bothersome shadow

[cristen]

hi there.. i kind of like this photo of flowers floating in a large rock bowl especially the vibrant yellows and orange. but the shadow on the left bothers me a lot. is there a way i could remove them? is the centered composition ok ? am also thinking of cropping to exclude the green patch on the upper left corner.

comments and critiques requested. PP would be very much welcome also, so pls feel free to edit. thanks...



Canon EOS 500D
f stop: f/9
Exposure: 1/160
ISO 200
Exposure Bias : 0
focal length: 33 mm
No flash

[AdrenoJunkie]

For the shadow try using the dodge tool set to shadows or midtones and a low opacity to lighten up that area. Getting rid of the green patch would be good for this image but if you can shoot that again try zooming out some to include more of the grass so that you have the rim of the bowl curving through the image with the flowers on the bottom right third. I think that might make for a more interesting composition. IMO anyway.

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by AdrenoJunkie

For the shadow try using the dodge tool set to shadows or midtones and a low opacity to lighten up that area. Getting rid of the green patch would be good for this image but if you can shoot that again try zooming out some to include more of the grass so that you have the rim of the bowl curving through the image with the flowers on the bottom right third. I think that might make for a more interesting composition. IMO anyway.

To add to AdrenoJunkie's idea, another possibility in PSE: Since the shadow on the right side forms a straight line, I think it might be possible to paint a mask over that and then use levels to, in effect, raise the EV of this section of the image up to that of the portion on the left. To try to prevent a visible line due to slight mismatch, the mask should be drawn jagged to follow the curved outline of flower petals. This may not work, but could be worth a try.

As for the green, I think the color is the only possible problem there since it is so different from anything else. I like to see the rounded stone in that area. So here one could perhaps paint a mask there too and perhaps eliminate the chroma or make it dark brown, and if necessary, smudge the grass leaves to give a sort of dark grey or brown appreance to this small triangle.

I like the center placement for this.

[edbayani]

select the shadow area using quickmask with soft brush. select a bit more than the shadow. put this in another layer and adjust with levels till it balances the area without the shadow. use layer mask with soft brush to blend well and merge. use clone tool to cover the grass on the upper left corner.

[cristen]

ChicagoJohn and Ed, thank you so much for those Photoshop lessons. I will try my best to learn. Promise