Adding depth?

[sdwilsonsct]

I don't expect to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but is there a way to get more depth into a image like this one? I have tried some dodging, burning and curving -- perhaps too much already.
Thanks! Scott

[Tony Jay]

Hi Scott

IMHO this is a beautiful image that, to me anyway, tells multiple stories and also poses some mysterious questions.
A magnificent interplay of human endevour versus the power and grandeur of nature.

Without knowing what the original capture looks like to me the result looks really, really good.
If you are looking for the image to express other things then maybe the result is not what you are looking for but to me it is an impressive result.

Regards

Tony Jay

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I would do this:

[Tony Jay]

Interesting take Slobodan.

The different crop and change in contrast certainly changes the mood of the image.
It does show the potential of the original capture though.

Regards

Tony Jay

[sdwilsonsct]

Thanks for your kind words, Tony. With the very high quality of the work posted here it can be hard to gauge my own work.

Thanks for the suggestions Slobodan. I parse desaturation in the centre, enhanced contrast or curves in the sky, and cropping, all of which draw the eye back to the distant clouds. I'll mess around with it some more.

I attach the unprocessed original for reference.
Scott

[Tony Jay]

Yes, it's true, the LuLa site is a hell of a university.
I need to post some of my work too, but I have to confess that my focus recently has been on printing.

The mysterious shadowblade is certainly turning me upside down with his images at the moment.
He (or she) is certainly quite an act to follow.

Regards

Tony Jay

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

I would do this:

Slobodan, considering my novice PS skills that looks amazing, especially since all you had was a Jpeg. May I ask about the steps you took to achieve that look? Would really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... May I ask about the steps you took to achieve that look?...

Unfortunately, I already deleted the file from my Lightroom 3.6 (after all, it is Scott's copyright), so can not now check the exact steps I took, but basically, for the look like that I would typically increase the contrast by pushing Fill Light and Blacks sliders all the way to the end, and then perhaps back off a little, to taste. Other sliders, like Recovery, Contrast, and Clarity might as well be used in the same way, i.e., pushed initially to the extreme and then backed off to taste.

I used global desaturation (actually a combination of Vibrance and Saturation reduction). I also used post-crop vignetting, and that brought back some saturation in the corners (if one is to avoid that, then a trip to Photoshop layers, in the Luminosity mode, would be necessary).

I believe I also used some color adjustments in the HSL panel, namely changing hues for oranges and aquas/blues, again to taste. I think I moved oranges more toward yellow and away from red, and blues more toward purple, away from cyan.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Thanks for the explanation. I'll try to recreate that in DPP or Photoshop. One question: Did you burn the sky selectively or was it a byproduct of the global contrast adjustment?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Global. I usually do not shy from using local adjustments, mostly via grads, however the underlying principle, and starting point, is KISS, and I resort to complications only if needed.

[sdwilsonsct]

Global. I usually do not shy from using local adjustments, mostly via grads, however the underlying principle, and starting point, is KISS, and I resort to complications only if needed.

Interesting. I tend to use a lot of local adjustments, but will give globals a whirl. Thanks for the details. And thanks to Sareesh for asking.

Scott

[Isaac]

I attach the unprocessed original for reference.

If you wanted to stay closer to that original then maybe make the sky at the horizon lighter and more blue with less red tint, so you look into the sky beyond the horizon - and use a gradient from the foreground to mid-ground to increase clarity and sharpness in the foreground.