Yesterday I was scouting some new kayaking places and I saw this scene from the levee. So gently does the snow fall that these faded scenes of summer gone by still stand in the spring. Soon fresh greenery and flowers will replace the old. There is still grace there though.
Specific Feedback Requested
Too blue? It’s been tamed, but the sky was fairly clear and very blue so the reflections were too.
Technical Details
Handheld half bent down to get between vegetation that was in the way.
Lr for all processing including the usual management of white and black points as well as white balance. Lowered the blue in the Calibration panel so it wouldn’t overwhelm. I cropped to center the focus on this arrangement and the log itself. There is more foliage on either side and the log has a lot of moss and other things on the bottom that were very dark, so I cropped them out.
In terms of bringing up texture and contouring the log I created masks using the brush and a luminosity intersection. It’s not quite as precise as doing this in Ps, but it worked well enough. Used a couple of color selection masks to bring up texture in the grasses and to lower the noise in the water behind. Tweaked the orange and yellows to be more red, tweaked the blue to be more aqua.
Thanks @Diane_Miller - I’m always amazed how the most delicate structures can survive our winters. I burned quite a bit in the LRC, but maybe not enough. I could poke around at it tomorrow.
Hi Kris! This is a very nice intimate scene. Your cropping works very well. My only suggestion, if it’s possible, is adding a little room to the left so the ends of the moss aren’t cut off. Nice job capturing this scene. I need to work on seeing small scenes like this one.
Thanks @Steve_Kennedy - glad you liked it. And you’re right about not cutting off the left edge. Laziness made me do it. I just didn’t feel like bringing it into Photoshop to remove distracting grass on that edge. So I did just now and put it in the OP. It works better. Laziness be damned. Thanks for making me do the work.
This is wonderful! Great eye to spot this and even greater job capturing. This actually makes me think of a floral arrangement of some sort of table accent or decoration from silk material - in other words, it’s amazing to know that nature provided this arrangement and that it is NOT silk or some crafted arrangement - it’s real, it’s found and it’s beautiful!
I think the blue is spot on, as is the processing in general. Great job on the additional canvas as I agree with Steve’s comment/suggestion there.
I suppose a crop from the right could be played with - and maybe even cloning that lone, short piece sticking up on the right… but that’s personal preference and I’m not sure would improve this any more than you already have.
Thanks @Lon_Overacker - glad you found it fun to look at. I felt the organization and layout of the plants was kind of like something you’d see in a floral arrangement or centerpiece. But there it was, created by nature. I guess that’s what we’re always trying to emulate when we bring nature indoors.
I thought about getting rid of that lone bit of plant, but decided to leave it.
I’m so late to the party on this one. I like the rework better. I really love the colors and textures that were captures in the grasses and how they are so alive with movement. They are darting and swirling all over the place. The other darker vegetation grounds everything nicely and adds needed contrast to both the lighter grasses and the mid-tone log. I would consider cropping from the right. I’m not sure that much log is needed. Could be worth playing with. The blues are spot on for my taste. This does look like nature provided a really nice, rustic centerpiece that would go well in a beach house. Great capture
Thanks @David_Haynes - it could go in a beach house, couldn’t it? I dithered quite a bit over the crop and can play with it more. I was afraid taking too much off the right would make it seem centered and forced.
