Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg Tennessee

[abhodges]

I took this photo on my honeymoon in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I am torn between keeping it the original color or changing it to black and white. What do you guys think? Or do you think I should do something totally different...or does the picture just suck.






Nikon D40X
JPEG (8-bit) Normal
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 55mm
Digital Vari-Program: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/125 sec - F/5.6
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

[andrewlo13]

You've got something going here abhodges! I love the shadows across the rolling mountains in your background. However, it seems a little hazy and washed out to me; the b&w seems like a stronger image than the color version. It's a pity your sky is blown out like that, I'd love to see a beautiful deep blue sky up there.

I'm very new to photography and Photoshop, but there's probably something that can be done to make this a more impactful image. Do you have a larger version?

[abhodges]

Thanks! Yea, me and my skies do not cooperate most of the time. I can NEVER get the sky to appear the way I want it to. Here is a link to a larger version of the black and white!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/...266a334f_o.jpg

[calcuttr]

Hi, Could you link to the largest version of the colour photo you have?

Incidentally, if you have a programme like Lightroom or Photoshop, it is quite easy to decrease the exposure on the sky to brig out more the detail, and then increase the saturation and vibrance to bring out the colour. These basic alterations can be applied to different areas of the photo as well to get your desired effect.

I am still very much a novice, and I'm sure others on this board can give you better advice, but to bring this photo out more towards it's full potential, these basic procedures above are a good start.

Good luck!

[carolinaborn77]

Hi! I took your color photo and played with it a little to get the sky back and here's how it came out. I'm new at this too, so take it is a grain of salt.

[abhodges]

Holy crap!! That looks so much better...can you please explain how you did that so I can fix pretty much every picture I have! HAHA

[carolinaborn77]

Originally Posted by abhodges

Holy crap!! That looks so much better...can you please explain how you did that so I can fix pretty much every picture I have! HAHA

Here's the layered Photoshop file. You can look at it and get an idea of what I did.

Basically, I replaced the blown out sky and adjusted the saturation and washout (dodge/burn tools).

To replace the sky, I used the technique shown on DPS.