I recently took this shot, but I felt the early morning light was dull and uninspiring..

http://www.pbase.com/image/5316827

What I decided to do was to make the shot much more dramatic by simulating early evening light. I think it helps a lot.


http://www.pbase.com/image/5316874

What do you think?

Regards
Toad

I'd say the improvements are significant: Cropping and color adjustments + losing the fog definitely work.

Not sure I'm sold on the simulated lense flare, but maybe I found it a distraction because I had my 'critical hat' on vs. how I might have reacted had I not seen the original.

To begin with I thought you may have introduced some "fall colors" to a few leaves, to which my initial reaction was favorable... then noticed the flare continuation near the bottom foreground. Definitely not a showstopper by any means.

Anyway, my .02. Glad to see you found us! :D

~Danny~

At first I thought the original was pretty nice and didn't see what you could do to improve it. I actually liked the foggy sky but after seeing the second version, I'm sold. It makes a big difference. I do like it alot better and how you cropped it as well.
DJ

Thanks for your feedback.

Re: the lens flare. I can certainly understand that some might not like it - it is an odd thing to simulate - spent most of my life trying to avoid it.

What I was after:

The natural flow of the photo is up the alley towards the church. The church is not, I think, the focal point of the picture - the biggest street lamp is - the lens flare is an attempt to reverse the natural flow of the picture, and bring the viewer's focus back up the alley towards the focal point.

Guess it didn't work! :o:

Best
Toad

I thought I posted to this thread, but I guess I didn't hit the "submit" button. :( I think the image is much improved from the original, but like Danny, I found the lens flares toward the bottom of the image a little distracting. The one towards the top didn't bother me at all. Overall though, it's a very nice image.

Ed

I like that you cropped the image to keep the focus on the winding street.

I think the lens flare added some mystery to the trees.

I Like it.

Tony