Taken in a state park with lots of diverse areas. Trying to explore it more in 2022. It’s about an hour from my house. Some pretty dense forests , waterfalls, and cliffs.
I’m here for help. I know the processing on this is not good. I get it. Lol! I’ve never really processed images with snow so I’m here for help. The image feels flat and dark. The snow in particular seems like a wash of white. The background just too dark. Colors feel uneven mostly in the snow.
I’m here for support! Is the composition even worth it? Are there things I’m missing other than that?
Dave, the comp is good and worth working on. I think the simplest thing to do is increase the exposure by probably 1/2 to 2/3 stop. That will make things pop. You can either use the exposure slider or the curves tool if you’re worried about the highlights getting alone out.
It doesn’t look like I can download it right now…would have given it a try…
Thanks, David. I kept at it a little more, probably closer to what I envisioned still not sure it is there. Also, would need to go back and do the cleanup again.
What I find really intriguing about this image is how 3D it feels, and the line of the meandering stream is really nice. The one thing I would play around with is the uneven luminosity of the snow throughout the image. I find it artificial and distracting.
It’s a very lovely scene, well worth some work! Can you tell us the processing steps you’ve done? What software? And camera (as that gives some idea of the dynamic range).
Snow is hard sometimes. It looks like this was taken when the sun was quite low and so the sky may have reflected purple and/or blue. The second shot looks more natural, but I’d crop that tree on the far right and take it to a 4:5 ratio. The leading line works well, but the blank snowy canvas is uninteresting and to me, not conveying anything useful.
I’m with Diane on wanting to know what you did with processing. I’m not a camera nerd so if it’s something 10 years old or newer, I’m sure it would handle this luminance range with proper exposure.
I’ve taken a stab at some of the suggestions. I’ve had to use some techniques I’ve never really tried before, which is a good thing. Still needs cleaned up but it’s better I believe.
Diane, to give you an idea on the processing. In LR I tried to balance the exposure a bit and played with white balance.
In PS I burned the creek, dodged and burned the main trees in the mid ground. Lightened the snow to bring it away from gray. Did some color work to bring it a bit cooler. Tried to bring out some saturation in the orange leaves on the left. Then, to dry to bring out some contrast in the snow, I took progressively more restrictive lights masks on a levels adjustment and pulled down the mid point. Trying to leave the brighter parts where they are but then massage out some contrast using the midpoint. Then I tried to balance some of the saturation, particularly in the corners where the contrast made it very blue. Finally I used a highlights adjustment (again, something new for me) to tone down the brightest parts of the image. I like the effect it had, it maintained contrast in a way that just pulling down on a curves layer or brightness/contrast layer doesn’t seem to do. Added an Orton effect to soften some of the details, I know taste for that is hit or miss, but I didn’t like some of the splotchiness in the snow and it seemed to level it out.
Kristen, I have a vertical exposure, but unfortunately I think by trying to include the tree on the right it made it unbalanced, but I just loved the arc! The raw was exposed to the right, all the luminosity is there to play with.
Put me down for the top version. It has a nice vignette look focusing me on the snow and creek area and I prefer the brighter light on the center. This is a good winter scene, so I consider well worth the effort you are putting into it.
David, this image is definitely worth investing some processing effort into it, to maximize it’s potential. My comments are similar to those from @Tom_Nevesely , the composition and lines create a nice 3D look to it, but the luminosity of the snow feels uneven across the scene. I think your rework has done a good job of addressing the uneven luminosity, and like that your rework pulls back on the blue in the snow.
To me the creek is the star of the show here, I love it’s diagonal lines, and the arc shape of the right snowbank. This creek just pulls my eye into the depths of the forest. So I agree with @Kris_Smith , I would suggest a crop from the right to a 4x5 aspect ratio, I think this would place more emphasis on the flowing lines of the creek.
I also agree with @Harley_Goldman, the darker background vignetting of the original post makes the forest look a bit more mysterious, and makes me wonder where that creek leads to. I’d keep the background’s luminosity similar to the original, but maybe dodge the grey ice in the back part of the creek, and maybe that center tree on the right side of the creek. This would help pull your eye to the back of the creek, while keeping the rest of the woods darker, to create that vignette effect.
