Dog & mountains- need some help editing

[jess128]

Hi everyone!
This is a photo I took of my dog last year. It was a bit of a snap shot, the sun was quite bright and at the wrong angle. Also was taken with my Nikon Coolpic P100 (now have a DSLR and am learning lots!) Anyway, the photo just didn't turn out. I've had it stashed away but I just got Lightroom 3 and I do quite like this photo, so I'm trying to improve it as best I can. My main question is, how can I make my dog "pop" more? I feel like the sky is so prominant that she just gets lost in the photo and I'd like her to stand out more. Thanks!

[windrider86]

you'll first want to crop it down using the rule of thirds and place the dog on one main grid so it becomes the focal point of your photo.
As far as lightening it up so the dog is lighter is a major challenge. What are you using to post process your photos?

[jess128]

I'm using Photoshop Lightroom 3. This photo won't be made "public," but I'd like it for my own personal use!

[windrider86]

Would you mind if I played with it?

[windrider86]

Hope not cause I did it anyway. I used Viveza quite a bit to bring out some of the darker areas. The sky was too far gone so I replaced it by using PS refine tool. Did some color adjusting by using the selective color tool, altho I;m still not happy with the overall tone. and obviously cropped it down



V

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by windrider86

Hope not cause I did it anyway. I used Viveza quite a bit to bring out some of the darker areas. The sky was too far gone so I replaced it by using PS refine tool. Did some color adjusting by using the selective color tool, altho I;m still not happy with the overall tone. and obviously cropped it down



V

I don't use this phrase all that often but ... epic save!

[jess128]

Wow, looks great! Thank you so much! I just got Lightroom for Christmas so i'm still trying to figure it all out. Would you mind emailing me the photo?