problem with Curves

[ecate78]

Hello!

I am not sure if the treatment I did to this image goes under heavy post processing, especially considering that the only thing I modified was the curves line. The original photo was too little contrasted and had a slight yellowish cast (I took it around the golden hour in the afternoon of a rainy day) that I really disliked.
I wanted to see if I could have essentially blues and neutral values in the image with a nicer contrast. Overall I think I achieved the look I wanted, but while I love the contrasted highlights in the sky and the water I think I overdid. Do you have any suggestion on how to give it a more natural look keeping out the yellowish cast?

The original photo is by no way a good photo but I liked the sky and the clouds very much and wanted to give it a try to salvage it. Thank you in advance for any helpful comment.

[LeeR]

The first thing you need to do with curves here is set your levels. If you notice the histogram in the background of the curves box you will see that the curve falls short of the right hand corner. You can fix this by grabbing the marker in the top right hand corner and dragging it to the left. You will notice a vertical line appear under the marker helping you see when the line is even with the end of the histogram. Once that is done you can adjust your curve. I think you'll like your results better doing it that way.

[edbayani]

leeR's suggestion is a very good one by starting with levels since your image lacks in contrast. no clean highlights. after levels you can use curves or if you can, use selective correction by selecting areas with lasso tool and/or with quickmask and use levels or curves on each area. after that maybe a high pass filter to sharpen it a bit. here is a sample of what i did

[LeeR]

I like what you did with this, Ed. The sky is just fabulous here. Unfortunately, I don't think it is enough to save the image though I can't quite put my finger on what I'd like to see different. I suppose I'd like to see a glassy sea, but wait for that and the sky will be different. Still, I think you've probably taken this as far as it will go.

[ecate78]

Hello!

Thanks for the suggestion Leer and thank you Edbayani for what you have done to the image, I like the sky very much.

[edbayani]

glad you both liked the sky, leeR and ecate78.
here is another study, calmer sea. just playing around, so much time on my hands.

[LeeR]

Originally Posted by edbayani

glad you both liked the sky, leeR and ecate78.
here is another study, calmer sea. just playing around, so much time on my hands.

Interesting. That is an improvement.

[ecate78]

Hello again !

I have to agree with Leer, the calmer sea (actually the lake of Geneva) is really better. I have the impression it complements better the cloudy sky. More I really like the yellow on the ship, especially since yellow is the complementary of blue.
Now that I look at it again I also see that I should have cropped a bit of the lake to better follow the rule of thirds.
As Leer said it too, it was difficult for me to exactly pinpoint what was wrong, now I have a better understanding of the problems of the photo.

Thank you all for your input and for your time! It helps me improve while being interesting

[Al_boy]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5398562...2470/lightbox/

Hi,
New to the site and 1st post so hope this works! love the yellow of the boat as well.
I'd concentrate on the clouds adding more contrast to them. You could even cut the image at the landline and edit sea and sky differently. Otherwise a b&w image might work.
Added a couple of quick examples - fingers crossed

[ecate78]

Thank you Alboy!

I thought to do something on the lines of what you suggest but I was not able (does not have the skill yet!) to do it. I like your version a lot.

Again thanks a lot everybody and long live to dps!

P.S. Welcome to dps Alboy