Before & After

[PrevailingConditions]

I've been pretty unhappy with the shots I've been taking lately so I've been playing around with Photoshop to see if I can do anything with some of the shots I don't like. So I present for you a before and after - same shot with some judicious PS work thrown in. I'm still not too keen on the after shot, but I like what I was able to do and wanted to share.

What do you think?

Thanks,

PC

[berrywise]

Looks like there has been flooding

[Alison]

That's amazing!

[mjs1973]

It looks good to me. But if you're going to go all out in PS, I would get rid of the power lines too.

[brmill26]

My only nitpick, being around water a lot as I am, is that the oscilations in the reflection are far too large, and that's what makes it lose the realism it would otherwise pull off. I would either smooth out the water more completely, or put more of a rippled effect on it as opposed to this wavy look.

Otherwise, it looks great. I would also remove the powerlines, esp. if you've done this much work already. Overall a great job though.

[PrevailingConditions]

Thanks for the comments. Regarding the power lines, I actually started to clone them out, but realized that I wasn't going to do much with the shot anyway (I was experimenting more than anything) so I put that on hold. As I mentioned, I'm not that keen on the shot anyway: it needs a stronger subject and better lighting.

brmill26 - I too think the waves are too large for this body of "water". This was an early iteration that I was playing with. I was trying some stuff a little later and applied a couple different displacements, one larger, one smaller and it looks better. I did like how the transparency at the bottom turned out though.

PC

[Loupey]

That's great! That's scary! That's scary great (if you know what I mean).

[Ballen Photo]

That's "GREAT!" I take it the one with the body of water is the modified version? :thumbsup:
-Bruce

[SmartWombat]

It looks good to me. But if you're going to go all out in PS, I would get rid of the power lines too.

Vampiric powerlines, with no reflection

[Old Timer]

You did a great job with the PS . But why? From what I've seen of your work you are a very accomplished photographer. Why take so much time with an image that you say lacks much of you would like to see anyway. I'd rather spend my time out taking more pictures that didn't need me to spend so much time altering them to try and make a decent photo.

[PrevailingConditions]

OT - You bring up a good point, but I have a pretty simple explanation. Between work and family, I am finding almost zero time to go out and take pictures. About the only time I have is late at night once everyone has gone to bed. I came across this PS technique online and then started looking for a picture to apply it to. This particular shot came from a hike we took with the kids and I thought I could apply the technique here, just to see how it turned out.

I agree completely that I would rather be out taking pictures than playing around with PS, but you got to play the cards you are dealt.

PC