Dreaming of the Beach...

[Teewinot]

I was going through some shots of time in L.A. 2 years ago, and I found this shot of Venice Beach. I sort of wanted to give it a 'dreamy' feel.

Before:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7845858@N05/470477636/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/470477636_800717af35.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Before - Dreaming of the Beach" /></a>
After:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7845858@N05/470477644/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/470477644_31cbeabcac.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="After - Dreaming of the Beach" /></a>
What I did:
-Cropped
-Duplicate layer-->Gaussian Blur-->Overlay Blend
-Saturation Adjustment: Colorized, emphasizing a yellowish hue
-Lightened a little
-Applied a mask layer (rectangular frame) and applied a few gaussian blurs to the mask

What I think:
I mostly like it, but I'm not sure how I feel about the "frame." Is the edge too sharp, or should I blend it more? On the other hand, this more distinct frame kind of lends itself to the 'dream' effect, as it's sort of a hazy/fuzzy picture in your brain. Does that make sense? Critique/comments welcome!

[xxpinballxx]

I sort of like it but i think it would be fantastic without the border on it.....
love venice beach!

[Saralonde]

I like the sky in the first shot. I think I agree with xxpinballxx about the frame.

[Teewinot]

I also like the sky better in the first shot. :)

Here's the shot without the 'frame.'

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7845858@N05/471335192/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/471335192_ce35270988.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="After2 - Dreaming of the Beach" /></a>

[sana]

I like the dreamy nostalgic look you achieved. I also found the frame distracting (because of completely different colors), but now, it seems to be too open up. I thought maybe some kind of mild vignetting (like in the lomo effect) instead of the frame would be better.. Also, I like the crop of the framed picture the best (only without the frame effect).

And I've never seen that particular beach, so I guess I like the shot objectively ;)

[Teewinot]

I see what you mean, sana. I will try the vignette idea! My initial thoughts on the pp effects with this shot were that I both liked and didn't like the frame. It's so cool getting different perspectives to be able to really *understand* why something works or doesn't work. In this case, perhaps having something like a 'frame' (so as not to leave the edge too open) is best, but not the type of frame I started with. If I were to keep the original shot and not apply the effects, then a 'frame' doesn't seem to be necessary. It seems that since the effects I used lost the texture and color of the sky, I need to compensate in some way. Great advice everyone! I just like playing around with my shots sometimes and I appreciate the help!

[wyndhydra]

Teewinot,
I also love the dreaminess of the palms. If you using Photoshop and are concerned about the color change in the sky you could mask out that region to be unaffected by the effects. I love the color choice you made, but wonder what it would look like with warmer orange/red tones. Great job.

[Teewinot]

Teewinot,
I also love the dreaminess of the palms. If you using Photoshop and are concerned about the color change in the sky you could mask out that region to be unaffected by the effects. I love the color choice you made, but wonder what it would look like with warmer orange/red tones. Great job.

Thanks, wynhydra. I'm a newbie at post processing techniques, but I will try your mask idea. I also like your idea about trying to achieve warmer tones. So many possibilities! Thanks!

[xxpinballxx]

Yeah I agree the picture without the frame now is really open....
It seems the sky looks a bit washed out more too to me.
what about rendering lighting effects? that might make a placed around the edges for your eyes to stop. something like this......
http://xxpinballxx.zoints.com/image/60095-beachone

[Teewinot]

Thanks for the idea, xxpinballxx...I like the fading effect up at the top of the photo better than at the bottom. The bottom's edging seems a little too defined. wyndhydra had suggested I mask out the sky so the color/texture remains, which may help prevent the whole shot from looking too open. The problem is, I'm new at masks so I'm not entirely sure how to do it. :D

I did play around last night with the colors, though, trying for warmer tones as suggested. I also applied a very subtle vignette, using the color of the sand. It's hardly there, but again, I wanted to try to fix this "openness" problem.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7845858@N05/474605337/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/474605337_bf457bfeba.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="After3 - Remembering the Beach" /></a>

I feel like this version gives the shot an older feel...like the title should be changed to "Remembering the Beach" or something.

[xxpinballxx]

Thanks for the idea, xxpinballxx...I like the fading effect up at the top of the photo better than at the bottom. The bottom's edging seems a little too defined. wyndhydra had suggested I mask out the sky so the color/texture remains, which may help prevent the whole shot from looking too open. The problem is, I'm new at masks so I'm not entirely sure how to do it. :D

I did play around last night with the colors, though, trying for warmer tones as suggested. I also applied a very subtle vignette, using the color of the sand. It's hardly there, but again, I wanted to try to fix this "openness" problem.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7845858@N05/474605337/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/474605337_bf457bfeba.jpg" width="400" height="500" alt="After3 - Remembering the Beach" /></a>

I feel like this version gives the shot an older feel...like the title should be changed to "Remembering the Beach" or something.

thats the shot! I really like this one....great job Teewinot!

[Teewinot]

Thanks xxpinballxx! I really appreciate the encouragement!

[wyndhydra]

Teewinot,
Hotness!!! I love what you did with it. It is totally different and equally great. The light vignette IMHO rocks! :D Now if only i could do so well...

[Janelle]

what if you combined the 2 photos and play with the opacity? then you can still have the sepia version with just a bit of colour therefore making it still vintage yet dreamy?

just a thought!

[Teewinot]

wyndhydra, thanks for the comments of encouragement!

Janelle...neat idea...I tried it a little last night, but I couldn't get it to work without the trees getting really really dark (I used the 2 finished product versions to make the combined version...probably not the best approach!). I might instead just try to create 2 layers using the original version and apply sepia colors in one and vintage colors in the other, then combine and play with the opacity as you suggested. I'm new to 'layers' so it's all experimental! If I end up with anything noteworthy, I'll post the results. Thanks for the idea nonetheless!