Achieved mystification / dreaminess?

[lerabu]

Hi all!

As I am new to post processing I am still scouring the internet for tutorials on what it is I wish to achieve with my photos and am trying to learn alot.

I took the shot below from a rundown house in village my wife is from, there are some great deserted houses in the forest there, but as I had the dog with me I couldn't get into the ruins with my tripod... The dog is a huge hazard!

Anyhow, I wished to convey some dreaminess and mysticism about this door of the rundown house.

Here is the treatment I gave it in Photoshop CS5:

1) Cropped and straightened the crop so that it is parallel to the frame of the shot - made a new layer for that
2) Copied the layer, added Guassian blut and hit "Multiply" in the blending options
3) Adjusted Levels
4) Adjusted all RGB curves to end at the end of their respective histograms. Adjusted curves to make the shot a little "lighter", so i selected the middle of the line and dragged it slightly upwards.
5) Added Vibrance and Saturation - I love vivid colours lol.

Was the desired effect achieved? Is the shot too dark? I have a problem with it because it is a low key shot originally and there is a really big difference in colour between the door and the walls making it possible for really contrasting between the two but then the problem is when I play too much with the curves the walls blow out when the door is just right. Should I select just the door and play with it separately?

Do the vivid colours work or should I go for something more washed out?

Have I added enough Gaussian Blur or should I add more? Should I sent the opacitiy to a certain level? Now it is at 100%.

Ožlak 106

EXIF data:
Camera Nikon D80
Exposure 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture f/3.8
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias -2/3 EV
Flash No Flash

Finally as you can see the flash didn't fire. Should it have fired to add some fill? Which would have helped with contrasting issues with the door and the wall?

Thank you in advance for your comments! I am fine with it if you want to reedit the shot and repost it demonstrate a point

Thanks!

[milosh]

Howdy, neighbour!

I think you achieved the mystic/dreamy effect you were after. Many of the questions you ask can not be answered directly, because they are subjective. The amount of blur and opacity setting should be determined by you, because each of us could have a different opinion on how it should look. There are no strict rules on this, just play with the settings and keep the ones you like most. I personally like these colours, and this amount of blur. As for the contrast between door and the walls, as you said, you can select the door and then adjust it, or you can make the adjustment on the whole layer and then mask out the parts you don't want to be adjusted.

[lerabu]

Hello neighbour!

Thank you for the reply. I am sorry I couldn't reply earlier, there were issues on the forum, which everyone suffered from I think!

I will try playing around with the contrast to see what I can get on the door.

[TheEagleSpirit]

Originally Posted by lerabu

Hello neighbour!

Thank you for the reply. I am sorry I couldn't reply earlier, there were issues on the forum, which everyone suffered from I think!

I will try playing around with the contrast to see what I can get on the door.

You have to realize the canon users are developing and testing new ammunition to out do us Nikon users.

[lerabu]

Originally Posted by TheEagleSpirit

You have to realize the canon users are developing and testing new ammunition to out do us Nikon users.

lol