped all the excitement out of it IMO. I loved the first one. DJW's levels and curves adjustment adds drama... the original was a little flat, but as for the image itself... it was a great shot.
Click to expand...

I like what DJW did with the sky, that is exactly what I was hoping for. Pic' is now all big and shinney and in a frame on my wall :) .
 
Pook said:
That kills it in my opinion. It was fine as it originally was. That gap MAKES it! You've just cropped all the excitement out of it IMO. I loved the first one. DJW's levels and curves adjustment adds drama... the original was a little flat, but as for the image itself... it was a great shot.
Click to expand...

Well, that just goes to show we all see different things.
 
SammyC said:
Well, that just goes to show we all see different things.
Click to expand...

Indeed.. and the world's probably a better place for it to tbh. At least the poster has two opinions to mull over now.
 
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