Church Graveyard--did I go too far?

[3Parrots]

Here goes my first post...

The day I visited this church in Northampton, England, I only took a few photos before I quickly left the area. There were a number of unsavory characters hanging out in the area and I didn't feel completely safe being there. The original photo looked too sunny and happy. I wanted to convey that spooky feeling I had when I was there. Did I go too far?


In Lightroom, I used a sepia tone preset that gave the photo a good start. However, the sky was blown out and the church looked flat. I took it to Photoshop and did some curves adjustment, followed by some dodging and burning. I darkened the sky so you could see some clouds. Then I brightened the church with the Dodge tool. The last thing I did was to apply a little surface blur to the grass to give it a little more of a floaty feel. What do you think?

Before:




After:

[Gonzo13]

I think that it is a little too far. I can't say for sure but it almost looks like you cut and pasted the sky into it. Atleast that is the impression that I get from the church where it connects with the sky. On a side note I personally would have taken out the guy that is standing by the church. Just an opinion though.

[Drax]

Spooky!!!!

[3Parrots]

I see what you mean about the sky. I had a lot of problems with the sky; but the sky isn't pasted in. I had problems getting the edges right--where the sky meets the church/trees. At first, there was a light edge around the church/trees where I didn't to a very good job of masking and the original sky was showing through. I went back and darkened the edges around the church and trees. I probably would have been better off starting over from scratch.

Thanks for the feedback.

[mattman42]

I like it. It's very spooky looking.
I do agree that it looks a little overdone, though. What sticks out for me is the church, specifically the brightness of it. Compared to the darkness of the sky, it looks very unreal.
But, in a way, the fact that it's overdone kind of adds something to it in terms of spookyness.

[zona5101]

I think the thing that throws it off for me is the light. It appears like sun on the building but the sky is very overcast...it doesn't match. I dig the picture though, I especially like how the grass turned out like IR. So just a wacky idea...but how about changing the sky to make it look like clear dark night? A deep blue. Shift the hightlights to a blueish cast.....that way the light on the building and the grass all look like a single light source...a full moon. Have fun.

[3Parrots]

Thanks so much for the feedback and comments. Zona, I'm going to play around with some of your suggestions too!

[kalli]

well, beauty is in the eyes of who's looking... (or something like that). a little bit overdone. or too little...

[Kaeyla]

I also like it - in spite, or maybe because of the technical issues. Definitely spooky. I get the feeling of being fascinated but wanting to back off - rather fast.

[kentuckyranger]

It looks nice but you really over did it with the sky.
It makes the image look like you pasted the sky in as an after thought.
What you could try is layering.
Take the sky and adjust it to your liking then layer it into the image.
This way you can blend the sky in allot better, giving it a much more natural look without the harsh fringing.