Help with enhacing colors in sunrise image

[buso23]

Hi This is is my first post, although I've been lurking here for quite some time now. This is a great place and I have learned a lot from here.
Here I've got an image taken at sunrise but the colors are a bit unappealing for a sunrise. How do i enhance the colors?
I've treid the H/S but I didn't really like the results. Would anyone care to give it a try? Thanks in advance.

Regrads from Macedonia. Ljupco

the unmanipulated version of the photo can be found here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3741202

[Cyber Cat]

buso23 hey, not sure if u like the result.but here is what i did
1 copy background layer
2. adjust levels
3. adjust saturation (dont touch colour or lightness)
4 copy layer and give it multiply mode

[Kraellin]

hi buso,

glad you could join us.

nice pic! off hand, without pulling this up in psp myself, i'd mask the background in a show all mask. then, on the mask use channel mixer and contrast/lighten to manipulate the colors and contrast and lightness. this shld do what you want.

also, you didnt mention whether you're using PS or PSP, but both shld work pretty much the same for what i've suggested.

Craig

[edgework]

This is precisely the kind of image the LAB space is made for. This is a straightforward color enhancement curve. For each anchor point in both the a and the b channel, I pulled them toward the center 40 units. These settings are way over the top, but then I set the opacity at around 55%. Greater or less opacity to taste. (This has a tendency to enhance any flaws as well, in this case the posterization and heavy jpeg artifacts).

[buso23]

and you produced some great variations guys. Thanks a lot.

[Nanls]

I duped my original layer and H/S, and then used the clone tool to take out the blockiness on the top. Gaussian blur and then took one step back-with my history brush on Gaussian blur, set brush to overlay, depending on the opacity of the history brush, you can paint in subtle or dramatic color. I painted just in front of the subject for a different look.
~Nancy~

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Ljupko,

just added a graduated colour layer, masked for the girl. reduced opacity of layer.

[heyrad]

->Convert to lab
->Blur A and B channels(3px) to get rid of some of the linear distortion
->Curves-> A channel... Bring top point in to the left and bottom point in to the right both to about -75
-> Repeat steps on B channel
->convert back to RGB...

L*a*b is wonderful because it separates color from detail. The dramatic curves mentioned above leave the nuetral colors as they were while pumping up the densities in the non neutral colors. Works better than any HS move in RGB--IMHO


You can always add an 'S' curve on the final RGB to punch things up a bit more. It's over the top, but then again... it's all in the eye...

Enjoy!

conrad

[Kraellin]

hehehe, and again we see that there's always more ways than one to do something in psp and ps

Craig

[Nanls]

Have been meaning to play with LAB mode and now I will. Nice job Conrad.