Landscape Help

AmberBella · Jul 10, 2008

I have no idea how to make this a worthwhile photo. Ideas? Anyone want to have a go?

K8-90 · Jul 10, 2008

Erg. I did something minor, but Photobucket is doing site maintainance so I can't upload it...

|)\/8 · Jul 10, 2008

I guess it would depend on what you want your main subject to be. Here is one idea, little different crop with contrast and color adjustments.

K8-90 · Jul 10, 2008

Ok, photobucket is back up and running...

So this is my version. I dod some burning and dodging, and a little spongeaing (upped the saturation on the sand and water). Then I selected the water, and made i more blue (image > adjustment > variations). I also did a different crop - a little off the top and bottom, and then divided vertically in three. For some reason, I see this image printed on three large canvases, hung side by side

D-50 · Jul 10, 2008

Sometimes you can take a sub par photo and mess around in photoshop and come up with an artistic representation that is decent. But I try to not "make a photo good" after the fact. It better to take a well concieved photo and just slightly retuoch it to enhance the contrast a bit or a slight amount of sharpening. To think you can take a bad photo and turn it into a good one is pointless.

AmberBella · Jul 10, 2008

D-50 said:
Sometimes you can take a sub par photo and mess around in photoshop and come up with an artistic representation that is decent. But I try to not "make a photo good" after the fact. It better to take a well concieved photo and just slightly retuoch it to enhance the contrast a bit or a slight amount of sharpening. To think you can take a bad photo and turn it into a good one is pointless.

Maybe...but this is the photoshop challenge board. Didn't think anyone would mind. Half the point of posting this image was to find out what I could have done better compositionally...I stink at landscapes, but love them and really want to get better. It is less about saving this image and more about improving the next one like it.

AmberBella · Jul 10, 2008

K8-90 said:
Ok, photobucket is back up and running...

So this is my version. I dod some burning and dodging, and a little spongeaing (upped the saturation on the sand and water). Then I selected the water, and made i more blue (image > adjustment > variations). I also did a different crop - a little off the top and bottom, and then divided vertically in three. For some reason, I see this image printed on three large canvases, hung side by side

I really like this!

Dioboleque · Jul 10, 2008

AmberBella said:
Maybe...but this is the photoshop challenge board. Didn't think anyone would mind.

No one who understands the purpose of this section minds one single bit. Just file D-50's uninvited little gem of wisdom away in the 'who the hell asked u' bin. :sillysmi:

K8-90 · Jul 10, 2008

Thanks AmberBella, glad you like it

As for D-50, I really don't understand where people like you come from. Why would you make such a statement? Was this not posted in the Photoshop Challenges forum?

D-50 · Jul 10, 2008

My mistake, I actually didn't realize this was posted in the photoshop section. But I still feel my response is relevent. First off the title of the thread is landscape help... this is NOT a landscape shot. and secondly I think its valuable to learn not to try to photoshop an average image to make it "worthwhile". Overphotoshoping is a classic mistake.

Also as amberbella asked in her response

Half the point of posting this image was to find out what I could have done better compositionally

This statement is not asking for photoshop help but rather composition help therefore if cmoposition help was your intent you should not have posted this in the photoshop section.

As for improvements on composition I would try to get the seagulls out of the center of the frame and also make sure your focus is on them rather than the waves considering the seagulls appear to be the main subject of the photo. I would also sugest getting lower when taking the shot. the angle is too high and does nothing for the composition. A shallower DOF would work as wll considering there is really nothing of interest in the background of the photo, this will isolate your subject more.

AmberBella · Jul 10, 2008

D-50 said:
Also as amberbella asked in her response
This statement is not asking for photoshop help but rather composition help therefore if cmoposition help was your intent you should not have posted this in the photoshop section.

A crop in Photoshop does help with composition.

Excellent advice all...and thankyou for letting me know that the presence of the birds makes this not a landscape. I'm a noob and didn't know that. I'll be sure to title my thread properly next time.

Oh, what DO I call it? Nature shot?

K8-90 · Jul 10, 2008

D-50 said:
As for improvements on composition I would try to get the seagulls out of the center of the frame and also make sure your focus is on them rather than the waves considering the seagulls appear to be the main subject of the photo. I would also sugest getting lower when taking the shot. the angle is too high and does nothing for the composition. A shallower DOF would work as wll considering there is really nothing of interest in the background of the photo, this will isolate your subject more.

^ Now that was good advice