Redo my landscape surrealism

[arakattack]

Hello, I want your opinion on the picture I have taken. No HDR. Sunset was right behind the cliff, and reflected back to the cliff. I revealed shadow and boost the saturation for unrealistic feature. Any comment is appreciated. Thank you.

Exif Info:
Canon EOS 500D, 0.5 sec, Manual Exposure, ISO 100, f/14, Canon EF-S 10-22mm @17.0 mm, Manual White Balance.

[curelightwounds]

Too awesome. Make it less awesome.

[arakattack]

Originally Posted by curelightwounds

Too awesome. Make it less awesome.

Make it real?

[sk66]

I think it's a nice image. To me it's a little too orange overall and a little flat.

[Krusty79]

Originally Posted by arakattack

Make it real?

I think you have a great scene here that would look good without all of that PP. I think it looks too overprocessed and unnatural for my taste.

[navcom]

I guess it depends on what your goal with the photo was. It's important to know what you are trying to achieve before you press the shutter button. Post processing is part of that process and should be used to achieve your goal, not as the goal itself.

That said, it's a nice picture and I do like it. But it is very flat looking. I personally like HDR images if they are not too extreme. And while you say it is not HDR, it really is. HDR is the technique used to increase the dynamic range in an image. By increasing the shadows, you've increased the dynamic range, which by definition is "HDR". This is why it looks similar to the bracketing technique and also why it looks rather flat.

There is such a thing as too much dynamic range if you are trying to keep it rather natural. The more you eliminate the shadows, the flatter the image looks until it starts to look more like a cartoon or a impressionist painting. But whether you cross that line is completely up to you as you are the artist. Even extreme HDR has a place...it's just not liked by most traditional photographers...especially us landscape types.

[curelightwounds]

If it's supposed ot be surreal, I think you've done that quite well. It is surreal and that's its appeal.

If you were trying to make it natural then I agree with the rest.

[hollybug]

I personally think it looks awesome, but I also like surreal looking photos. That may be because I'm more of a painter at heart. Have been painting for years (and love abstract/surreal art) and this whole photography thing is brand new for me.

I do agree that overall it has a yellow/orange look to it. Maybe you could change the coloring a bit, but still keep the surreal look (if surreal is indeed the look you are going for).

[arakattack]

Originally Posted by hollybug

I personally think it looks awesome, but I also like surreal looking photos. That may be because I'm more of a painter at heart. Have been painting for years (and love abstract/surreal art) and this whole photography thing is brand new for me.

I do agree that overall it has a yellow/orange look to it. Maybe you could change the coloring a bit, but still keep the surreal look (if surreal is indeed the look you are going for).

OMG! Your comment is exactly what I thought. I indeed want to deliver painting through a photography. Thanks for your comment.

[arakattack]

Originally Posted by navcom

I guess it depends on what your goal with the photo was. It's important to know what you are trying to achieve before you press the shutter button. Post processing is part of that process and should be used to achieve your goal, not as the goal itself.

That said, it's a nice picture and I do like it. But it is very flat looking. I personally like HDR images if they are not too extreme. And while you say it is not HDR, it really is. HDR is the technique used to increase the dynamic range in an image. By increasing the shadows, you've increased the dynamic range, which by definition is "HDR". This is why it looks similar to the bracketing technique and also why it looks rather flat.

There is such a thing as too much dynamic range if you are trying to keep it rather natural. The more you eliminate the shadows, the flatter the image looks until it starts to look more like a cartoon or a impressionist painting. But whether you cross that line is completely up to you as you are the artist. Even extreme HDR has a place...it's just not liked by most traditional photographers...especially us landscape types.

I made correction, yes I employed High Dynamic Range function in capture one to flatten the image to make it looks like surrealist painting, I just knew that a picture called HDR is not only achieved by Exposure Bracketing technique. My bad.. thank you.