Won't you please help me

[wmchauncey]

No, it's not the Beatles...but don't know what to do with these swans which is part of a series of three images.

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...U2587-copy.jpg

I think that they're getting lost in the water...have made numerous detailed selections as a "just in case scenario".
I've tried a high/low key approach...they just don't grab me.
Suggestions, more than changing the crop aspect, for adding drama...want an object d'art look, whatever that is.

[Tony W]

Re: Won't you please help me

Always difficult to anticipate what anothers vision is and what an 'object d'art look' may represent .

Still I agree that the swans are getting lost in the water. One of the reasons is that I guess these may have been shot in late afternoon sun so the yellow of the sun is 'tainting' the overall look.

So decided a change may help trying to retain the yellow of the sunlight on the swans while getting the water to look blue (I like blue water!) thereby increasing the apparent contrast.

Maybe not what you are looking for but at least a starting point?
To do this I used colour balance adjustment layer in PS for high, mids and shadows. Then a curves layer to tweak a little further. Although I did not try masking the swans wings to keep the warmer tones may help.

OTT maybe but you could always tone down the opacity of layers if this is anywhere near the look you are after

[wmchauncey]

Re: Won't you please help me

I had tried that approach Tony...it lead to uncertainty.
The high/low key approach has lead to these in the past.

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...h-key-copy.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...orne2-copy.jpg

Just wanted to try a different direction this time...what? not a clue.

[0lBaldy]

Re: Won't you please help me

maybe use the yellow...

copy background,

image>adjustments>equalize,

new hue/sat adjustment layer, lower yellow saturation -55, raise lightness +28, black mask, paint birds on mask .. white

Combine all to new layer (Shft+Ctrl+Alt+E) change mode to multiply

Vibrance adjustment layer, vibrance -66, saturation+100, change mode to multiply, delete mask, copy previous bird mask and add bird mask to hide the birds (Birds black, rest of mask white)

Adjust, crop, fade, feather to taste

[BillFrey]

Re: Won't you please help me

I tried to briing more attention to the swans.

[Tony W]

Re: Won't you please help me

I think that the different direction of colour balance changes to accentuate the differences between swan and water can help lift the image, however as this is not enough in itself perhaps a high or low key effect will get you to be nearer and more comfortable with the image.

If none of this works for you then really the only other options I can think of is applying some 'artistic' or 'stylised' effect/filter.

Perhaps consider posting again or linking to this thread in the Photo Based Art section and asking for opinons. I am sure you will get a load of ideas which may help spur the creative juices

[wmchauncey]

Re: Won't you please help me

Tony, to be honest, I hadn't considered that route. I'll play with that a bit. Thanks!

[Repairman]

Re: Won't you please help me

You could mask the wings and use Shadow/Highlights>Amount 35>Tonal Width 60(ish) which will pull them away from the background. Make the water darker and/or bluer to enhance the effect.

[daygraphics]

Re: Won't you please help me

I know it's not a fan favorite, but a PATH can sometimes help you quickly isolate the primary subject matter from the background. This will allow you play with the water separate from the geese. I tried neutralizing the geese - as they are white geese. I realize that it is a warm glow sunset type shot, but it seems that the water would/could look more reflective of the sunglow than the geese' wing feathers. Maybe too white for the geese, but you can always use history brush. I also tried to make the water bluer with the whitecaps or reflections being the sunglow yellow - fading less brilliant off in the distance.

[wmchauncey]

Re: Won't you please help me

Already selected the swans...threshold and color selection (White) made sort work of them and the splashes.

[daygraphics]

Re: Won't you please help me

Already selected the swans...threshold and color selection (White) made sort work of them and the splashes.

Could you show the short work you made of them? Perhaps if we saw what you have done - and don't like, we won't duplicate your efforts. As suggested, you might want to re-post in the Photo Based Art Section. If you are simply looking for some ideas, you might find some more creative effect suggestions there.

[klev]

Re: Won't you please help me

I know it's not a fan favorite, but a PATH can sometimes help you quickly isolate the primary subject matter from the background.

It's what I would have used. Part of what has driven Adobe to focus so much on auto-selection tools is the way photoshop is used. Consider that most users are not on cintiqs. They look at a screen while their hand moves across a tablet of a different size. Some use a mouse. In recent years I've even seen trackpad use. If this was developed for a different paradigm where vision was aligned with hand motion, quick mask and paths would probably receive much more attention. I still like them, but with a given tablet/screen combination, I have to test the feel to get it just right. Anyway I think if everyone used a cintiq, tool popularity might be reversed. No matter how great the auto-selection algorithm, there's no way to get it perfect. If the images were linear, they might be able to better generate a subtractive method with alpha set per channel to better subtract both color and transparency from transitional pixels. It would also be interesting if they tried something using voxel projections for drawing raster images on screen. I've been experimenting with that, but I haven't gotten too far .

[wmchauncey]

Re: Won't you please help me

Took you all's advice and ended with this...another one from the series. What say you guys?

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...n-take-off.jpg

[Redraw]

Re: Won't you please help me

I used manual color balance option to take the yellow cast off of the water and then added contrast to it.

[Tony W]

Re: Won't you please help me

Took you all's advice and ended with this...another one from the series. What say you guys?

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...n-take-off.jpg

That is fine, but really why choose another image to the one you were concerned about and asked for opinion on?