Leave feedback if you have a different idea on bringing this more to life and want the original to play with! Also please leave any feedback, I feel you can't learn if you aren't criticised......
Leave feedback if you have a different idea on bringing this more to life and want the original to play with! Also please leave any feedback, I feel you can't learn if you aren't criticised......
Consider using PS CC's Shadows and Highlights inside a Smart Object to better control your shadow and highlight detail.
It's an interesting scene, but I find the overall tone too dark to be an effective photograph. It also appears the bottom corners are much darker than the rest of the shadows in the scene, maybe due to generous use of a vignette?
I attempted to put my take on the image with some Curves adjustment. I darkened the "gray" shadows closer to black and brought up the low-mid tones to bring out some shadow detail. This isn't the best rendition, but you'll see what I was going for, I think.
Hi Bobby. The scene is quite moody with the trees adding a sense of intrigue.
Like others have indicated the black are pretty crushed so you are losing most detail in the trees. If you could bring out the shadow detail as suggested I feel this would be stronger.
I also feel that the almost-black water in the immediate foreground is heavy and not adding to the image. I think if you crop around 10% from the bottom the image becomes better balanced and it is easier for the eye to flow through.
Okay here's my new attempt! What do you think? I'm posting the original on here so you can see what I had to work with, and the only reason I took this shot was because it spoke to me some how it grabbed my attention! The original is colored, only converted to JPEG....
Here's the original? Any thing I could have done different? Keep in mind it was a partly cloudy skies that day.....
I think your original format shows greater drama. If you take Phillip's suggestion so there is a little detail in the blacks/trees and crop the bottom by 10% it would be better for me.
I think it also important to keep some detail in the sky so keep an eye on that as you push the sliders.
I would suggest you play about with this (and perhaps the vignette) and see if you can discover what works for you.
I hope this helps, remember this is just one opinion and the only correct one is your own.