Competition entry

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Some of you may recall this shot from the critique section a few weeks back. I am going to enter it into a local photo competition and am hoping you can help me with some post processing. I am very new to Photoshop Elements9 and have stumbled through a few tutorials and learnt some basic things. But I have a problem with knowing how much to adjust the various enhancers ie contrast, midtones, highlights etc and if in fact they need to be applied. Things like sharpening etc, I never know whether to do it and if so how much. It's all so subjective that in the end I end up being totally bamboozled. Any help and suggestions would be appreciated. May be I don't need to touch a thing?

This first shot is SOOC, though it has been cropped.




This is the PS9 "Auto Smart Fix" solution, which I think has too blue a sky-

[ravncat]

unfortunately i dont know photoshop elements at all...

If you like the effects but think it is too much, you can try a fade. (I dont know that this tool exists in elements - nor what does, but it is in photoshop) Fade is usually under the edit list and it lets you reverse the previous adjustment that you made, from 100% to 0% so you could try balancing out the blue with the contrast to a point you like.

If I were you, I`d go with my gut- if my gut says it is too blue - it is too blue.

[AdrenoJunkie]

Originally Posted by ravncat

If I were you, I`d go with my gut- if my gut says it is too blue - it is too blue.

Agreed....although my gut say it looks better with the blue.

[jojonac]

Its really all up to you. If you like the picture then you should publish it. There are always gonna be people that dont like it. However, there will always be people that like it.

I personally like the SOOC better then the adjusted one.


jojo

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks guys, I ran with my "gut" feeling and submitted the first shot. I'll let you know how I get on.

[OsmosisStudios]

you didnt mention whether it was to be shown electronically or printed. If the latter, I'd have a bunch of (slightly) different edits printed and see which i prefer.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Hi Osmosis, you're right I forgot that important detail! It's being viewed and judged electronically with top 3 being printed and auctioned off for charity. I chose this capture even though I have a number of favourite shots, because it's of a local boat shed that is very well known and I thought it would have more appeal especially for the auction. We'll see......it's my first entry in a competition since taking in a lot of knowledge over the last few months from here and a couple of courses. I did print all my various versions but kept coming back to the first shot above.