Trying to spice up a picture with potential (pic inside)

[RoyceH]

This picture seems like it could be good but is lacking something. I've tried spicing it up in photoshop but nothing really works yet. I would love to see if you guys have any ideas. Grab the picture from here---> HOTCREEK.JPG

You can see some of my attempts here Hot Creek Attempts

[CJ Swartz]

Royce,

Please use the forum attachment capability to upload your images -- your links may not still be there in the future years when people read thru here, and your images are larger than some folks will want to access if they use a dial-up connection.

That said, I think a contrast mask adjustment to tone down the blown out snow highlights was a good place to start. Lovely image!

[Flora]

Hi Royce,

CJ already pointed you in the right direction by suggesting selective colour and contrast enhancement.

Beautifully enhanced CJ!!!

Looking at your lovely picture I decided to try something different .... changing the time of the day .....

I achieved it this way:

1) Selected the sky and duplicated the selection a couple of times setting the blending to Multiply.

2) Included part of the snowy mountain in my original selection and strongly feathered this addition.

3) Created a new Layer (Blending-> Multiply), and filled it with a Radial Gradient (very light purple and deep blue from the sky).

[CJ Swartz]

Ooooooooooo!!! Love it, Flora! I love that time of day, and this beautiful location is wonderfully set off by the evening colors.

[Flora]

Thank you CJ!!!

I love that time of the day too... Can you believe it? looking at the result of my trasformation, I swear I could hear the chirping of the crickets .....

[RoyceH]

You guys amaze me everytime with the stuff you come up with! Nice job. I learn so much from here everyday. If you want to mess with anything else of mine, go for it!

<<<MY PHOTO SITE>>>

[jeaniesa]

Part of the problem with this photo is that it was taken in the middle of the day, so a lot of the colors look washed out and there's not a lot of shadow definition to give the image some depth.

I created two versions. In the first I tried to work with the photo as is.

- I used Levels to adjust the overall contrast.
- Curves to darken the sky and add contrast to the mountains.
- Increased saturation of the reds and yellows to give some "life" to the foreground hillsides.
- Empty layer in overlay mode which I painted with low opacity black and white to darken the hillside on the right and lighten the hillside in the back.

I don't know that these changes make it a "great" photo, but at least it's not quite a washed out.

Jeanie

[jeaniesa]

I wasn't real happy with my previous version, so decided to try to change the mood. (Copying Flora's idea ) I tried to create a sunset. Starting with the previous photo...

- Selected the sky and pasted in a sunset sky that I have in my files. Adjusted with hue/saturation and curves.
- Selected just the moutains (and white specs on the hillsides) and used hue/saturation to colorize to match the sky. Then added a curves adjustment layer grouped with the hue/sat layer to darken the mountains.
- Sampled a color from the sky and filled a layer with it. Set the blending mode to color and reduced the opacity to 30%.
- Added a curves layer to darken the foreground to make it look more like a low-light environment.
- Added a hue/sat layer to change the color of the water to match the sky.

I'm not sure that this looks "real", but I think it's at least more dramatic.

Jeanie

[KenB]

Here's my attempt at jazzing it up.

Ken

[KenB]

Here's a greyscale version using Flora's Overlay Layer technique, which by the way Flora, IS AWESOME!!

Ken

[Flora]

Royce

So glad you liked it!!

...If you want to mess with anything else of mine, go for it! ...

... Thank you very much for it ... I visited your site and WOW ... what beautiful pictures you make .... You are very talented!!!

Jeanie

I love both your versions! But The 'sunset' one is breathtaking and so much more appropriate than mine for the 'title' of the picture "hot creek" ....

Ken

Love both you versions too! The colour one is absolutely superb! But what a great idea improving a somewhat 'flat' colour image by changing it to a strategically (.. and beautifully) enhanced grey version!!!!

P.S. I have customized and stretched it to fit my needs .... but I got the "Overlay Technique" from Katrin Eismann's Book ..... Like Jeanie, I'm an 'information junkie' and I loooooove experimenting with every new technique I come up with, most of the time trying to combine or 'bend' a few of them into something new ... but I learnt the basis from K.E. and from all the tips here at RP!!!

[sdubose99]

I thought we should make it a really hot creek...
I also inverted the snow to complete the effect...

Scott

[Opal]

I had great fun with this photo of yours, Royce....absolutely stunning photography on your site....I took up your offer to play around with one of them...chose this gorgeous rainbow image. Thanks. Here is how I came up with my result...using PSP 8

convert background to raster layer

duplicate layer

Virtual Painter...Pastel (in PSP 8)

lower opacity to 84 and set blend to dissolve.

Add 20 border...select...add Xenofex..Distress border

Select white border...add cutout...v and h 2 Opacity 67...Blur 0
Repeat again but this time make it minus -2 for v and h.

Cheers,
Opal

[CJ Swartz]

I'll throw another version in the pool -- enhanced colors using Color Range selections and layer blends.

[roger_ele]

RoyceH

This one is, like has been said, flat because of the lighting. The problem is that it is all the same - so there is a lack of interest. Pretty scene but flat.

What I did; Duplicated background layer, changed new layer to multply. Added blank layer in overlay mode and painted with white & black in a lot of little spots for depth, and darkened the sky.

Attached is the color, but I will attach a second copy desaturated because I think the color makes it hard to see what was done.

Jeanie - Love your brown version!

Roger