Turning a bad photo into a decent painting

[mschwarz]

I had a photograph that didn't quite work - the morning fog which looked beautiful in real life turned into a haze in the photo. However, there was something in the photo that kept me coming back to it.

Being a relative newcomer here, and to Photoshop, I decided to play around with it - with the following result:

Original


Painting




Constructive feedback and thoughts are always more than welcome. I'm always looking to improve, which is why I love this place!

[Ginger Pixie]

Sorry to be a bit negative, but I am not a fan of these type of effects - they make me think of myspace profile shots.

I prefer the photograph, and the middle slice of it might give you scope to create a panoramic style shot.

I just find the foreground to be the focus in the first shot, and in the second, it's very bright, and doesn't add anything to the shot.

[ckodonne]

This is a cool filter. Not one I would use for photography, but perhaps as an illustration for a children's book...an ad for a coastal gift shop, etc. It's whimsical and the subject matter is light.

The shot is really nice in my opinion...the "haze" as you call it works well. It's the crop that's annoying...it's too busy and not focused, which makes it look like your average beach snap shot. Always try cropping it before discarding a shot...like Ginger said above me, a pano would work well here, or even a square format like below:

[mschwarz]

Thanks for the feedback (although the myspace comment was a bit of a zinger )

Gave it another try and came up with this:




I think the painting was really more of a PS skills practice, but the feedback on the composition is appreciated - that's probably the weakest area I'm looking to improve upon.

[ressalg]

The new panorama edit makes the original much better.

However, I'm afraid I'll have to agree that the "painted" image just doesn't do it for me. It always seems to me that the filtres/effects in the half dozen PP programs I've used just can't make an photo look like a painting... at least not one painted by a real person.

[ckodonne]

Much better crop...that drain looking thing on the left-hand side was very distracting. This now makes a nice beach pano.

The only other thing I would do is clone out the remaining dark spot over there...I know cropping it out would dig into the house, so cloning it would be best. It's still a little distracting and adds nothing to the photo.

Overall though I really like this shot; the muted colours work nice.

[mschwarz]

Thanks ckodonne - you should be familiar with the area, it was near York, ME. when we were on our way to the lighthouse there.

[ckodonne]

Originally Posted by mschwarz

Thanks ckodonne - you should be familiar with the area, it was near York, ME. when we were on our way to the lighthouse there.

Very welcome. I'm a little farther up the coast near Rockland, but I know York well. I'm originally from the North Shore and would go up to Kennebunkport often and even lived there for a short time. Great area.

[kalendae]

that panorama crop is real dreamy. would blurring out the rocks in bottom left corner help any?

[Gonzo13]

I like panorama and the square crops. I also dig the original, if it was my picture I would have cropped out the white water on the right (the starkness draws my eye) and some of the sky. I don't feel the sky adds much to the image. Just an opinion though.