Cinderella's Castle w/ Corona

[wingflapp]

Boring/Cliche/Overused Disney Composition.... Fair Warning..




Hello folks. Now, I'll just start by saying I'm REALLY new at this stuff, but I like this photo alot. Was just a quick snap (2 snaps, actually) as we were about to walk under the castle. I decided to put the sun behind the tower, just because it was so darn bright. For post processing, I decreased the exposure by 2 stops, then used the recovery function of Lightroom (I think the value was about 25). Because of the big change in exposure, I needed to add fill lighting. Lastly I bumped the vibrance up a tad.

I like the Corona around the castle, but I feel the castle looked much better in the initial photo. Since I can't re-compose this shot anytime soon, I was hoping someone might have a tip or 2 on what I could have / should have done to handle the blown out sky. (Other than layering a new sky in)..

I concede to the fact that I should have waited until the sun was on the other side, but since I didn't.....

As far as the people on the bridge - Indeed, I would love them to disappear, but I'm not that advanced yet, so they get to stay.

If anyone is interested, the JPEG that matches the RAW data is here.



Thanks in Advance,
wingflapp

Canon D3100
ISO 100
18mm Focal Length
f/10
Shutter Speed 1/200

[fotomagicstudios]

Wing,

I edited the picture. I think the people add value to your shot. Its an awesome composition, it would have been nice to capture a lens flare. I tried to edit the JPEG the best I could. Tell me what you think .

[wingflapp]

Indeed, I like your changes. Unfortunately, I can't imagine what you've done to it.

It seems to have some sort of edgy-ness to it that my picture didn't have. Can't explain it.

Can you tell me what you did, and / or which .jpg you adjusted? (I posted one pic, and one link to the original)

[fotomagicstudios]

I used Topaz Labs suite. I used the Adjust program to bring out the detail in the castle. I also used Detail to bring out the sky. I just masked them together along with black & white overlay and exposure to mix everything together. I can send you the .psd file if you like. =)

i used the link to the original pic.

[wsbII]

Wingflapp - another optoin would be to use photoshop and a layer masking technique. It allows you to essentially do an HDR shot with a single exposure. That way you could darken the sky , but still have the original castle exposure. Look up layer masking techniques or shoot me a PM and I can send you how I typically do the process.
Thanks,
Bill