Picasa power in Yorkshire

[joanium]

I've moved to England from Australia and was visiting Steel Rigg near Hadrian's Wall in Yorkshire. I'll point the finger at English weather for the dreariness of my photo. I used Picasa 2 for some quick fixes. Picasa feels like cheating; it's so easy to use.

1. Tuning -- darken shadows
2. Warmify
3. Saturation
4. Glow
5. Graduated tint in the sky

The featureless sky is now blue but it still seems...big. Perhaps some cropping will help.

BEFORE
http://lh6.google.co.uk/image/joanium/ReAsSJh9i6I/AAAAAAAAAac/-Str6plyifQ/s288/PC290982.JPG

AFTER
http://lh4.google.co.uk/image/joanium/ReAsSph9i7I/AAAAAAAAAak/EJmiF_8b704/s288/PC290982c.JPG

[Saralonde]

I think you did really well just using Picasa. I think it's a great free program for doing some post processing changes, particularly if someone is limited in pp experience. I have it and use it all the time when I just need to make a few changes.
I don't think your sky looks too big.

[Digidave]

Like Saralonde, I too think the sky is just right. I never bothered with Picasa's tools but I may have to look into it a little closer now after seeing the improvement you achieved. Nice Job!:)

[jiminyClickit]

joanium,

If cameras paint with light, post-processing is painting with a different, more flexible brush. Cheating? Maybe if someone else did it for you, but not when you have to know and decide what to do, where and how much. Your photo, your edit, to your credit. I especially like the idea of naming a function "Warmify."

[Liacs]

I like it a lot! I also use the warmify of Picasa often... :) And I also feel like cheating, but it is our eye that feels it being ok, otherwise we would return to the original shot, no? ;)

Lia

[wulf]

Caputuring a scene by taking a photograph is already an artificial action; if your work in Picasa or similar software is making the image closer to what you want to present than that is art, not cheating!

Wulf