This is my first attempt at color grading from the way I understand it. I normally try to keep colors true to the way I saw them with not much slider pushing since I typically Luminosity blend 2-3 images.
With this image, I grabbed the darks and shadows in the rocks with a luminosity mask and "crushed" the blues with a blue tone curve.
I'm not sure how I feel about it. Any advice?
You did it quite well, it is important to choose the best way, because there is almost always more than one way to get rid of blue cast. Otherwise fantastic photo Ryan!
Lovely technique with the long exposure and beautiful colors! Perhaps you could apply some warmth to the white balance of the sky exposure before blend just to deal with that blue cast a bit more and not affect the foreground too much. You could even bring out some more details in the foreground as there is some nice textures in those rocks and the reflections of the sky in the water pools would make the foreground really pop. Great image
Thanks for the feedback Sean. I may have described what I did incorrectly. I was trying to add some crushed blues by raising the blue channel in the tone curve a little.
When I'm not sure how I feel about a photo I put it as my wallpaper, so I can stare at it every day. Usually, after 2-5 days I have number of different things I want to try or make an alteration to. Maybe this could help you? What do you think? :)
I like that idea. I have a folder called "Desktop Wallpaper" that I have Windows do a 30 minute cycle of all my top images. Perhaps I need a top 5 only. lol.
Personally, I don't like slideshows - I would hate to wait for the image I think I might have an idea on how to improve it. ;) But if it works for you, then give it a try. :)
Personally, seeing an image I took all the time would confuse me more. Most pro's recommend setting the image aside for a day and looking at it with fresh eyes, then maybe setting it aside for a day more and giving it final touch ups. It's really about giving your tired eyes a break so you will identify the bigger problems with fresh eyes instead of obsessing over every little nuance.
Francisco, I see that "wallpaper method" as an extension of what you said. I don't actually stare at it all the time, but it's still present, somewhere in the background. And since I'm not working all day long with computer (only few hours) my eyes have decent rest from the image. Any by no means I encourage anyone to "force" anything or being obsessed. I found it helpful to have the image at the fingertip, instead of waiting for lightroom / photoshop to open to merely see it. If, for any reason, that doesn't work for you, don't do it. :)
I guess it depends on your workflow; since I'm on my computer several hours a day, and I grab files from my desktop all the time, it wouldnt make sense.
Also I would definitely set up quick export on your photoshop so you don't have this issue of having to open up programs to review images. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GidTDrVkcX0
Quick export as well as Photoshop Droplets can reduce export time greatly. Although, since I sharpen all my files differently (according to exported file dimensions) I usually export them at the end of the post-processing work. Later on I might come back to change some things in my master .psd file, and then export it (with sharpening) once again, to check if it was improvement or diminishment.
Other way could be just export some files to a specific folder and revisit them on some regular basis (instead of having them on the wallpaper).
What do you use for post sharpening and how do you determine it based on dimensions?
Right now I'm using action that came with RayaPro / InstaMask panel from Jimmy McIntyre (it's basically a graduated Sharpen filter over 3 layers). It also uses the 1.6x dimensions method for best sharpening. If I want to have an output file of say 1600px on longer edge, it will first resize it to 1600x1.6 = 2560px. Then it will produce three additional layers, each with more sharpening. In the final step it resizes image again, to the output 1600px and changes color space for sRGB (i work in ProPhoto). But I'm thinking about developing my own action based on Smart Sharpen filter, since the old Sharpen and Unsharp Mask have some older and less flexible algorithms inside.
Here's the video of Jimmy who shows how it works and also takes you step by step if you want to use it without his panels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJuG4zh4-M
Technically its a good photo, not sure I love the long exposure effect in the sky. Colors are nice though.
Thanks for the feedback Francisco.