Buttercups and Blue Sky

[Indigo]

Hi,

This is a shot of a field of buttercups taken in early summer near Bowness in Windermere. Brought the gate out and emphasised the sky.

The idea was to produce a dreamy mid-summer scorcher of a day feel. Did I do it? If not what atmosphere does the shot invoke and what would you have done?

Please feel free to manipulate the images in any way which is good for you.

Indigo

[Kraellin]

i like that you blued up the sky and lightened up the fence. i'm not sure either picture really shows a 'scorcher' summer day, though. i think you'd need some heat waves to show that, or something. but that's fine; it's obviously a late spring or summer day.

i kept looking at this picture trying to figure out what to do with it. i finally thought that maybe it would be better cropped. all that fence is a bit much. it's dark and in the foreground. i might crop it just above the 2nd horizontal slat in the fence or just under the top horizontal. this would bring the flowers and sky forward and still leave some of the character of the fence for contrast. you'd then want to resize it larger. it's still a good shot, but the statement it makes isnt real clear. is it a picture of the flowers or the fence? both just seems to confuse it.

you could also make a separate image of just the fence as well. it's got a nice character and texture.

Craig

[Cassidy]

This looked like a bit of fun, so I really turned up the brightness using levels grabbed a copy of the sky and instead of making it a flat blue, I used a gradient. I then dodged the trees slightly in the upper right hand corner as if the sun might have been hitting them and then burned the buttercups to provide greater contrast which left us with bright yellow highlights. Not sure if it looks like summer though, hard to make it look like its a sorcher in such a serene lush scene.

[Kraellin]

i like that cassidy. i'd still crop a touch off the bottom, but not as much now as i said in my original post.

Craig

[Cinthia]

Very nice photo. Here's my attempt. I used Curves to color balance by placing the midtone dropper on the lightest grey wall portion just above flowers. This brought out the neutral grey wood tones in the fence. Then I painted over the feild with a bit of magenta @ 6% to kick down the green and then painted again with yellow @ 10%. Added another curves layer set to "Screen" inverted the effect and lightened up the fence with a soft white brush @ 13%. Lastly I burned in the sky.

Cinthia

[Duv]

Hi Indigo

My thinking is that the picture needs more contrast. I darkened the eaves of the house and did a Z curve on the flowers. On the fence, rock, and foliage thru the fence, I created a 50% new Grey layer and with a soft brush set to lighten, I dodged more light onto the highlited areas.

Cheers

Dave

[Cinthia]

Ha! That's what I missed. I knew it needed something more Went back & added a "Brightness/Contrast layer and added +15 more contrast. And I also added a Hue/Saturation layer and increased saturation by +33 and lightness by +5.

How do you use a grey layer?

Cinthia

[Duv]

Hi Cinthia

Go to Layer: New. Change to Overlay and check the box Add Neutral 50% grey.

Then just burn or dodge (lighten or darken) with a soft brush.

Cheers

Dave

[Cassidy]

Originally Posted by Duv

Hi Indigo

My thinking is that the picture needs more contrast. I darkened the eaves of the house and did a Z curve on the flowers. On the fence, rock, and foliage thru the fence, I created a 50% new Grey layer and with a soft brush set to lighten, I dodged more light onto the highlited areas.

Cheers

Dave

Like it Dave, the retained shadow on the fence gives greater contrast, but still I don't think anyone could get a 'scorching feel' without really burning the grass, but then I do come from Australia

[Duv]

Thanks Cass. Great idea. How can I make the burnt grass look Aussie brown?

Dave

[Cassidy]

I had something a little more like this in mind (though cannot quite execute), however I doubt we still have a field of buttercups

[Duv]

Wow Cass. Your's looks like it's about 115 degrees fahrenheit! My lips are feeling chapped.

Dave

[Kraellin]

cinthia,

while cassidy and duv are busy creating brushfires, i looked at yours. THAT was the crop i was looking for! i just think it balances things better. nice job

Craig

[Duv]

Picking up on Craig's point and perhaps not as strong as Cinthia's, I tried a classic 5 x 7 crop. Reduced the amount of sky to equal portion to buttercups. Ensured total height of sky plus buttercups equals 1/3 of frame. Made sure angled board, stone and tree bisected frame to give it strength. Slightly blurred background, tried a foreground/background flip and it didn't work at all. To me the strength is in the fence. Just a thought.

Cheers

Dave

[Cassidy]

Yes for me the fence does it, it gives a feel of and a depth to the picture