Can I salvage these shots with Photoshop?

[hotchilidamo]

There are many areas of photography I'm still lacking in and Photoshop is definitely one of them.

I took a few shots some time ago which at the time I thought would turn out well, but each time I look at them they seem a bit flat and uninspiring. Do I just need to accept I got these shots all wrong and try again another time, or is there a way to salvage them in Photoshop? Any ideas would be very appreciative.

[dlambert]

The last one looks like it might have promise. I'd start by just cropping the top off to create a panoramic crop. Hopefully, that'll emphasize the movement of the pier from left to right. You might be able to get the stones on the beach to pop with some dodging and/or bumping the yellow saturation a bit.

[edbayani]

agree with diambert, about the last one. also the second.but maybe move the blue boat closer to the red boat and i'd desaturate a little and lighten it to emphasize the fog.

[crockny]

I would treat them as a learning experience and go back out and try some more ... the last one has possibilities ... the red boat does not seem that interesting to me and there's a lot of space around it with nothing happening ... perhaps the water had interesting colors and textures that you didn't get? Try some other settings and see what happens ... maybe you need a filter to get the water right, I'm not an expert in that area ...

[dakwegmo]

I really like the third one. I think with a bit of a crop and a few adjustments, like hue/saturation, you could have something very interesting.

[Toeknee]

I'm diggin' the last shot. Maybe you could use some contrast enhancement...go B/W and then a little vignetting? I think this one begs for B/W! I was playing around with it...I could show you if you'd like!

[JFSanders]

The third one has a nice reflection and looks to be a good candidate for selective coloring in a B&W conversion. I did one in NX2 if you would like to see.

Jim

[Tzetsin]

you could make that into a marketable print. This is 5 minutes in lightroom with a teensy little shot. Imagine what you could do with the original and a little more time.

Capture.PNG

[hotchilidamo]

Originally Posted by Toeknee

I'm diggin' the last shot. Maybe you could use some contrast enhancement...go B/W and then a little vignetting? I think this one begs for B/W! I was playing around with it...I could show you if you'd like!

Yes please, I'd love to see what you've been playing with

[hotchilidamo]

Originally Posted by JFSanders

The third one has a nice reflection and looks to be a good candidate for selective coloring in a B&W conversion. I did one in NX2 if you would like to see.

Jim

Love to see your suggestion